Rhinebeck captures MHAL Division III crown

RHINEBECK, N.Y. >> Rhinebeck High blanked Ellenville 3-0 Thursday to clinch the Mid-Hudson Athletic League boys soccer Division III title.

With the win, the Hawks (10-0-1, 5-0-1 MHAL) will face Mount Academy in the MHAL semifinals.

Devin Green’s goal off of Liam Curthoys’ assist in the eighth minute gave Rhinebeck a 1-0 lead it held through a first half in which it didn’t surrender a single shot to the Devils.

Early in the second half, Ellenville goalkeeper Shpen Vuceovic made an error that resulted in a corner. The Devils failed to clear it and surrendered another corner.

After a half clear, the Hawks took a soft shot that Vuceovic had covered the entire way, but he ended up spilling it right to the feet of Nakoa Zuger, who capitalized and deposited the ball between the posts to make it 2-0 Rhinebeck in the 43rd minute.

“That’s the goal that hurt us,” Ellenville Coach Maxwell Mead said. “I don’t even think it was necessarily that they scored the goal that hurt, but the manner in which we gave up that goal.”

Colin Murray later scored off a feed from Gideon Rothschild in the 70th minute to put it away.

“We made a ton of errors and simply gave them too many chances,” Mead said. “In the end, a team like Rhinebeck is too good to make mistakes against. “They made us pay.”

The Hawks dominated 16-0 in corners and led 9-4 in shots.

Brendan Hines recorded three saves for Rhinebeck, while Vuceovic finished with four for the Devils (82-1, 5-2-1).

Millbrook 2, Onteora 0

At Millbrook, the Blazers (5-6) scored both their goals in their victory over the Eagles.

David Sager scored off a Jozef Gjidoda assist in the fourth minute to give Millbrook a 1-0 lead. Joe Fernadez scored the Blazers’ other goal in the 25th minute

Jahaziel Jimenez put up 14 saves for the shutout, while Jackson Scanlon and Falcon Krause combined for 12 for Onteora (7-8).