By Ted Waddell
GRAHAMSVILLE — September 28, 2004 – In the first half of Thursday’s Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division V soccer match between the host Bears of Tri-Valley (1-4) and the Fallsburg Comets and the host Bears of Tri-Valley, the Comets jumped out to a two-goal lead
But Fallsburg (3-2, 1-0 OCIAA) watched the Bears surge back to make it a 2-1 contest at the half.
In the opening half, Fallsburg scored on goals by Dave Anthony and Randy Gilmore, while T-V’s Abram Leon beat Comet goalkeeper Antonio Gamble on a penalty kick.
Rob Sneckenberg lead off the second frame for the Comets with a goal.
Then T-V’s Crawford Watson scored on a corner kick.
Moments later, Anthony got his second goal of the afternoon to put the Comets up 4-2.
At the 35:00 mark, Ian Exner shined some light at the end of the tunnel for the home team booters as he scored an unassisted goal.
But despite a last-minute surge of adrenaline, it was a little too late for the Bears as the Comets blazed to a 4-3 win.
All of T-V’s goals were unassisted.
Credited with assists for Fallsburg: Anthony, Gilmore, Chris Gates and Victor Leventritt.
“We’re a young team, and this game gave us an opportunity to prove we can compete in the league,” T-V Coach David Moore said. “It proved that we’re competitive.”
“To lose 4-3 means we’re definitely going to be in the thick of things,” he added.
The T-V squad has five starting seniors: Hank Currey, Brett Hyde, Abram Leon, Brandon Scott and Jonathan Waxman.
For the Comets, they have one starting senior in the guise of Rob Sneckenberg and a trio of starting freshmen: Darius Buckner, Randy Gilmore and Bill Miller.
“We got lucky today, because we were playing without our best player,” said Fallsburg’s first year coach Jeremy Levner, who took over this year from the Comets’ veteran helmsman Paul Marsden.
“We took a few bumps early in the season, but we’re getting better,” Levner said. “We came here with the goal of winning our first league game, and that’s what we did.”
Looking at the unfolding season, Levner said the Comets “aren’t where we want to be.”
“We have a lot of athletes, but we’re not playing together as a team right now… little things out there on the field go wrong,” he said. “We’re young, but we’re going to get there.”