Elmira District Boys Soccer

ELMIRA -- The newly merged Elmira boys soccer team couldn't have found a much tougher opponent for Tuesday afternoon's home debut at Elmira Free Academy's Marty Harrigan Field.

Defending Southern Tier Athletic Conference and Section 4 Class AA champion Vestal lived up to its trophy case, limiting the Express to one harmless shot and earning a 2-0 victory that was that close only because of a dazzling 11-save effort from Elmira goalie Corey Swarthout.

"At times I thought we played very well. At other times I thought we succumbed to pressure. Overall a good job," Vestal coach Jim Murphy said.

Senior midfielder Jaisen Clark scored both Vestal goals -- one in each half -- as the Golden Bears (2-0, 2-0 STAC) won by shutout for the second time in two games. Turner Antonakos and Alex Monteith had assists.

"That's a class program and they're that good every single year," said Elmira coach Derek Hamilton. "Whenever you come out with a little bit of a slow start, you get punished for it. That's what happened in the first 20 minutes of the game today. We came out with a lack of intensity and we got hurt pretty early on it."

Elmira (0-2, 0-2), which opened its season with a 2-1 loss at Union-Endicott on Thursday, was unable to put together a legitimate scoring chance through the entire 80 minutes.

Murphy said the defenses have an advantage early in the season, though there was more to his players' dominance than the date on the calendar.

"I think the combination of our experienced defenders and being early in the season was the key to our success, as it was in the first game," said Murphy, whose team opened with a 6-0 victory over Corning on Thursday.

Elmira has spent only a few weeks together as a combined team and is still in the growing stage, particularly when it comes to attacking on offense. The high level of pressure applied by the Bears all over the field made that even more evident.

"We're really lacking in cohesion right now, getting the ball off our feet and finding our midfielders," Hamilton said. "If we don't do that, we're going to struggle. We're going to be pinned in like we were for 80 minutes today."

Murphy said his team had problems of its own in figuring out how to deal with Elmira packing players in the middle of the field. He also said Elmira's pressure on the ball was very effective.

The Bears didn't get on the scoreboard until Clark booted a ball out of midair into the left side of the net with 4 minutes, 39 seconds left in the opening half. His second goal came with 15:13 to play.

Vestal twice had shots hit the post and other opportunities fly just over the net. But most of the Bears' best chances were denied by Swarthout, who made several diving stops.

"The first two games he's been incredible, just making some saves that the majority of goalkeepers let in," Hamilton said. "The average is if you make one or two nice saves per game, you're a pretty good goalkeeper. He's made six or eight incredible saves the first two games."

Scoring - Clark (2-0), Antonakos (0-1), Montieth (0-1)

Shots/Corners - Elmira (1-0), Vestal (13-9)

Saves - Elmira (Swarthout - 12), Vestal (Calvey - 1)

ENDICOTT -- The combined Elmira boys and girls soccer teams made their debuts Thursday, with both teams coming up on the short end of 2-1 scores against Union-Endicott in Southern Tier Athletic Conference games.

In the nightcap of the doubleheader, the U-E boys scored two goals in the first half and held on for the victory. Sumner Kilmarx and Jordan Mastronardi netted the Tigers' goals.

Elmira's goal came off the foot of Eric Berglund six minutes into the second half, with Curtis Grant earning the assist.

"I thought the effort in the second half was much better," Elmira head coach Derek Hamilton said. "We still have a group of young gentlemen who are still getting used to playing with one another. A positive second half after a lackluster first."

Corey Swarthout started in net for Elmira and made five saves. Dave Barton had four saves for U-E.

Elmira will make its home debut at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday against defending Section 4 Class AA champion Vestal. The game will be played at Elmira Free Academy, which is the home field for most of Elmira's boys and girls varsity soccer games.

Elmira Goals/Asst - Berglund (1-0), Grant (0-1)

U-E Goals/Asst - Kilmarx (1-0), Mastronardi (1-0)

Shots/Corners - Elmira (5-3), U-E (7-9)

Saves - Elmira (Swarthout - 5), U-E (Barton - 4)

The Elmira City School District on Tuesday announced the new nickname and colors for the district's combined high school athletic teams.

The teams will be called the Elmira Express; the primary color will be red, with white and black accents.

Of the nickname, Superintendent Joseph Hochreiter said: "It's not only a symbol of a great person who did great things in our community and went on to stardom, it's also a reminder of what put Elmira on the map back then."

Hochreiter was referring to legendary scholar-athlete Ernie Davis and the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad, which ran through Elmira.

"It serves a lot of purposes," Hochreiter said of the name. "It's a little bit of a history lesson to some of our students, and it's a great honor in recognition of the past."

The Elmira School Board voted in April to merge the Elmira Free Academy and Southside High School athletic teams starting in the 2011-12 school year as a way to save money.

Since then, the district has been working out not only the identity and colors of the merged teams, but also issues such as where the teams will play and who will coach them.

In ballots cast by district residents and high school students and staff on Friday, Saturday and Monday, Express narrowly beat Titans, 567 to 549, the district reported.

The red, black and white combination won over a teal, black and white color scheme, 620 to 495.

The balloting, which the district said was not binding, but would advise a committee of students, parents and coaches, followed a preliminary round of online polling at the district's website.

The district will next consult with the committee to determine options for a new logo and a mascot, Hochreiter said, noting that the design might be a locomotive, a high-speed bullet train or something else entirely.

Those decisions are not as time-sensitive as the name and colors were, he said.

"I don't think we could meet any sort of deadline to put a new emblem in the EFA turf yet, or at center court (at Southside)," he said. "It may be a little while, but we also don't want to rush anything."

Hochreiter said he has received a number of inquiries from people who want to create the design.

Some art teachers have recommended students make designs as a special project. Other art teachers have asked about doing the design work themselves. And alumni who now work as artists have also asked about designing a graphic.

"We had a recommendation today of doing an art show, asking everyone and anyone who wants to weigh in," Hochreiter said. The committee may also decide about a mascot, he said.

"I guess you could have an old-school railroad conductor, or an old-school train engineer with the overalls," Hochreiter said. "You can have a lot of fun with it."