TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Owego started out solid, but eventually fell to Elmira Notre Dame, 3-1, in the consolation game of the first 607 Cup boys soccer tournament here Saturday.
The River Hawks spent the first few minutes of the contest in the ND third of the pitch and battled the Crusaders to a 0-0 standoff through the first 13 minutes of play.
“I think we had, again, moments in the game where we started to look like we were in control of things, but we need to do a bit more to actually create more goal scoring chances and I think that's going to come with time,” said Owego coach Alessio DeMichele.
ND’s Matt Keough would finally break the tie, sending a long shot into the upper left corner at 26:52 for the lead.
The River Hawks had an opportunity to even things up on a corner kick in the 15th minute but were unable to connect and missed an attempt to head one in on a direct kick in the 35th minute.
Notre Dame had other scoring opportunities three times in the first half, but went high and hit the football goal post crossbar early in the half. Then, with just over 10 minutes to go, Antonio Campanella deflected the ball off an Owego defender and the left post of the goal. The final corner resulted in a save by goalkeeper Brycen Heyman.
The Crusaders took more control of the ball in the second half. Campanella took a pass from Justin Mullen on the left side, slipped behind a defender and beat Heyman one-on-one to make it 2-0 at 27:05.
ND added an insurance goal with 15:58 remaining as Julio Jardini put a direct kick high and just under the crossbar for a 3-0 advantage.
“We still haven't had everyone fully available, so we're looking to this next week now as a little bit of a reset, to get things going again, get back to where this team can get to,” DeMichele said.
The Crusaders were snuffed on a trio of chances in between their second and third goals. In the 19th minute, Heyman dove at the ball to make a save just as Keough kicked it. In the 20th minute, Heyman charged outside the 18 to deny Bernardo Santos. In the 23rd minute, Santos was rejected again as he rebounded his own direct kick and Heyman made the save.
Heyman denied Campanella in the 29th minute, then Campanella shot wide in the 38th minute.
Owego avoided the shutout when Sam Beyer put a low shot into the right side of the goal with 18.6 seconds on the clock.
DeMichele said the team is headed in the right direction at times.
“Progress isn't linear with teenagers, so I keep reminding myself of it because I'm the hardest on anyone with stuff,” he said. “There are, again, a lot of positives in here. A lot of guys are playing their first varsity games ever, so it's a little bit of a learning curve and they're just realizing things are a little bit faster, opponents are a little bit stronger. They don't have as much time to think about it, so that the learning curve can be steep, but there are moments in there.
“Now it's about putting those more together and rewarding yourself when you get into the right spots and getting the goals from it. And likewise, when you have the moments that you need to suffer in the game, that you can ride those out without conceding.”
The River Hawks (0-3) host Windsor (0-0) Tuesday night.
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IN PHOTO 1: Owego’s Sam Beyer. IN TOP PHOTO: Owego goalkeeper Brycen Heyman. … PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
