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SECTION IV SOCCER: OWEGO PLAYERS RECALL 2021, LOOK FORWARD TO 2022 (2022-08-15)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Owego was one of just two schools to capture Section IV boys and girls championships in the same sport last fall. The Indians claimed Class B titles in soccer, joining the Corning cross country program as double winners.

Here’s what four players had to say about the 2021 season and the upcoming 2022 campaign.

BOYS
“Last season was everything,” Jace Riegel said. “To win with all my best friends and to finally get a sectional championship meant the world after coming off of a terrible few seasons before that. In my 7th- and 8th-grade years, we were not the greatest team, but to finally see that we were able to win, it was just a dream come true.”

“It went great compared to the three or four years before that,” said his cousin, Kyle Riegel. “I think Alessio (coach DiMichele) definitely brought us together as a team, really got us in shape to be the sectional champion. He’s got a great soccer IQ. Went to college at Nazareth, played D-3 soccer. He gets our vibes and he understands when we need a break. He definitely can tell when we're switched on and when we need to really bring the energy in case we have a big game coming up.”

The Indians would defeat Chenango Valley, 1-0, in double overtime to advance to the Central Region championship (state quarterfinals). They would put a scare into then two-time defending champion Skaneateles before dropping a 2-1 overtime heartbreaker. The Lakers went on to capture their third consecutive state title.

“Oh, it was a great battle,” Jace said. “Personally, I thought we were the better team. We just missed a couple opportunities early on. Came back to bite us, but if we had beaten that team right off the bat, we would've been the state title winners. They were a good team. They were an older, experienced team. We were very young last year. We only had three seniors, so we expect a different outcome this year, 100 percent.”

Jace and Kyle both believe CV is the team to beat if Owego wants to return to the state tournament again, but they also think Chenango Forks could be an opponent to keep an eye on.

Jace feels the Indians don’t have to do anything fancy to repeat as sectional champs.

“We don't need to overdo it. We need to keep things simple,” he said. “Put the ball in the back of the net. The less goals we let in this year, the better we're going to do.”

“I think Jace is right,” Kyle added. “It's going to be persistency. The same thing we did last year, but I think if we want to take it to that next level, we need to make sure it's consistent in training every day and we take it a level up every day. I think that'll be very important. We keep the intensity high, keep the quality high, and I think we'll definitely get higher than the sectional champs.”

The Indians will need to replace their top scorer, Yuri Brich, who scored 23 of the team’s 52 goals and dished out 15 assists.

“We're definitely going to take a hit missing Mike Kuchinski as well,” Jace said. “Mike Kuchinski was a solid winger. He moved to left back at the end of the season and it was a key role for us because he started most of our attacks from the left side of the field. Also Johnny Davis is a big hit for us too. Brought a lot of positive energy for us. That was exactly what we needed all season.”

Kyle agreed that all three players will be missed.

“We’re just going to miss them so much. It's just great playing with them,” he said. “Michael Kuchinski, he was great on left wing feeding crosses in right to Yuri, every game. Michael almost had an assist every game. Yuri had practically two goals a game. It was great to have them up there.”

The boys team went 12-3-1 and finished the season ranked eighth in the state.

GIRLS
The lady Indians missed joining their male counterparts at states on a sudden victory penalty kick. Owego battled CV through two 40-minute regulation periods, a pair of 10-minute overtimes and two 5-minute golden goal OTs.

With the score still knotted at zero following 110 minutes of play, the two teams squared off for a penalty kick showdown. Each team converted four of five PK attempts, forcing a sudden victory PK confrontation. The Warriors scored on their first attempt and Owego hit the crossbar, sending CV on to the state tournament.

“I was angry, because I knew we deserved it more,” senior Lily Morton said of the loss. “We fought so hard and it just didn't make sense that we didn't win. They weren't better than us and it was upsetting. Not to be a sore loser or anything, congrats to them, but I was just angry and I'm ready for a win this year.”

The Indians finished the season with a 9-3-2 record and a No. 15 state ranking. Their other tie came against Ithaca and the other loss was to another sectional champ, Elmira, both teams which competed at the Class AA level.

“It was like, honestly, one of the best seasons I've ever been a part of on this team,” said senior Lily Morton. “This is my fourth year now and last year was my favorite. No offense to any of the previous years, but I felt like we made sense as a team. We actually were working hard and we wanted to win and it really showed, and I think that was the difference between all the other years.”

“I think we did well, but we can always do better and we're going to have to figure out how to replace the holes that the seniors left,” said junior Erin McDonald, the Indians’ leading scorer last season (27 goals, 9 assists). “I do think we did a good job just learning how each other plays and thinks, so we could perform better on the team.

“And, obviously, the finals were rough, but we’ve got to get over it and move on, and we'll fix it this upcoming season hopefully. I think everyone's really versatile, so we can move people around depending on the game and what we have to do.”

Both players see CV as the team to beat once again this season, and Morton also threw Oneonta into the mix. Each believes the Indians can reach the state playoffs this fall.

“I think, honestly we just need to keep playing like we have been,” Morton said. “Previous years, we haven't jelled as a team. We haven't been friends or stuff like that, but last year and I think this year we're actually going to enjoy playing soccer, because if you don't enjoy it, it doesn't make sense out there. This year, I think we're going to really enjoy it and it's going to make a difference.”

“I feel like this year we have to focus on spending time on the ball,” added McDonald. "Last year, we did a lot of conditioning and that really helped us get through our overtimes, but we didn't spend a lot of time on the ball, on the ball, on the ball. I think this year, if we get technical abilities up, especially the two freshmen we had last year, and our sophomores, they've been really learning on the ball. So I think they’ll be a big help, and see if we have any other freshmen to pull up.”

Owego graduated five seniors, Delaney Carrigg, Jess and Jewel Corson, Carmen Jorgensen and Ashlyn Middendorf.

“Literally, all our seniors played a role out on the field and I've been playing with them my entire time I've been on the team,” Morton said. “This is my first year without them. Last year when we had 14 girls and with the loss of five seniors, it's like, what are we going to do now? It's really just going to be a game of who can fill in and what I think really is going to make us the best team. I think we're going to play the people that make us the best we can be out on the field. We're not going to worry about anything else, which I appreciate, but there there's such a loss. It hurts to see them not here. It's weird to be here without them. It's sad, but we're going to get through it.”

“People have to step up and fill the seniors’ roles, because Ashlyn and Carmen were our captains, and obviously a big part and they led the team all season,” McDonald said. “We have to figure that out now so we can have a successful season.”

PREPARING FOR UPCOMING SEASON
All four players focused on getting better this summer — two playing with area club teams, another competing with a club out of Syracuse and the fourth giving it a go overseas.

Morton played for Broome County United out of Binghamton and won a State Cup title while McDonald was on the Syracuse SDA 06 squad at the Syracuse Development Academy. Her team also won a State Cup and bowed out of regionals in the semifinals.

“I played so much soccer,” Morton said. “I think my club team, we played more soccer games than we ever have previously. We would go every weekend, tournaments, games, multiple games in a day, everything. For the first year ever we went to our state cup and we won and it was really great for us. I've definitely been playing more soccer than I ever have.”

“We did awesome,” Jace said of his experience, also with a BC United team. “We won our State Cup division. We got to go to regionals in West Virginia. We went 3-0 in the State Cup matches. We came in second in one of our leagues. We went to a lot of college showcases as well.”

“This summer, I went down to England and played for Macclesfield FC, which is a town just south of Manchester about half an hour,” Kyle said. “They play in the sixth or seventh division of English football down there and it’s still very high quality football. Man, it was amazing. The culture down there, it’s just amazing to experience and get used to.”

2021 ALL-STARS
Owego landed several all-county and all-region all-star selections in 2021 on the Tioga County Sports Report and The Sports Reports websites, the latter of which is comprised of five sites located in Chemung and Tioga counties in New York, and Bradford and Tioga counties in Pennsylvania.

BOYS
All-Tioga County
Player of the Year: Yuri Brich
Newcomer of the Year: Matt Higgins
Coach of the Year: Alessio DiMichele
First Team: Yuri Brich, Forward
First Team: Michael Kuchinski, Forward/Defense
First Team: Jace Riegel, Midfield
First Team: Jack Rollison, Defense
Second Team: Vasil Brich, Forward
Second Team: Matt Higgins, Midfield
Second Team: Ryan Pryor, Forward
Second Team: Kyle Riegel, Midfield
Second Team: Drew Tavelli, Defense

All-Region
Player of the Year: Yuri Brich
Coach of the Year: Alessio DiMichele
First Team: Yuri Brich
First Team: Michael Kuchinski
First Team: Jace Riegel
Second Team: Jack Rollison

GIRLS
All-Tioga County
Player of the Year: Erin McDonald
Coach of the Year: Heather Chrysler
First Team: Carmen Jorgensen, Forward/Midfield
First Team: Erin McDonald, Forward/Midfield
First Team: Ashlyn Middendorf, Defense
First Team: Lily Morton, Midfield
Second Team: Alex Aubel, Defense
Second Team: Taylor Dalton, Midfield
Second Team: Bella Silvestri, Midfield

All-Region
First Team: Carmen Jorgensen, Forward
First Team: Erin McDonald, Forward
Second Team: Ashlyn Middendorf, Defense
Second Team: Lily Morton, Midfield
All-Rookie Team: Bella Silvestri

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NOTE: The boys open the season Sept. 2 at home against Susquehanna Valley at 1:30 p.m. while the girls visit Sus Valley the same day for a 5:30 p.m. contest.

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IN PHOTO: Clockwise from upper left, Erin McDonald, Lily Morton, Jace Riegel, Kyle Riegel. ... PHOTO BY TIM TAYLOR.

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