By Rob Potter
HANCOCK — October 25, 2002 – It took awhile for The Family School offense to click Tuesday afternoon, but once it did the Falcons scored several goals.
The Family School defeated visiting Ellenville, 9-1, in a non-league boys’ soccer match.
About 10 minutes into the match, Falcon forward Dan Witcher scored to give The Family School (12-4) a 1-0 lead.
Midway through the first half, Witcher scored his second goal of the afternoon. A minute later, players from both squads gathered in front of the Ellenville net when the ball was loose. Falcon Paul Cassidy kicked the ball past Ellenville keeper Kevin Burns to make it a 3-0 contest.
Witcher added two more goals later in the game. Also scoring for The Family School were Miles Farkas, Brian Little, Colin McClees and Mike O’Brien.
Dave Coombe and Farkas each recorded a pair of assists for the Falcons. Steve Lascari, McClees, O’Brien and Witcher each added an assist.
Ellenville (5-8-1) avoided the shutout when Burns, who moved to striker in the second half, scored with 11:40 left in the contest. Jesus Ramirez assisted on the tally.
Burns made six saves, while teammate David Siegel stopped six shots in the second half. For The Family School, starting goalie John Fisher made five saves and Cassidy had four.
“We just came out and played a good, hard game,” Family Coach Bill Musgrove said.
Note: The Family School was scheduled to host fellow OCIAA Division V team S. S. Seward yesterday afternoon. As of Wednesday, Seward was 14-0 overall and 4-0 in OCIAA Division V play.
In the latest rankings by the New York State Sportswriters Association, Seward was the third-ranked Class D boys’ soccer team in the state, while Family was ranked 15th.
“We had them in a 3-3 tie at their place, but they scored with about a minute-and-a-half left to win it,” Musgrove said after Tuesday’s win over Ellenville. “It’s going to be a big game.”