Elmira District Boys Soccer

Andrew Legare, alegare@stargazette.com @SGAndrewLegare 9:26 p.m. EDT September 16, 2015

Elmira overcame a two-goal deficit in the second half to beat Horseheads in STAC boys soccer

Elmira overcame a two-goal deficit in the second half to beat Horseheads, 3-2, in Southern Tier Athletic Conference boys soccer action Wednesday at Horseheads High School.

After an own goal gave the Blue Raiders a 2-0 lead, Logan Brimmer scored for Elmira off a feed from Gavin Wise with about 18 minutes remaining. The Express then scored two goals about 20 seconds apart at the six-minute mark. The first came from John Beecher off a feed from Andrew Field. Dan Dimon then put Elmira ahead with a blast from about 35 yards away that came off another assist from Field.

"After playing a lethargic first 40 minutes, I thought we kind of put it together the second 40 minutes and started playing with a little more desire, started to link passes better," Elmira head coach Derek Hamilton said. "When you begin to play like that, you start to create more opportunities."

Horseheads' Matt Burlew scored the only goal of the first half with about six minutes remaining.

Elmira improved to 4-2 and Horseheads fell to 3-3 in the first meeting between the teams this season.

"I've got a really close-knit group of guys who really want to see each other do well, whether on the field or not," Hamilton said. "I think that shows. That's our fourth one-goal victory of the season. "Excited to be off to the 4-2 start, but we've got a lot of soccer to play this season."

Elmira Scoring - Brimmer (1-0), Beecher (1-0), Dimon (1-0), Field (0-2), Wise (0-1)

Horseheads Scoring - Burlew (1-0)

Shots/Corners - Elmira (10-6), Horseheads (5-3)

Saves - Elmira (Mason - 4), Horseheads (Morehouse - 7)

The Elmira Express boys soccer team used goals from seniors Andrew Field and Logan Brimmer to jump out to a 2-0 lead before holding on to a 2-1 victory Friday at Elmira High School.

Field's goal (his first of the season) came in spectacular fashion after collecting a throw-in down the touchline.  Upon reception of the ball, Field cut inside a defender before curling his shot inside the side net at the far post for a 1-0 lead.

Minutes later, Brimmer notched his second tally of the season after collecting a loose past from the M-E goalkeeper to make it 2-0.

Elmira and Maine-Endwell are both off to 3-2 starts on the season.

Expreses Scoring - Field (1-1), Brimmer (1-0), Dimon (0-1)

Maine-Endwell Scoring  - Kozecke (1-0)

Shots/Corners - Elmira (8-6), Maine-Endwell (6-5)

Saves - Elmira (Mason - 5), M-E (Millard - 6) 

Elmira 1, Vestal 0: At Elmira, John Beacher scored the winning goal with four minutes, 38 seconds left to play. Andrew Field took a corner kick and Beacher eventually scored on a rebound.

Express goalkeeper Owen Mason made nine saves.

Vestal (2-1) held advangates of 12-5 in shots and 8-3 in corner kicks.

“We couldn’t put it in,” Vestal coach Dave Barr said. “The last couple games we’ve had trouble (scoring). (Mason) made some great saves throughout the game. He kept them in it and their defense is good, too.”

Elmira Scoring - Beecher (1-0), Field (0-1)

Shots/Corners - Elmira (5-3), Vestal (12-8)

Saves - Elmira (Mason - 9), Vestal (GK - 4) 

Southern Tier Athletic Conference

•Elmira: Derek Hamilton is in his 11th season as a boys soccer coach in the district and has a young lineup after 11 seniors graduated. The Express posted a 7-6-3 record last season, its third straight winning season.

Key returning players include senior midfielder Andrew Field, senior forward Logan Brimmer (13 goals), senior goalkeeper Owen Mason, senior midfielder Shawn Shaylor, senior midfielder Joe Cerio and freshman defender John Beecher.

Elmira’s top newcomers are junior defender Paul Milliken, junior defender Dan Dimon, junior midfielder Marty Hutchinson, junior midfielder Chris Knuth, junior midfielder Walker Moss, sophomore defender Nate Forrest, sophomore forward Jasio Ziembicki and sophomore midfielder Gavin Wise.

“The 2014 Express was a team full of juniors and seniors until John Beecher was called up midseason,” Hamilton said. “However, the 2015 squad will boast five underclassmen who will be looked at to contribute immediately.

“The maturation of the younger players, coupled with the leadership and experience of the seniors, will be the deciding factor on how the Express soccer fares this season.”

Elmira is in one of the toughest divisions in Section 4. The STAC West also includes defending STAC and Section 4 Class AA champion Ithaca, 2014 Class AA sectional runner-up Corning and Horseheads.

“STAC looks to be a very competitive conference in 2015, as most of the teams in the STAC West and Metro are on similar levels, with possibly Ithaca a cut above after a deep state tournament run in 2015,” Hamilton said.

•Horseheads: The Blue Raiders also have a young lineup, with few starters back from a team that went 5-8-1. Players to watch include Alejandro Nunez, Joey Heft, Isaac Pastel, Nick Juan and Kellen Boyles.

“If the boys continue to work hard and put forth their best effort each and every time they step onto the pitch to practice or play, I think we will do well,” Horseheads head coach Mark Mucci said. “We have some very talented young players coming up.

“The last couple of seasons we have been competitive with all of the teams in our league and have suffered numerous one-goal losses. Hopefully this year we can turn that around.”

•Corning: Head coach Steve Mastronardi’s Hawks finished with a 10-6 record last season and advanced to a Section 4 final for the third consecutive season, falling to Ithaca. All three STAC West/Metro all-conference picks from that team — defender Luke Terwilliger, midfielder Franco Summa and forward Zach Quist — have graduated.

The Hawks do return All-STAC West goalie Erik Ekstrom, who is one of their captains along with junior midfielder Cameron Metarko. Others who will help the cause include junior defender Connor Nazarczyk, junior midfielder Trevor Kohli, junior midfielder/defender Jacob Grano, senior midfielder/defender Grant Huff and senior defender Zach Horning.

“We will be very young, with just two returning seniors,” Mastronardi said. “Our focus will be organization on defense, mental focus and being creative in the final third. Our expecation is to improve as the season progresses and be ready for sectionals. STAC will be ultra competitive as always, with many quality teams.”