Elmira District Boys Soccer

9:36 PM, Sep 23, 2013 - www.stargazette.com

Eli Halperin and Andrew Field scored goals for the Elmira boys soccer team Monday in a 2-1 road victory against Southern Tier Athletic Conference opponent Maine-Endwell.

Kyle Johnson added an assist for the Express (3-4-1), which led 1-0 at halftime.

Shea Osovski scored a second-half goal for Maine-Endwell (3-4) to tie the score.

Elmira Scoring - Halperin (1-0), Field (1-0), K. Johnson (0-1)

Maine-Endwell Scoring - S. Osovski (1-0), L. Osovski (0-1)

Shots/Corners - Elmira (10-4), Maine-Endwell (4-2)

Saves - Elmira (Coster-2), Maine-Endwell (Millard - 7)

www.stargazette.com - Staff Report -  9:41 PM, Sep 14, 2013

Boys Soccer 

Elmira 7, Binghamton 0: At Binghamton, Curtis Grant scored three goals for Elmira in a STAC victory over the Patriots.

Kyle Johnson added a goal and two assists for the Express (2-2-1). Caleb Johnson, Andrew Field and Dylan Tiffany also scored goals.

Elmira Scoring - Grant (3-0), Field (1-1), K. Johnson (1-2), C. Johnson (1-0), Tiffany (1-0),  Prunoske (0-2)

Shots/Corners - Elmira (23-7), Binghamton (0-0)

Saves - Elmira (Coster - 0, Castiglione - 0), Binghamton (Hyde - 12, Felder - 2)

8:57 PM, Sep 10, 2013 by Joe Mink

Elmira and Corning shared the Southern Tier Athletic Conference West boys soccer title a year ago.

Each team is now trying to secure the crown for themselves, though Horseheads might also have a say in that.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame will try to maintain the high standards it set last season when it went 15-3, claimed the Interscholastic Athletic Conference Large School South championship, reached the Section 4 Class D title game and ended up ranked seventh in the state in Class D.

Elmira, which produced a 9-6-1 record, will find it hard to replace the 29 goals Alex Varkatzas scored in 2012. Now at Division I Binghamton University, Varkatzas accumulated 64 career goals.

“The 2013 Express team should be a bit more balanced, with potential scorers on multiple layers on the field,” Express coach Derek Hamilton said. “Playing as a cohesive unit will be key as goals should be spread out more this season. We have a fairly young squad that will be asked to mature quickly.”

Elmira will rely on an experienced midfield led by All-STAC West picks Curtis Grant, Caleb Johnson and Kyle Johnson.

Grant, a senior and two-time STAC West all-star, led the team with 10 assists last season to go with his three goals.

Caleb Johnson, also a senior, played centerback last year. Hamilton said he made the move to provide more leadership from midfield.

Kyle Johnson, a junior, had two goals and five assists last season.

Hamilton also looks to senior defenseman Joey Nugent and junior midfielder Tyler Prunoske for big contributions.

Steve Mastronardi was head boys soccer coach at Southside and later Hamilton’s assistant coach at Elmira Free Academy before taking the Corning job last season. He led the Hawks to an 11-6-2 record and expects similar success in his second year at the helm.

“I believe our team will be solid,” Mastronardi said. “Our focus is on defense and transition in our attack, as we have a wealth of experience in the midfield.”

The key seniors are midfielder Noah Coons, defender Kevin Furness and goalie Alex Goforth.

Also looking to make an impression in STAC:

Horseheads: Mark Mucci enters his second year as Blue Raiders coach after a 3-11 debut.

“We were competitive in most games but just couldn’t finish when we needed to. We were a very young team last year, with seven sophomores and freshmen making up a third of our roster. Hopefully, having a year of varsity experience helped these players grow,” Mucci said.

He has two All-STAC West picks back in forward Ben Morse, who scored nine goals, and goalie Rhett Seeley.

Boys soccer

Union-Endicott 1, Elmira 1: At U-E, Caleb Johnson scored with about 20 minutes remaining as the Express picked up a tie against Elmira in a STAC contest.

Botan Zebari scored earlier in the half for U-E.

Elmira Scoring - C. Johnson (1-0), Grant (0-1)

Union-Endicott Scoring - Zebari (1-0), Johnson (0-1)

Shots/Corners - Elmira (8-9), Union-Endicott (9-2)

Saves - Elmira (Coster-5), Union-Endicott (Habeny-5)

9:50 PM, Sep 6, 2013

Andrew Field scored the game’s lone goal and Pat Coster earned his first career shutout as the Elmira boys soccer team beat host Horseheads, 1-0, in a Southern Tier Athletic Conference game Friday.

Field’s goal came about 15 minutes into the second half off a crossing pass from Cody Marvin. Coster stopped seven shots as the Express evened its record at 1-1.

Rhett Seeley had four saves for the Blue Raiders (1-1).

Elmira Scoring - Field (1-0), Marvin (0-1)

Shots/Corners - Elmira (8-3), Horseheads (8-1)

Saves - Elmira (Coster-7), Horseheads (Seeley-5)