STAC BOYS SOCCER: OWEGO DOWNS ITHACA TO CAPTURE FIRST CONFERENCE TITLE IN 22 YEARS (24 PHOTOS) (2024-10-21)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Owego shook off an early deficit to cruise to a 4-1 victory over Ithaca here Monday evening, giving the River Hawks their first STAC boys soccer championship since winning back-to-back titles in 2001-02.

“Perfect night,” said coach Alessio De Michele of his first STAC championship. "Our whole team is over the moon with this accomplishment. “This is an incredible moment for our school. We played a fantastic game from first to last minute. Even conceding the first goal we were able to keep our focus and belief in what we do.

“I hold the STAC championship in really high regard,” he added. “I think it’s super difficult to win, so we’re so proud of the group. We said this was our first objective during the year; can we win STAC? Then we’ll see what we can do, see if we can upset some real high-quality schools, and we’ve done that, so we’re just so elated at the moment.”

After surrendering a goal to the Little Red in the 25th minute, Owego wasted little time rallying back.

Bryce Oliver came off the bench to tie the game in the 28th minute to spark the comeback, putting the ball into the right side of the net on a cross from Zyir VanScoy.

“It was a really tricky one, because we started the game so well, so it’s really hard when you get a little bit of a sucker punch and you give up a goal off a throw-in,” De Michele said of the Ithaca goal.

“We told the boys when we prepared ahead of time was, look, we’re not going to have things our own way from first minute to last minute. There are going to be minutes of adversity and it’s how you react. Are you going to be a mentality monster and they really were. We kept doing the right things and we upped our level a little bit more, and fortunately we were awarded with the great goal from Bryce.”

The River Hawks would react with three more goals before the game was over.

The score would remain deadlocked until late in the half when Vasil Brich launched a long, high shot from the right of the pitch into the left side of the goal in the 36th minute for a 2-1 edge.

The game-winning goal came after Sawyer Prentiss worked the ball around an Ithaca player just past midfield and dribbled deep into the Ithaca end before dishing off to Brich.

The River Hawks tacked on a pair of insurance goals early in the second half. Matt Higgins scored in the sixth minute and Brich picked up his second tally of the night in the eighth minute. Adam Llewellyn and Conor Chobot contributed assists.

“I always say that the strength of this group is that we have so many different star players,” said De Michele. “Sometimes it’s Vasil, sometimes it’s Matt, sometimes Zyir. I could keep going on and on. I think all of them really turned up tonight.

“Vasil’s an electric talent,” he added. “The kid works so hard. If you come any day over the summer, you’re going to find Vasil on this turf, so he really deserves this moment. He brings magic and tonight he brought it again.

As impressive as Owego was on offense, it was equally matched by the defensive effort against a team which averaged 2.7 goals per game and came in with a 10-1-2 record.

“We were keeping the ball away from them,” De Michelle said. “I think as a whole team we defended really well. The back four in particular really dominated in their 1-v-1 battles, which is so important against a strong team like Ithaca. They make sure you’re competent and compact.

“You’re not going to get broken through on, and if they ever do, (Connor) Kotski is a monster who’s ready to make a big save when called upon. We have so much trust in him.

“A big shoutout to Ryan Barnes. He’s been playing a lot of different positions for us. Nathan Flacke had an injury and couldn’t play tonight, but the red-headed monster really stepped up and showed what a quality player he is.”

Next up is the Section IV Class A tournament where Owego (16-0) is the No. 2 seed behind Maine-Endwell and hosts Johnson City Wednesday at 7 p.m. The River Hawks have won three consecutive sectional championships (Class B in 2021-22 and Class A last year).

“We will enjoy this night and get back to work tomorrow night,” De Michele said.

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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.

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