WEEK IN REVIEW: BOYS' SOCCER
Greg Dedrick
ccSCOOP Sports
11-14-09 - Three local teams started sectional play, and after a week of action only one remained standing: top-seeded Ichabod Crane in Class A, who were gearing up to play the third-seed from the south Mohonasen in Queensbury, with a spot in the finals on the line.
Also this week the Patroon Conference announced its annual All Conference list, which we will discuss further down the page.
Mohonasen v. Ichabod Crane
Facing the defending Class A champion Mighty Warriors, the Riders played the Suburban Council squad dead even through 80 full minutes and much of the overtime. It was just one small breakdown less than a minute into the first overtime that cost the Riders their shot at a sectional title.
Forty seconds into the first overtime Mohon's Gianluca Puorto ripped a one-time volley off a Rider defensive clearance that found its way into the back of the net, propelling Mohon to a 1-0 victory.
The loss ends a fantastic Rider season that included a Patroon Conference title and a top seed in sectionals.
PATROON CONFERENCE ALL STARS LIST
MVP
Steven Swoboda (Cairo-Durham)
1st TEAM
Matel Anasta (Catskill);
Nathan Barbour (Coxsackie-Athens);
Nick Boardman (Ichabod Crane);
Will Gauthier (Chatham);
Cory Gransbury (Cairo-Durham);
Mitchell Niemeyer (Ichabod Crane);
Will Poetzsch (Ichabod Crane);
Mike Sanchez (Greenville);
Steven Sepkowski (Maple Hill);
Todd Van Alstyne (Chatham)
2nd TEAM
Phil Basile (Ichabod Crane);
Nate Bullich (Coxsackie-Athens);
Hector Chavez (Hudson);
Brett Delamater (Hudson);
Mike Gilbert (Chatham);
Jacob Yager (Maple Hill);
Kyle Kline (Ichabod Crane);
Matt Palmer (Maple Hill);
Chris Thompson (Taconic Hills);
Zack Whiting (Coxsackie-Athens);
Peter Zolner (Cairo-Durham)
REACTION:
I'm a bit shocked Zwoboda got MVP. I think there were a fair number of guys who could have been voted ahead of him. He's a good player and certainly was in the discussion, but his selection did catch me offguard, and from talking to a few players around the league, they were surprised as well.
I can't argue much with the First Team other than thinking there had to be a way to get Kyle Kline in there. I know he didn't have a ton of "quality goals" this year, but when a team prepared to face ICC, I am pretty sure Kline had to be at the top of the list of things the opposing coaches would key in on.
Also I am a little surprised Mike Gilbert wasn't on the list, but with one sweeper already on the list, Nick Boardman, I guess it makes some sense.
The only other player that I thought I'd see was David Briggs from Maple Hill, a kid I thought was in serious contention for MVP but instead made neither team. Was he one of the upperclassmen for Maple Hill that was suspended? If so, that shows why he didn't make it on either team, but I was under the impression that players were suspended not kicked off the team, so I thought I'd still see him somewhere on the lists.
Second Team makes sense for the most part, I won't disagree really. I thought maybe Mitchell Albrecht would slide on from TH over his teammate, but we're splitting hairs there. Other names I was just surprised not to see included Tyler Mashaw from Chatham, along with Steve Domino and Alex Mastrianni. Domino did a lot for this team. I think he and Basile were probably pretty close in importance to the Riders, while Mastrianni was good in goal. The stats show it. My bet is Dellamater had to show more in his games and that bumped him up as people often just credited the Rider defense for their keeper's stats.
Andy Fishman and Chris Gagliardi each had nice years for Cairo, and both were in discussion for Second Team I'm sure. Sanchez made First Team from Greenville, but George Harvey didn't even get on the Second Team. I think if Sanchez is a first teammer then Harvey has to be on the second.
