The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Area teams return to pitch for 2018
Madison, Stockbridge, Hamilton, Oneida, Camden and Holy Cross teams prepare for new season.
A pair of former Madison Central School teammates are looking to shake things up in the Central Counties League in 2018.
Madison head coach Mike Strong and Stockbridge Valley coach Jerdy Genge, teammates in Madison during the 1990s, will once again helm their respective programs as the Blue Devils and Cougars try to navigate a topheavy CCL.
Strong, now in his sixth season as head coach, brings back Brady Strong, who is expected to be more involved in the midfield and creating and finishing scoring opportunities. Second team all-star Eric Eaton and honorable mention all-star Eamonn Shields will have elevated rolls as well, Eaton on defense and Shields will give the Devils a strong Mid-field presence. Other returning starters whose roles are expected to increase are David Karaman and Jake Vedder in the midfield, and Josh Neidhart on defense. Keith Lewis will try to solidify a spot at forwardor center mid. Otherplayers with advanced roles this year are Shane Bingel, Jake Neidhart, Troy Brayman, James Staelens Jr., Bradley Marsh, Blake Mennig, Grayson McBride and Matt Shultz. Top newcomers are Gavin Helmke, a first year keeper, Cody Day, AidenEstes, Yakson Jiminez, Josh Drake,and eighth graderHudson Idzi.
“We want to work hard, play as a team, support each other, and compete at a high level. Our success will ultimately be based on our improvement throughout the year,” Mike Strong said. “We
play in a tough league and there are no easy games. Anytime you see Cincinnatus, McGraw, Brookfield, and up-start Stockbridge twice on your schedule, you know you have some work to do. All are perennial soccer powers and Jerdy has done a great job turning the Cougar program around.”
Genge, now in his second year as head coach of the Cougars, is in the middle of a youth movement in Stockbridge.
“We are a very young team with only two seniors returning for the 2018 season,” the Cougar head coach said. “Our goals this year are to get better each day, taking it one practice/ game at a time, work hard, and enjoy the season.”
Following a 5-10 record in 2017, the Cougars will lean on a quartet of key players back in maroon for the 2018 season. Goalkeeper and second-teamallstar Wyatt Reed, honorable mention defenseman Sam Smith, honorable mention midfielder Todd Conklin, and forward Kaleb Jones will reprise their roles from a season ago. Genge also has his eye on defenseman Austin Nolley, midfielder Ethan Enslow, and midfielder Tyler Fisher as a trio of players ready to assume a bigger role for the Cougars in 2018.
“We want to compete at a high level in the CCL and play for a sectional playoff birth,” Genge said of the team’s goals.
Elsewhere in southern Madison County, the HamiltonEmeraldKnights bring back2017 all-starsErikGeier and Dan Jerome, as well as veterans Spencer Thomas and TJ Larson. Sixth-year head coach Brian Rose also expects JD Speer, Zach Bernard, Seth Walden, and Aiden Helfant to step into bigger roles for Hamilton this season as it seeks to remain near the top of a Center State Conference Division IV that includes 2017 Section III Class D champion Poland.
“Contend for a league title andmake a strong post-season run,” Rose said of Hamilton’s 2018 goals.
In the Tri-Valley League Pioneer Division, Oneida enters 2018 following a postseason berth a year ago. Pioneer Division first-TeamallStar Isaac Colvin will look to assume a more prominent role in theOneidamidfield as one of three seniors, along with defenders Shant DanadianandJacobGeorge, on an Oneida team stocked with 11 juniors and three sophomores.
One of Oneida’s biggest foes in the TVL includes 2017 league champion Camden. The Blue Devils enter 2018 under the guidance of sixth-year head coach Brad Scanlan following the program’s first ever sectional victorylast season. TVLfirstteam all-star Sam Dunfield returns for the Blue Devil defense, as do Luke Campbell and Carter Aldridge. In the midfield, first-team allstarsParker Scholl andZack Amo will be joined by Matt Lucero and Josh Ott. Josh Leos will fill the void left by 2017 Keeper of the Year Nigel Meagher.
“After coming off a successful season last year, Camden is looking to compete ina challengingTri-Valley League again this year,” Scanlan said. “The boys are working hard and are motivated to compete this year.”
Aiding Camden in its goals will be newcomers Nick Balcomand Ethan Gerow, both expected to play up front, and defenseman Eric Donaldson.
Chitttenango is another team to qualify for the postseason in 2017 before being ousted by the aforementionedBlueDevils. TheBears return all-star first-teamallstar keeperNoahSchnauffer andfirst-teamall-star senior Caleb Prenoveau. Fellow senior and second-team midfielder Vince Cameron joins Schnauffer and Prenoveau to give 2017 Onondaga High School League Liberty American Coach of the Year Brian Thomas a formidable trio as theBears look for success in 2018.
The Holy Cross Academy boys soccer team will be a familiar foe to TVL teams such as Oneida, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, and Central Valley Academy this season. Head coach David Lester returns to helm the program, and thoughHCA was not allowed to compete at the postseason level a season ago, they proved to be a formidable bunch, capturing the Otselic Valley Tournament Championship in 2017.