Elmira District Boys Soccer

The EFA boys varsity soccer team have earned the #1 seed for the Section IV, Class "A" Tournament for the 2nd straight season. 

Elmira Free Academy are the defending champions of Section IV, Class "A" and will need to play well to win back-to-back sectional championships.  With the #1 seed comes a first round bye in the tournament meaning that the boys will not play until October 27th.

EFA finished the season playing 15 games for 60.5 sectional points, 10 ahead of #2 seed Johnson City.  The game on Thursday night against Ithaca will be played after the deadline (Oct. 14th) and will not contribute to sectional points.

The Devils will play the winner of #5 Oneonta @ #4 Maine-Endwell at Elmira Free Academy.

WEEK # 4 - Sunday October 14th
2007   "Road to Oneonta"  >  FINAL-4
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CLASS 'A'
  1. Albany Academy-2  (14-0-0) 

  2. Sayville-11  (12-0-1)

  3. Williamsville East-6  (13-1-2) 
  4. Johnson City-4  (14-1-0) 
  5. East Aurora-6  (15-0-1)

  6. Byram Hills  (11-1-1)

  7. Pittsford Sutherland-5  (11-2-1) 

  8. Jericho-8  (8-0-4)

  9. Honeoye Falls Lima-5  (12-2-1)

10. Elmira Free Academy-4  (11-2-1)

11. Great Neck North-8  (10-1-0)

12. East Syracuse-Minoa-3  (13-2-0)

13. Mt. Sinai-11  (11-1-1)

14. Goshen-9  (12-2-0)

15. Harrison-1  (10-2-0)

16. John Glenn-11  (10-1-2)

17. Port Chester-1  (7-3-1)

18. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake-2  (11-3-1)

19. Rochester Aquinas-5  (10-4-2)

20. Lakeland-1  (9-4-0)

Star-Gazette - 10/14/07 

Corning 5, EFA 1: Albert Johnson scored two goals as Corning upset Elmira Free Academy in a Southern Tier Athletic Conference West match.

Joe Burin scored the only goal for EFA (11-3-1, 9-3-1), which has already clinched the West title.

Johnson now has 16 goals this season for Corning (7-8-1, 6-7-1). He's one away from tying the school record of 17 shared by Neil Howard and Sun Choo Ly, both of whom played in the 1980s.

EFA Scoring - Burin (1-0), Rustici (0-1)

Corning Scoring - Johnson (2-0), Davis (1-0), Knowles (1-0), Mlejnek (1-0)

Shots on Goal/Corners - EFA (9-3), Corning (9-1)

Saves - EFA (McGinnis - 4), Corning (Allen - 8)

October 11, 2007
By Andrew Zivic
sports@stargazette.com
Star-Gazette

In a meeting of highly ranked boys soccer teams Wednesday afternoon, Vestal defeated Elmira Free Academy 3-2 on EFA's home field.

Vestal, ranked eighth in the state in Class AA, scored all three of its goals in the final 25 minutes of the first half to build what proved to be an insurmountable lead. The Golden Bears kept EFA, ranked fifth in the state in Class A, on its heels for most of the middle part of the game.

Academy jumped out to the lead less than two minutes into the game on a goal by forward Alan Barton.

Midfielder Joey Burin and defenseman Michael McGinnis controlled the pace of the game for the Blue Devils during the start of the first half. EFA (11-2-1) seemed to relax, though, just as the Golden Bears went on the attack.

"It's the second time that's happened to us this season," EFA coach Derek Hamilton said. "We score a goal in the first three minutes and the next thing you know we get more comfortable and more relaxed. In a game like this when momentum and tensions run high, it's something you can't do."

The key player for Vestal (11-2-1) in its big push was Matt Kristek, a forward/midfielder. Kristek continually pushed the ball up the pitch for the Golden Bears and put himself and his teammates in position for good scoring opportunities.

Kristek scored the first two Vestal goals and assisted on the third, which came on a Matt Keegan header.

If it wasn't for stout play by EFA goalie Bobby McGinnis, who had 14 saves, Kristek might have had four or five goals.

"They were really moving the ball well," McGinnis said. "They had a lot of opportunities in both halves. We made a couple of mistakes and it really killed us in the first half -- a couple misclears."

Vestal coach Jim Murphy said the Bears moved a few people around at the end of the first half to change things up. With the lead in the second half, Vestal went back to its usual 4-4-2 alignment.

Despite the win, Murphy's still looking for improvement from his team.

"We have a long ways to go," he said. "I'm ecstatic about the win -- we just defeated a very good team. Did we play our best game? No. Did we make a lot of mistakes? Yes, but that's high school soccer."

This was the second meeting of the season between the teams, with the first ending in a 2-2 tie. If EFA and Vestal get by their Southern Tier Athletic Conference semifinal games, they'll meet for a third time in the conference championship game. EFA has clinched the West title and Vestal has the Metro championship wrapped up.

"I think losing this one really keeps us down to earth," McGinnis said. "We expect to go into the STAC championships fine, maybe play them (Vestal) again in the finals, and then win sectionals and go through states."

EFA Scoring - Burin (1-1), Barton (1-0) 

Vestal Scoring - Kristek (2-1), Keegan (1-1)

Shots/Corners - EFA (8-1), Vestal (17-2)

Saves -  EFA (McGinnis - 14), Vestal (Wells - 6)

CLASS 'A'
  1. Williamsville East-6  (12-1-1) 
  2. Albany Academy-2  (12-0-0) 
  3. Sayville-11  (9-0-1)

  4. Lakeland-1  (7-1-0)

  5. Elmira Free Academy-4  (11-1-1)

  6. Pittsford Sutherland-5  (9-1-1)

  7. Christian Brothers Academy-3  (11-1-1)

  8. Honeoye Falls Lima-5  (11-1-0)

  9. Jericho-8  (6-0-2)

10. East Aurora-6  (11-0-1)

11. Mt. Sinai-11  (9-0-1)

12. Johnson City-4  (12-1-0)

13. Byram Hills  (9-1-1)

14. Goshen-9  (10-1-0)

15. Great Neck North-8  (7-1-0)

16. Our Lady of Lourdes-1  (7-1-1)

17. Huntington-11  (8-1-2)

18. East Syracuse-Minoa-3  (10-2-0)

19. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake-2  (7-2-1)

20. Rochester Aquinas-5  (9-2-2)