By Dave Clark

For the Express

Hamilton proved too strong for the Old Forge team as they ground out a tough 2-0 victory over a spunky Eskimo team. It was the fourth straight Section III Class D Championship for Hamilton.

Old Forge had to play with some injured players that normally play up and down the middle of the field where they are especially strong, and it posed a problem throughout the contest. They played a more defensive game all through the first half, and the team gave it their all as the first half ended in a scoreless tie. However, Hamilton had way the better of the play but, they were constantly frustrated in their attemps at goal. The defense played as hard as you could ever want and the goalie, Trevor Rice, made several great saves to keep Hamilton off the board.  

Early in the second half, Hamilton scored a goal and it now changed how Old Forge had to play. They tried to become more offensive minded, but Hamilton was always ready to get the ball back to their offensive end. The key to the game came with about 13 minutes left in the game. Garrett Pavlus threw the ball in from the left side of the field and it went into the goal. The team started to celebrate its tying goal while the referee was signaling no goal. The throw-in is like an indirect kick and has to be touched by another player. The referee ruled it had not, it was probably the correct call, and it seemed to deflate our team. Hamilton took advantage of their letdown and scored their second goal a minute later. That was the ball game. Hamilton had an almost 3-1 advantage in shots with the two goalies recording saves accordingly. Rice had twice the saves as his counterpart had. The victory was certainly Hamilton’s, but they knew that they were in a tough ball game.  

The loss ends a fine season for this team. They had a fine 6-3-1 record in the league which tied them for second place in the league. Overall, their regular season of play ended with an 8-6-1 record. In the Class D playoffs, they were 3-1 and finished with an 11-7-1 record. They did not win the Class D Championship but they did win the Class D-2 Championship and that cannot be taken away from them.  

On behalf of their many fans, I would like to congratulate coach Ehrensbeck and his entire team, especially all of the departing seniors, on providing us with some fine soccer moments that only hard work and a will to win can provide.  We can only hope that it will carry over to next year.  

other Area

soccer reports

For those soccer fans in Old Forge, it might be of interest to know that the Remsen Rams girls team defeated Morris to move to the semi-final game for the state championships.  They will have to meet Chazy in the semi-final game at Cortland High School this Saturday at 11:00 a.m. Chazy is the defending state champion and are the co-number one ranked team in the state with Remsen. It should be a great game.  

The Hamilton boys soccer team, who defeated the Town of Webb School for the Class D Championship, moved on to regional play and after a long snow delay during the game, defeated Cherry Valley-Springfield, 1-0 to move on to the final four of the states.  Hamilton, ranked number one in the state, will play the Section II Champion, Fort Ann, in a semi-final game at Middletown High School on Saturday, Nov. 19, at 4 p.m.