Elmira District Boys Soccer

No. 8 Golden Bears' Scores Come 10 Minutes Apart

Staff report • September 23, 2009 - www.stargazette.com

Two state-ranked boys soccer teams battled on even terms for more than half the game before Vestal broke through for a 2-0 victory over host Elmira Free Academy on Wednesday afternoon in Southern Tier Athletic Conference play.

Nate Economou and Geno Rocco scored about 10 minutes apart in the second half for the Golden Bears (7-1), who are ranked eighth in Class AA by the New York State Sportswriters Association.

Vestal outshot EFA 10-3. The Blue Devils are ranked ninth in Class A by the New York State Sportswriters Association.

"We did a nice job defensively in the first 40 (minutes)," EFA coach Derek Hamilton said. "Vestal is a very good team, so I knew it would be a difficult match. They're very solid defensively.

"We had limited opportunities, and we didn't take advantage of them."

Hamilton hailed the play of EFA defenders Nick Lian, Kevin Kucharski, Jake Davenport and Tim Earley.

"They did a nice job of containing some very talented Vestal players in the first half," Hamilton said.

Vestal goalie Shawn Lewis turned away three shots to earn the shutout.

Luke Ford made eight saves for EFA (4-3-1).

"It was a fantastic game between two teams with mutual respect for each other," Hamilton said.

Horseheads goals-assists: own goal.

EFA g-a: Nick Lian 1-0, Denzel Harris 0-1.

Goalie saves: Ian Boor (H) 5; Luke Ford (EFA) 5.

Shots-corners: Horseheads 8-5; EFA 8-6.

Records: EFA 4-2-1, 4-2-1; Horseheads 3-2-1, 3-2-1.

"Corning moved the ball really well through the midfield, but we were able to capitalize on our chances," EFA coach Derek Hamilton said.

Nick Jakobson scored Corning's goal on a penalty kick with 11 seconds left.

EFA is ranked seventh in Class A by the New York State Sportswriters Association.

Corning 0 1 -- 1EFA 2 0 -- 2

Corning goals-assists: Nick Jakobson 1-0.

EFA g-a: Denzel Harris 2-0, Ross Holden 0-1, Nick Lian 0-1.

Goalie saves: Jonathan Howitt (C) 5; Luke Ford (EFA) 11.

Shots-corners: Corning 11-5; EFA 7-1.

Records: EFA 4-2, 4-2; Corning 3-2, 3-2.

Junior forward Carl Learned (Elmira, N.Y./Elmira Free Academy) headed in both of Keuka’s goals as the Storm knocked off the visiting Hawks of Hilbert College 2-1 on Tuesday.

Keuka improves to 3-1-1 on the year while Hilbert falls to 0-6 on the season.

The Storm controlled the pace of play the entire game while out-shooting the Hawks 23-10.  Hilbert managed just two shots on goal all game.  Learned got the Storm on the board in the 28th minute (27:23) with his first goal of the season.  Learned headed the ball right to the Hawks goalie who tipped it right back to Learned for another header.  The second chance found the back of the net and would become the game-winning goal.  The score would remain 1-0 in favor of the Storm at halftime.

Keuka’s second goal would come off a perfect serve by senior defender Ian Loos (Elizabethtown, KY/West Genesee) right to Learned who headed it in to give the Storm a 2-0 advantage.  The goal came in the 73rd minute (72:36).

Hilbert, who was held to just three shots in second half, cut Keuka’s lead in half in the 84th minute (83:18) after Dave Cunningham crossed the ball to a wide open Greg Zitnik who headed it past Keuka’s keeper.

Keuka goalie Mike Meskill (Trumansburg, N.Y./Charles O. Dickerson) improved to 3-1-1 on the year while stopping one shot.  Hilbert’s Josh Taylor collected eight saves in the loss.

The Storm will next play at SUNY Cobleskill this Saturday, Sept. 19 beginning at 1 pm.

Said EFA coach Derek Hamilton: "Vestal's a very good team. We had a couple of defensive lapses. That was the difference in the game."

Vestal goals-assists: Nick Paticia 1-0, Robbie Hoover 1-0, Tommy Rocco 0-1.

Goalie saves: Luke Ford (EFA) 10; Shawn Lewis (V) 4.

Shots-corners: EFA 4-2; Vestal 12-7.

Records: EFA 3-2, 3-2; Vestal 4-1.