Announcement
Express Boys Top Corning For Class AA Title Shot
A four-goal first half and a momentum-changing score from Gavin Wise helped send the Elmira boys soccer team to the Section 4 Class AA final with a 5-3 victory over visiting Corning on Wednesday afternoon in a semifinal at Ernie Davis Academy.
Wise scored his second goal of the game with 13 minutes, 38 seconds to play to reclaim Elmira's two-goal lead after Corning charged back from a 4-0 halftime hole. The Hawks scored three times in the first 22 minutes of the half to get within one.
Second-seeded Elmira (10-4-1) will face top-seeded Ithaca (12-3) in the championship game Saturday at the Wright National Soccer Campus in Oneonta. The time will be announced. Elmira and Ithaca split two regular-season games.
“We had short-term and long-term goals at the beginning of the season,” Elmira coach Derek Hamilton said. “Our long-term goal was to get to the section final. We assumed it would be Ithaca because they’re a great program. We’re at that point. We have two days to prepare. The kids are excited, I’m excited for them. What’s been a really successful season so far continues, at least for another few days, and then see what happens.”
Jan Ziembicki scored the first two goals for Elmira, with the first coming 3:26 into play. His goal with 17:06 left in the half made it 2-0. Noah Sperduto and Wise added goals for Elmira in the final 13 minutes of the half.
Corning, the No. 3 seed, finished at 7-7-2.
Hawks battle to the finish
Isaac Cornfield buried a penalty kick for Corning's first goal with 33:32 left in the second half to make it a 4-1 game. Seth Grottenthaler scored on a header just over a minute later for the Hawks, then brought them within one with a score on a rebound after a free kick with 18:36 to play.
Just like that, a game that appeared to be over was suddenly a nail-biter.
“We came out a little soft in the first half,” Corning coach Steve Mastronardi said. “Against a team like Elmira with finishers and creators, it’s hard to do that. We kind of fell asleep a couple of times. Kudos to them. They capitalized. But as I told them at halftime, you leave your heart on the field and with Hawks pride you come back. They did and I couldn’t have asked for anything more, getting it back to 4-3 and having three or four good chances to tie it.”
Corning also made some tactical changes, switching its formation to get more people up into attack mode.
“We had to take risks and be drastic,” Mastronardi said. “It worked for a while. They seemed to get into it and create opportunities.”
Senior leadership rises
Ziembicki and Wise each had an assist to go with two goals apiece. Sperduto, Zane Benjamin-Herchanik and Nate Forrest also contributed assists for the Express.
Wise’s second goal capped a big night for Elmira’s seniors.
“It’s a senior that took it into his own hands to make sure we moved on to the next round,” Hamilton said. “We had five goals and five assists and eight of those tallies were from seniors today, which is what you’re looking for from your seniors, that senior leadership.”
Hamilton said he knew Corning wouldn’t fold at halftime and cited the penalty kick as igniting the Hawks’ second-half surge. He added his players looked uncomfortable playing with a four-goal lead and it was vital to both regain a two-goal cushion and return the edge back into the Express’ favor.
“Those three consecutive goals, they put a shock into us and we lost our composure for a little while,” Hamilton said. “That goal allowed us to regain it.”
One last chance
As big a blow as Wise’s second goal was to Corning’s hopes, another key play came in the form of a diving save from Express goalie Corey Templar off a header with 11:30 remaining. That was the last quality scoring chance for the Hawks.
"Even in the end, they still didn’t give up when it was 5-3," Mastronardi said of his team. "A great senior crew. Good luck to Elmira. Great coaching staff, good kids. But the Corning Hawks are great, too."
History lesson
This will be Elmira’s second trip to a sectional final in boys soccer since the team was formed in 2011, following the mergers of Southside and Elmira Free Academy. Elmira lost to Ithaca, 5-0, four years ago in the title game. Hamilton previously coached EFA to two sectional championships in three appearances in title games.
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