Announcement
Elmira Free Academy Falters On Its New Soccer Field
Blue Devils boys fall 3-0 to Ithaca
The Little Red (2-0) scored all of their goals in the second-half of a 3-0 Southern Tier Athletic Conference win over the Blue Devils (1-1).
"This beautiful field suits a possession-type team like EFA, and it's always tough to play here anyway," Ithaca coach Jeff DuMont said. "But this surface suits us, too. Even though both of us spent the first half feeling each other out, I think we made good passes after halftime, especially on the first goal. Adam Sullivan is such a great team player, and he made a hard crossing pass to set up Casey Williamson.
"After the first goal we just decided to make EFA work harder to get the ball, and that loosened up their defense a little."
The first half was evenly played, with few real scoring opportunities for either team. The best chance to score came with less than 10 minutes to go before halftime, as Ithaca goalie David Kaminsky came out of the net to cut off EFA senior forward Denzel Harris on the left wing. Harris centered to a wide open goal, but the Blue Devils didn't convert.
Ithaca began to get more from its forwards to start the second half.
Williamson's goal came about nine minutes in as EFA's defense broke down across the middle, and junior goalie Luke Ford was beaten high on the left. Just 80 second later Sullivan made it 2-0 on a sinking shot from more than 20 yards out. It settled into the net high in the left corner.
On defense, Ithaca didn't give the Blue Devils much to work with as the Little Red, which totaled 14 shots, held EFA to seven.
EFA coach Derek Hamilton was happy with his young team's effort but pointed to defensive breakdowns as the difference in the game.
"I thought we did a pretty good job of limiting their offensive chances," Hamilton said. "That first goal was a quality goal. Other than the first, we just had a couple of mistakes on defense. But this is a team that starts three sophomores and a freshman, so I expect we're going to make a few mistakes. But I reminded the guys that we started 1-1 last year and went on to win the division title. We just have to improve each game."
Ithaca's final score was an own-goal by the EFA defense, but was a direct result of constant pressure from Ithaca's Andrew Troisi, who was the closest Little Red player to the free ball that was volleyed into the Devils' net.
EFA senior midfielder Charlie Anderson liked playing on the new field, saying: "It's not just a carpet, like some other fields we play on. It gives you nice, true bounces, and we all like it."
Ithaca Scoring: Sullivan (1-0), Williamson (1-0), Kucharski (EFA - own goal)
Goalkeeper Saves: Ithaca (Kaminsky - 7), EFA (Ford - 12, Warrick - 0)
Shots-Corners: Ithaca (14-4), EFA (7-5)
