Elmira District Boys Soccer

October 20, 2007
By Michelle Dunne Sampsell
msampsell@stargazette.com
Star-Gazette

Like it was on cue, the rain started during the national anthem. After 20 minutes, there were standing puddles on the field.

Two teams with a possession style needed to make adjustments in the mud, and Johnson City proved more successful than Elmira Free Academy did in a 4-3 win Friday afternoon in a Southern Tier Athletic Conference boys soccer semifinal game at EFA.

Johnson City will face Vestal on Monday for the STAC title (Vestal downed Susquahanna Valley 8-0).

EFA (11-5-1) had many calls go against it in the first half. Each time, Johnson City (15-1) put the ball in play quickly, catching the Blue Devils with their hands up in the air. The Wildcats scored three goals in a five-minute span, taking a 3-1 lead. Twice, Johnson City's Dani Brkovic dribbled into open space inside the 18, shot and scored.

"We let (Brkovic) beat us today. He scored three goals," said EFA coach Derek Hamilton. "He's an excellent player, and when you do stupid things against an excellent player, they're going to burn you."

Wildcats captain Joel Collins also dominated, especially in the first half, and used the weather to his advantage. As the game progressed, Collins took more outside shots.

"That's what I tried to get them to do," said Johnson City coach Hristos Dimitriou. "With these conditions, if you get a good shot it can go anywhere if it skips."

Collins finally netted one from 35 yards out on a free kick with 2:13 left in the first half, the wet ball skipping into the right side of the net off goalie Bobby McGinnis' gloves.

Despite a goal by EFA's Kevyn Rustici in the opening minutes of the second half -- his second of the game -- Johnson City gained momentum again thanks to EFA mistakes. Brkovic capitalized on a corner kick with 18:36 left to make it 4-2.

"We're flying in uncontrollably on tackles so they're dribbling around us, instead of us stepping off and making sure they stay in front of us," Hamilton said.

McGinnis provided a key moment late in the game when he stopped a Brkovic penalty kick and two rebound shots. EFA immediately went down the field, and Semko Abdullah found the back of the net, making the score 4-3 with 14:29 left.

"The keeper made a great triple-save on the penalty kick," Dimitriou said. "Then we give up the goal right after that and we lose our cushion. The bottom line is we came through and we survived it."

Said Hamilton: "I totally expect us to rebound from this. I expect us to play much better the next game with a limited amount of mistakes."

EFA will host the Maine-Endwell/Oneonta winner at 3:30 p.m. next Saturday in a Section 4 Class A semifinal.

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

Johnson City Scoring - Brkovic (3-0), Collins (0-1)

Shots/Corners - EFA (13-4), Johnson City (17-7)

Saves - EFA (McGinnis - 13), Johnson City (Yurecka - 10)