Announcement
Andrew Legare, alegare@stargazette.com @SGAndrewLegare
Ithaca scored the first five goals Wednesday afternoon and held on for a 5-3 victory over Elmira that clinched a fourth consecutive Southern Tier Athletic Conference West Division boys soccer title for the Little Red.
Ithaca (10-2) led, 4-0, at halftime behind two goals from Michael Gualtieri and one each from Max Chang and Nathan Strominger. Andreas Lambrou added a fifth on a penalty kick just under four minutes into the second half on the turf at Ernie Davis Academy's Marty Harrigan Athletic Field.
"The first half, we had our game plan and we knew that we needed to win this game," Ithaca coach Gilbert Antoine said. "That’s why we came out fairly strongly to play them."
Noah Sperduto scored twice for Elmira, with his second goal bringing the Express (8-3-1, 7-3-1 STAC) within two with 17:07 left. That followed a brilliant goal from Luke Baldwin on a redirect of a Gavin Wise free kick with 19:58 remaining.
Ithaca bounces back
The Little Red was coming off a 1-0 loss to Vestal on Monday and also fell to Elmira, 2-0, earlier this season for its only other setback. Antoine said his team was more aggressive in the rematch with the Express than it was at home Sept. 11.
"We were taking shots that we did not take when we played them the first time at home," Antoine said. "We were a little bit relaxed when we played them at home."
Ithaca had some players out with injuries Wednesday. Antoine said he was happy with the way some players who are normally substitutes stepped up.
Elmira slow out of the gate
Elmira has scored five of the six goals Ithaca has allowed all season, but in the first half Wednesday, the Little Red looked like a team playing at a higher level. Express coach Derek Hamilton viewed it more as his team not playing to its standards.
"We didn’t come out the way we should have in the first half in terms of our intensity or being prepared to play, for whatever reason," he said. "But I think we saw how closely matched we are in that second half. Our goal at the halftime was to win the second half and we did that, three goals to one, and their one goal was a penalty."
Hamilton chalked the sluggish first half to the fact they're high school kids, but he said Elmira has to treat every opponent the same way, whether that's a power such as Ithaca or a team at the bottom of the standings.
Express makes a push
Ithaca's fourth goal came with 13 seconds to go in the first half and the next was on the penalty kick. Facing a five-goal hole in perhaps its biggest game of the season, Elmira got off the ground and made things interesting, starting with Sperduto's goal with 32:37 left.
"I just loved the way we showed a little resiliency, coming back and putting two on them and shaking them up a little bit," Hamilton said. "I think they were kind of cashing in a little bit and they didn't think we had two goals in us, but that kind of swung the momentum of the game."
Hamilton added Ithaca had the edge in possession time during what he called an evenly played final 30 minutes, while his players had the better scoring chances.
"I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy win because Elmira, usually they fight hard," Antoine said. "The second half, I knew they were going to come hard at us. But one of our key defenders was out, two of them were out. It was a little bit shaky in the back. That’s why I think they were lucky and they got a couple goals in. But it’s soccer. Anything can happen in soccer. I’ve seen teams that are winning, 6-0, (and) the next thing they lose, 7-6. And Elmira’s a good team."
Wise returns for Elmira
The Express was bolstered by the presence of Wise, a senior midfielder Hamilton said last week was expected to miss four-to-eight weeks with mononucleosis. His coach and teammates were glad to see him back much sooner than originally expected.
"He was a big difference-maker for us today because he’s that one guy who can break teams down off the dribble in the midfield," Hamilton said. "He was electric today. He got himself an assist and we were really dangerous when we got the ball to his feet.
State rankings
Ithaca entered the game ranked seventh in Class AA by the New York State Sportswriters Association. Elmira is ranked 20th this week after it was eighth in the previous Class AA rankings.
Up next
Ithaca closes the regular season at Owego on Friday. Elmira is home against Binghamton on Friday and home against Vestal on Tuesday.
Elmira and Ithaca could see each other a fourth time in the Section 4 Class AA final, if they both get there. The Little Red will be the top seed for the tournament, with Elmira second.
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