The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Chittenango wins, Oneida loses in openers
Steele nets sudden-victory winner for Central Square
Chittenango routed Phoenix on Tuesday after Oneida fell to Central Square in an overtime thriller.
CHITTENANGO, N.Y. » The Oneida boys soccer team saw a 2-0 halftime lead disappear for the second straight time in its season opener at the Chittenango tournament on Tuesday, one year to the day after a thrilling 5- 4 victory over the hosts.
This time, coach Mike Blair’s squad couldn’t pull out another dramatic win.
Logan Foster and Noah Steele scored two goals apiece with Steele’s second coming six minutes into the first overtime period to give Central Square a 4-3 victory.
“I think we played well first half,” said Blair. “We didn’t use the middle but our goalie played great. He had a lot of saves. I think we got tired in the second half.
“But for the first game I think we did pretty well.”
He had plenty of youth on the field, with two juniors and four sophomores seeing significant playing time. Isaac Colvin, a junior, scored both first-half goals for Oneida while sophomore Thomas Smolen played well in goal, stopping 13 shots.
“It’s not a lot of kids this year
so we’ve got to work with what we have,” said Blair. “The sophomores that are up are very good players. They’re going to help our team a lot. They’re going to be playing a lot.”
Central Square made a bid to take an early lead but couldn’t break through, sending three shots wide of the frame in the opening four minutes. Colvin instead broke through for Oneida in the seventh, working a free kick from 14 yards out around the wall and inside the near post for a 1- 0 advantage.
Blair’s squad then tried to work its counterattack but struggled with the timing and was called for being offside several times. Zach Friend was able to successfully get behind the defense once but his shot missed wide.
The Red Hawks pressured for an equalizer, earning a corner kick in the 17th minute, but missed their best opportunity when they couldn’t get a shot on goal.
Colvin took advantage of his chance to tack on to Oneida’s lead in the 24th minute when a Central Square hand ball in the box led to a penalty kick. The junior drove a low shot to keeper Robby Howley’s right for his second goal and a 2- 0 lead.
Howley kept the lead from growing before halftime, making a pair of tough saves on Alex Vaccaro shots.
Smolen tipped the ball over the crossbar for a great save on an Ethan Hayner free kick in the 44th minute to preserve the two- goal edge before Central Square began its comeback. Foster took a pass from Gabe Peters on the right side and knocked a shot inside the far post to trim the lead to 2- 1 in the 45th minute.
Foster then assisted on the equalizer five minutes later, taking a pass from Hayner and finding Steele, who scored to even the match at 2- 2.
Foster added his second goal in the 53rd when he collected the ball in front of the net and knocked it in, giving the Red Hawks a 3- 2 lead.
A pair of great defensive plays kept Oneida within striking distance before the end of regulation. With Smolen out of the goal, Jacob DeRuby cleared the ball off the line to prevent a potential score. Smolen added a great one- on- one save in the 69thminute to keep his team within a goal.
Those plays set up Josh Goode’s equalizer in the 71st. The senior took the ball through the middle of the box against the Central Square defense, beating Howley to knot the score at 3- 3 and force overtime.
Oneida missed a chance in the 84th when Central Square turned away a corner kick. The Red Hawks capitalized two minutes later when Foster’s backheel pass found Steele, who drove a shot home for the winner.
“Central Square played a great game,” said Blair. “They didn’t get down on themselves. They came right back second half and scored right away. It was a great game by them.”