Cross country

The boys and girls cross country running team got their season under way with a meet at Waterville last Wednesday, Sept. 14. New York Mills and Clinton were the other schools competing that day. 

The meet for the varsity teams only counted against New York Mills as the other two schools are in a different division. New York Mills defeated our boys 41-17. Old Forge was led by Tecwyn Williams who placed fourth against the Mills and 12th overall.  Connor Glasser was next for Old Forge placing seventh against the Mills and 18th overall. The rest of the team finished in the following order: Cameron Lenci, Tyler McGough, Griffin Kleps, Will Johnson, Hunter Lawrence and John Gaffney. The boys varsity soccer team was playing a game that day and they were missing Lance Frymire.

The girls varsity team had no trouble with the Mills as they easily defeated them 17-38. The team was led by Maddie Phaneuf who placed first against the Mills and first overall. Caitlin Bailey was second against the Mills and fifth overall. Next came Lauren Holt who was third against the Mills and ninth overall. Andrea Frey was fifth against the Mills and 14th overall and Jessica Hannah was sixth against the Mills and 20th overall.  Even though they won easily, the team will be better as they were missing some girls who were playing in a junior varsity soccer game that night. 

Although no scoring takes place in the modified meet, both the boys and girls modified teams won easily. Overall, both teams had five runners in the top ten with the girls placing five runners in the top six. Almost a clean sweep. 

Chloe Barkauskas led her team with a first place finish. Megan Greene placed second overall, Ally Cooper was third, Holly Kalil was fifth and Allie Evans was sixth. 

The boys did almost as well as the girls as West Lamphear placed second overall followed by Henry Uzdavinis in third, Taylor Schmid was fourth, Zach McGough was fifth and Jake Prichard was eighth. 

It was a nice showing for their opener and you can see them run this Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at Woodcraft Camp. The meet was changed back to Woodcraft from McCauley Mountain. From our division, Remsen, Oriskany and Poland will be there along with Sauquoit Valley, a perennial powerhouse. This will be the only home meet of the year, so, try to get out and see the teams compete. You may be surprised at the intensity of the runners at every level.

Boys Junior Varsity Soccer

The boys junior varsity soccer team played two games this past week with mixed results.

Tuesday, Sept. 13, the team had a home game against Adirondack and completely controlled the game on their way to a 4-0 victory. 

Dane Daiker led the offensive attack in the first half as he scored two goals with Hunter Lawrence scoring another goal as they held a 3-0 halftime lead. John Gaffney had an assist on one of Daiker's goals. The second half was more of the same dominance but, not the number of goals.  Adam Levi had the only goal in the second half on an assist from Gaffney. 

The entire team helped in the complete control of this game as they outshot Adirondack 28-2 with Old Forge's goalie, Will Johnson, having to make only one save.   The Adirondack goalie made 14 saves in the game.  Old Forge also had a big advantage in corner kicks with a 6-0 count. 

The team did not play as inspired in the second half as they played in the first half.  They must learn, no matter what the score is, that you must give your best effort 100 percent of the time you are on the field.  Anything less, is cheating yourself and the team. As they gain more playing experience and see just how good other teams can play, they should learn this or it will be a long season. Having said all of that, they still played a good game, thoroughly dominating their opponent and they do show some promise for future years. 

Thursday, Sept. 15, the team did find out what a good opponent can do and they were not up to the task. Playing at Clinton, a school rich in soccer tradition, the team fell victim to their opponent by a score of 4-2.  The play from the Old Forge team was their weakest of the season but some of that could be attributed to missing three starters due to injury and illness. Hopefully they will come back strong and play a strong full game at Poland this Thursday, Sept. 22.

Girls Junior Varsity Soccer

The girls junior varsity soccer team picked up their play a notch or two as they established a nice three game winning streak this past week. 

Saturday, Sept. 10, the team hosted a strong Adirondack team who outshot our team 26-13 with their goalie only having to make two saves and our goalie, Shelby Egnaczyk, having to make nine saves. But it did not matter as we won the game 2-1 on a pair of goals by Sara Carnell with an assist going to Mercedes Rice. 

Adirondack scored the first goal and was seemingly in complete charge of the game until Carnell came through with her heroics. We have witnessed a number of games that have gone the other way against us, so it was nice to see it happen in our favor.

Wednesday, Sept. 14, Old Forge hosted Little Falls on the North Street Field at the Allen Stripp Soccer Complex. Little Falls only had 10 players and asked to play nine on nine so they had one substitute. It was agreed upon by our school which was a wise decision. Either agree, or don't play. It certainly would be too late in the season to think you can get another replacement. It all worked out and Old Forge ended up winning the game 3-1. 

Old Forge got the only goal of the first half by Camry Liddle off a feed from Carnell. In the second half, Alexcia LaFountain made the score 2-0 and with the way we were dominating the play, it looked good. However, Little Falls scored the next goal and with a one-goal lead, we all know that is not safe. Fortunately, Morgan Payne, who moved to the line from her sweeper position, scored the third and last goal for her team. It was a nice, neat victory for the team and well-deserved. 

Old Forge outshot Little Falls 25-5 which certainly shows just how much we controlled the play. Even though it was a bit hard to adjust to a different alignment, the kids did that and played well. On defense, Samantha Notley played an exceptional game. 

Friday, Sept. 16, the team hosted West Canada Valley in a game played at the high school field due to the boys varsity game at North Street. The field did not matter to the girls as they won that game to extend their winning streak to three. The final score was 1-0 with Jordan Levi providing the heroics with the only goal of the game. The defense and goalie, Egnaczyk, played very well to hold a fine West Canada team scoreless. 

Boys Varsity Soccer

The boys varsity soccer team played three league games this past week, outplaying all three teams, but, they only had one victory and one tie to show for it. 

Monday, Sept. 12, the team hosted Westmoreland, fresh off a 1-0 victory over Poland.  The game started out as if it would not even be a contest as Old Forge dominated the action. Only their poor attempts at finishing the play kept them from scoring several goals. The score was tied at zero at the half even though Old Forge had twice the number of shots. Goalie, Trevor Rice, only had to make two saves and we had a 5-0 advantage on corner kicks. 

As you see happen in soccer, you only have so many opportunities and then look out.  Westmoreland scored a gift goal in the second half and hung on to that lead while Old Forge kept the pressure on with no end results. The 1-0 loss was hard to take but they know they have a better team and will have a chance at them later. Westmoreland did come back and play better ball in the second half and their defense and goalie were very difficult to penetrate. 

For the game, Old Forge outshot Westmoreland 22-13, out corner kicked them, 10-4 and their goalie had to make nine saves while Rice only had three saves for the game.  The win puts Westmoreland in the drivers seat as they have now defeated both top teams in the league and have both of them at home later in the season. 

Old Forge journeyed to Remsen on Wednesday, Sept. 14, and took their frustrations out on the Rams. Ethan Kress had his biggest game as a varsity player as he led the team with three goals. One of his goals was a spectacular head ball as he leaped high over his opponents to slam it home. Sam Waterbury had the fourth goal, all in the first half. Kevin Kress and Connor Rockhill each had two assists. 

Coach Louie Ehrensbeck used his entire bench in the second half and the score ended up 4-0. It was his first win as new head coach for the Town of Webb Schools, and hopefully, it will not be his last. 

On Friday, Sept. 16, Poland came to town with each team knowing that a win was a must and the loser would be facing a huge uphill battle for league honors. 

The game was fiercely played and the results were very similar to Monday's game. Old Forge dominated the game, gave up a cheap goal that should never have happened, and could not finish a great many opportunities that had the many fans shaking their heads at their bad luck.

Austin Down got the team off to a 1-0 lead only 15 minutes into the contest on a beautiful hard smash from 25 yards out. The Poland goalie, who played a very good game, thought he had the ball but it hooked and with the power behind the kick, he had no chance. Poland scored the tying goal near the end of the first half and that was it for the scoring. 

Both teams battled hard through the second half and the two-ten minute "sudden victory" overtime periods, but still no score and they had to settle for a tie. For Westmoreland, who stands at 3-0 in the league, they must have been happy with that tie as it gave them another half game lead on both schools. Old Forge is now at 1-1-1 and Poland stands at 0-1-1 in the league. From watching the games, I feel that Old Forge is the best team in the league, but, they may have to win out to take the title.  It's in their hands, they control their own destiny. 

As to the game itself, Old Forge completely outplayed Poland. A more realistic score would have had Old Forge scoring five goals by the way they dominated. They had many great chances to score only to see the ball just miss. Old Forge outshot Poland 34-15, but the Poland goalie only had to make nine saves to seven for Rice. Every player played hard, one cannot fault the kids--it was just frustrating to see. Obviously they have to work on finishing the play better. On defense, all four of the defense played hard, Danny Heroux, Calvin Risley, Colin Criss and Garrett Pavlus. I felt that Pavlus played an exceptional game from his important sweeper position. 

The team has two league contests this week at Adirondack and at home against Sauquoit this Thursday. Sauquoit should not be overlooked.  We simply know little about them as they are new to our league and they could enter into the mix. 

Girls Varsity Soccer

During the weekend of Sept. 9 and 10, the Old Forge girls varsity soccer team took part in a tournament held on the beautiful field at Mount Markham. 

Missing some key starters, the team played about as well as they could possibly play even though they got no victories. Carthage, a class A opponent, was their first competition and they ended up losing to the eventual tournament champions, 3-1.  Sarah Branch scored the goal for Old Forge.

The second game on Saturday pitted the team against Herkimer. a class C school and the team was missing even more starters. However, they made a good account for themselves before losing the game 4-2. Maddie Phaneuf and Katie Connell each had a goal. 

For their efforts during the entire tournament, Phaneuf and Jessica Hannah were both picked to the tournament all-star team. 

Tuesday, Sept. 13, the team had to journey to Remsen in a league contest against the powerful Rams. Remsen is so strong that they may not have a close game all year.  They certainly did not here as they dominated Old Forge in every phase of the game, winning the game, 7-0. 

The team then played a home game against Adirondack on Thursday, Sept. 15, with a realistic chance of a victory. However, they gave up two scores to Adirondack in the first half, both scores were the result of bad defensive lapses or errors, and Adirondack hung on for a 2-0 victory. 

Old Forge outplayed Adirondack on the field, but could not finish any play. They had countless opportunities, but, with no results. Old Forge outshot Adirondack for the game with the Adirondack goalie having to make eight saves to only five for our goalie, Jessica Menges. 

The loss was a tough one to absorb and this team must bounce back. They hope to get back to .500 in the league with an away game at Oriskany this week. They also have a league game against Poland this Friday on the North Street Field. 

The team's record now stands at 1-2 in the league and 1-4 overall.