By Ted Waddell
ELDRED — September 12, 2000 – In the first half of Thursday’s boys varsity soccer game at Eldred, it was all Liberty as the visiting Indians were up 4-0 at the end of the first half of the Orange County League (OCL) non-divisional game.
In the second half, the home team Yellow Jackets came charging back to narrow the gap to a solo goal, until their opponents put a penalty kick into the net to end the scoring at 5-3.
Eldred goalie Jim Nieke faced a sea of red in the opening half as the Liberty booters dominated the field, while in the second frame the tide turned and Liberty keeper Sam Etter had his hands full trying to fend off a concerted home team effort at a comeback victory.
Ricardo Cruz scored on an assist by Adam Lake to open the scoring for the Indians. With 31:44 remaining in the opening frame, Cruz put one into the net unassisted. At 16:08, Mike Salvia scored on an assist by Lake, and at 13:23 Salvia scored again, this time assisted by John Levich.
In the second half, John Schneider took the ball for Eldred, made two passes and then scored for the home team at 39:46. Schneider put another one into the net at 26:06 with an assist from Dan Desseauve. At 17:59, Henry Bosch scored for Eldred on a pass from Devin Weyant to bring the Yellow Jackets to within one.
With 1:24 remaining in the contest, Liberty closed the door on Eldred’s hopes of a comeback with a penalty kick by Fabian Monestel to give the visitors a 5-3 win over the home team lads.
The stat book: shots on goal (Liberty 34, Eldred 32); saves (LCS 30, ECS 30); corner kicks (LCS 2, ECS 4).
“They took it to us in the first half, and we outplayed them big time in the second half,” said veteran Eldred boys varsity soccer coach Roger Weyant.
Weyant credited the hard charging play of several of his booters with almost making the dream of defeating the team from a much bigger school a reality: John Schneider and the fullback brother team of Alois and Jason Renggli.
“It seems like we always wait until the second half to start playing,” said Weyant. “If we can come in here and play in the first half like we did in the second half, we’ll do a lot better. Our kids are holding their own.”
John Law is taking over the reins of coaching the Liberty booters this season. Last year, Harold Tighe coached the Indians, who finished 4-15.
“I think last year’s coach really set them up,” said Law. “I didn’t do much at all except show up.”
According to Law, his team got complacent in the first half as they cruised to a 4-0 halftime lead. “They started watching and walking instead of hustling to the ball,” he said.
“In the second half, they got a little scared when Eldred came back and showed them they were a real good team,” added Law. “Eldred really came back. A lot of other teams would have just rolled over and quit. They were a tough opponent, and it was not an easy victory. They made us work hard for it.”
This year’s edition of the Indians booters is loaded with seniors.
“On defense, we’ve got some young blood out there,” said Law, adding that several players are looking pretty good early in the season: Corey Atkins, Ricardo Cruz, Fabian Monestel, Paulo Fonseca and goalie Sam Etter.
“I’m looking for them to play good clean soccer, and be the best they can be,” said John Law. “I’d love for them to break .500, [and] I think that’s a reasonable goal.”

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