The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Hamilton downs F-S, falls to Mount Markham
The Hamilton boys soccer team reached the Section III Class C quarterfinals with a win over Frankfort-Schuyler but fell short of the semifinals, losing to Mount Markham to end the season.
HAMILTON » The Hamilton boys soccer team saw plenty of turnover before the start of the 2016 campaign, welcoming a new head coach and replacing several senior starters from last year’s team that reached the Section III Class C semifinals.
That didn’t stop the Emerald Knights from having another strong season.
Ben Bikowsky and Chance Croyle each scored two goals Wednesday evening, lifting the team to a 5-0 victory over Frankfort-Schuyler in the first round of the playoffs.
“We’ve got guys who have been in the program long enough that they know what Hamilton soccer is,” said coach Brian Rose. “We stress tradition here at Hamilton with our soccer program. It’s something these kids grow up with. They’ve seen the teams in the past walk through the building.
They know the history behind it so I just remind them, we’ve got to live up to what’s been set before us.”
The Emerald Knights couldn’t return to the semifinals, however, falling to Mount-Markham 4-2 in Friday night’s quarterfinal match.
The No. 7 seed Emerald Knights needed little time to take an early lead on Wednesday. Peter Klingaman played a long ball into the box for Eamon Pendleton-Witherspoon, who tracked it down and headed it past keeper Walter Siegenthaler for a 1- 0 lead in the fifth minute.
Hamilton continued to press and broke through again in the 17th minute. Erik Geier found Bikowsky with a low cross and the senior midfielder finished with a shot inside the far post, extending the lead to 2-0. Croyle pushed that advantage to 3-0 before intermission, taking a through ball from Geordi Geier and working through the defense before firing a shot into the back of the net in the 37th minute.
He made a bid for another goal minutes later but bounced a shot off the far post, keeping it a threegoal match going into halftime.
Bikowsky added his second goal in the 57th minute before Croyle capped the scoring in the 78th minute, heading home a cross from Josh Egleston for the 5-0 margin of victory.
The five goals backed up a strong defensive effort for the Emerald Knights, who didn’t allow the Maroon Knights to put a shot on goal.
“It’s nice to see that we came out and did the job that we needed to,” said Rose. “We controlled the ball like I asked them to, we moved it around like I asked them to and it paid off in the long run so I’m very happy with the way we played.”
The Emerald Knights then faced the No. 2 Mustangs looking to pull of an upset in the quarterfinals for the third straight season but came up short on the road.