SEASON IN REVIEW: BOYS' SOCCER

Greg Dedrick

ccSCOOP Sports

Germantown
The Clippers have not been a traditional power in the Central Hudson Valley League, and although they were not in contention for a league title this year, the Clips did start to build on things and become a team that could not be taken lightly. Germantown picked up three wins this season in the league, two over Heatly and one over Doane Stuart, and even more impressively earned two 3-3 draws against New Lebanon.
 
Germantown didn’t have a huge roster and even had two female players on their team because of the lack of a women’s squad this year, but interest is growing especially in the younger grades. The Clippers are not expected to take a big hit due to graduation, but the loss of Brandon Jason, Jon Diehl, and Luis Suarez will be felt.
 
Next season should be looking up for the Clippers since both their leading scorers are slated to return. Sophomore Francisco Medina tallied 10 goals and added 3 assists, while junior Cody Broast, who also stars on the basketball court and baseball diamond, scored 8 goals and added 5 assists. Junior Ryan Ogden will be back to help bolster a defense that will lose most of its star power, while freshman Christian Craig will look to build on his successful first year. Also set to return is goalie Dan Rifenburg.
 
With all these returnees, the Clippers should be able to build on this year and push themselves into the upper half of the league next season.

 
New Lebanon
This wasn’t your typical dominating New Lebanon squad that ran through the CHVL on their way to competing for a Section II Class D title, but that does not mean it was a bad year at all for the Tigers. New Lebanon finished 3-6-3 in the league this year as the young Tigers fell victim to more experienced teams around the league.
 
The Tigers also competed in two tournaments, falling in both games in the first before capturing their own New Lebanon Tournament with two victories, including an exciting penalty-kick shootout in the finals where Mike Gavrity brought home the Most Valuable Player award.
 
After a 6-8-3 regular season the Tigers headed into sectional play looking to make a splash and started things off on the right foot, trouncing Salem 3-0. Once into the next round they matched up with a powerhouse Fort Ann squad and fell behind 2-0. After New Lebanon pulled within a single goal, Fort Ann scored again to go up 3-1. The Tigers refused to quit, pulling to 3-2, but could never quite score that equalizer as their season came to an end.
 
This season for New Lebanon three players reached the 5 goals or higher plateau including Chris Evans who finished with 8 goals along with Mike Gavrity and Todd Ferguson who scored 5 apiece. Evans also added 7 assists on the year while Thomas Laier tallied 3 goals and 5 assists. Gavrity added 3 assists to his points total.
 
 
Ichabod Crane
After a couple of down years, the Riders' youth was finally served as ICC found its way back up to the top of the Patroon Conference, led by a number of young guns and some experienced veterans. The Riders went 13-2-1 in the league, taking over the crown from recent powers Maple Hill and Chatham and narrowly holding on over upstart Cairo-Durham.
 
After a successful regular season, the Riders were awarded one of the two first seeds handed out in the Class A playoffs. After a first round bye, the Riders started off the second round ICC looked good and primed for a deep playoff run after a 2-0 victory over Catholic Central. Unfortunately for the Riders, they ran into the defending Class A champs in Mohonasen, who ended up winning the crown again this season after a 1-0 overtime win over Ichabod Crane.
 
The Riders captured the Patroon Conference title on the strength of their play against the other top-tier teams. Against the second (Cairo-Durham), third (Maple Hill), and fourth (Chatham) place teams in the league, the Riders went a combined 4-1-1.
 
Among those leading the Riders this year were senior forward Kyle Kline who racked up a league leading 15 goals and added 3 assists. Fellow seniors Phil Basile (3 goals, 2 assists), Kenny Wengler, and sweeper Nick Boardman will be huge losses for next year.
 
Underclassmen really helped lead the charge for ICC this year with Mitchell Niemeyer scoring 10 goals and Will Poetzsch finishing with 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists). Bernie Watt added 2 goals and 3 assists, and freshman Tyler Jablanski picked up 2 assists and has a bright future with this team. Although Mike Niemann didn’t put huge stats, his play in the center mid along with Poetzsch was key.
 
Early in the season, junior Steve Domino manned the goal before switching out to fill voids left by injuries in the field. His versatility will be big for next year. Alex Mastrianni’s seamless transition into the goal made the move out for Domino easy. Mastrianni continued to improve as the year went on and should be primed for a strong run next year.
 
Boardman, Niemeyer, and Poetzsch were all named first team, and Kline made the second team all conference list.
 
 
Chatham
The Panthers did not capture a share of the league crown as they did in the past two years, but they still finished 11-3-1 in the league—good for fourth place and the top seed in the Class C sectionals. Just as in the rest of their season, the Panthers had high hopes but came up short, falling shockingly after their first round bye to eighth-seeded Hoosick Falls.
 
Despite struggles against ICC and Cairo-Durham (a combined record of 0-3-1), the Panthers took care of business against recent rival Maple Hill, knocking them off twice. Overall the Panthers outscored their opponents 37 to 13 in the regular season.
 
The Panthers had an experienced team this season and looked primed for a deep sectional run but came up short despite good seasons by some seniors. Tyler Mashaw was a leader, switching between mid and defense, while Todd Van Alstyne was a goal-scoring and creative presence in central mid, and Mike Gilbert one of the top sweepers in the league.
 
Chatham will still return a strong core for next season, including Will Gauthier and Willy McEachern up front, Cody Clifford and Ryan Behrens in the mid, and freshman Francesco Tine who gained valuable experience this year. The Panthers will also return Steven Oleynek in goal, who now has a year and a half of experience between the pipes.
 
Gauthier and Van Alstyne were both voted onto the first team All Conference team by the coaches around the league, and Mike Gilbert was selected to the second team.
 
 
Taconic Hills
The Titans had a tough year this season in the Patroon Conference, going 1-15 with their only victory coming against fellow one-win squad and Columbia County foe, Hudson. The Titans struggled mightily this year with one of their biggest claims to fame coming from being the first team to score on ICC this year, breaking the Riders shutout streak.
 
Jake Littman had a strong season in goal for the Titans despite the number of losses on his resume. When Littman wasn’t in goal, Gabe Arcuri filled in and did an admirable job. Leading the way offensively for the Titans was Mitchell Albrecht who finished with 4 goals and 2 assists, while Alex Mierzejewski tallied 1 goal and 4 assists. Cam Wheeler finished with 2 goals, and Coleman Yager added a goal and an assist this year.
 
Senior midfielder Chris Thompson was the lone selection from Taconic Hills on the All Conference list making second team.

 
Hudson
Despite a recent upswing by the Hudson soccer team, this season was a step back for the Bluehawks. They struggled from the start with getting enough people to try for the teams. On the field the play dipped, and Hudson went through the season without earning a win until their second-to-last game when they knocked off Taconic Hills. Hudson finished 1-15, tied for last in the Patroon Conference.
 
It was a tough offensive year for Hudson since they scored just 8 goals the entire season. Ian Hunter finished the season with 2 goals and an 1 assist, while teammates Hector Chavez and Roodley Dorce finished with 2 goals apiece. Luis Lopez and Zach Bartolotta each finished with a goal and an assist.
 
In goal, Brett Delamater did a good job despite earning just one win. He was rewarded by being the only Hudson selection on the All Conference list, making the second team.