Elmira District Boys Soccer

Blue Devils Score Three Goals On Penalty Kicks in Victory Over Spartans.
October 30, 2007
By Al Losey
alosey@stargazette.com
Star-Gazette

Four of the seven goals scored in Monday's Section 4 Class A boys semifinal were on penalty kicks, Elmira Free Academy converted three to beat Maine-Endwell 5-2.

There were also two red cards -- both to Maine-Endwell players -- among the six carded infractions.

'That's unheard of, to have so many (penalty kicks) in a game," EFA coach Derek Hamilton said. "Usually it's our team that's on the wrong end of it, when emotions get the best of players. But we've been working all week on getting back to the kind of teamwork that wins games. Part of that is controlling emotions, and I was happy to see our players helping each other do that."

The top-seeded Blue Devils move on to face No. 3 Owego, a 1-0 winner over Johnson City in the other semifinal, in Saturday's finals. EFA beat Owego 1-0 last year to win the sectional title. The finals in all classes are at the Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, but the times have yet to be determined.

EFA (12-3-1) led 2-0 at the half after a penalty kick by senior midfielder Joey Burin opened the scoring about 12 minutes into the game. The penalty was awarded when Frankie Mannino was taken down in the box. Burin returned the favor to Mannino with a beautiful through pass that the junior forward punched home for the Devils' second goal.

"I've gotten a lot of help from Joey and Kevyn Rustici this year," Mannino said. "They know where to put the ball and I just try to go get it. Being aggressive in the box and working hard is what the game is all about."

Maine-Endwell (11-5) opened the second half scoring about 17 minutes in with a hard run from the top of the box by Zach Azeb. He burst through three EFA defenders and was 1-on-1 with Bobby McGinnis, beating the senior goalie with a roller to the right side.

Rustici, also a senior, came back with a goal off a direct kick. He skirted the wall on the left and skipped the ball by the Spartans keeper, low and just inside the left post. Less than a minute later, Zach Azeb got his second yellow card, on a hard tackle along the sideline, and was ejected.

About two minutes later, with M-E playing short-handed because of the ejection, an EFA defender was called for pushing in the box and the Spartans' Karim Azeb converted on the penalty kick to make the score 3-2.

"We have a lot of respect for EFA and they played hard today, as did we," said Maine-Endwell coach Duane Rinker, who is retiring this year after 34 years on the sidelines for the Spartans. "But I thought the officials played a bigger part in the game than they should have. Yes, it was emotional, but I don't feel like the athletes got a chance to decide the outcome."

With play becoming more and more physical, Mannino was taken down in the box two more times in the final 12 minutes, and the Blue Devils capitalized both times. Rustici scored his second goal on a penalty kick with 12:09 left and Semko Abdullah scored the final goal on a penalty kick with 7:51 left.

"We're not real big, but we like to play the physical style," Rustici said. "There have been games when we were the ones who lost composure. But today we played as a team and kept the emotions under control. And hopefully, with another week to practice, we can do the same in the finals."

EFA Scoring - Rustici (2-0), Burin (1-1), Abdullah (1-0), Mannino (1-0)

Maine-Endwell Scoring - Z. Azeb (1-0), K. Azeb (0-1)

Shots/Corners - EFA (11-1), Maine-Endwell (9-1)

Saves - EFA (McGinnis - 7), Maine-Endwell (McCarthy - 6)