By Rob Potter
GRAHAMSVILLE — October 29, 2004 – The first half of Tuesday’s OCIAA Division IV boys’ soccer match featured bookend goals.
Visiting Tuxedo scored a goal in the first two minutes and last minute of the opening 40 minutes of play versus Tri-Valley.
Tuxedo (9-8, 5-0 OCIAA) added three more goals during the second half in a 5-0 victory over the Bears.
Craig Noonan began the scoring for the Tornadoes. He kicked the ball into the corner of the net at the 1:35 mark of the first half thanks to an assist from teammate Ronnie Mello.
For the next 37-plus minutes, both teams had scoring opportunities but could not get the ball past the respective goalies – P.J. Ostrowski for Tuxedo and Ian Exner for T-V.
But with 32 seconds left until the halftime intermission, James Pearson gave Tuxedo a 2-0 lead. Billy Sahler assisted on the goal.
In the second half, Tuxedo added a trio of goals.
Just 1:30 into the second half, Tyler Phillips sent the soccer ball inside the far post and into the net. John Cernuto assisted on the tally.
The fourth Tuxedo goal was scored just nine minutes later when Shane O’Reilly scored. Phillips assisted on the goal.
Noonan scored his second goal of the afternoon at 34:20 thanks to an assist from Pearson.
Exner made 20 saves, while Ostrowski had five saves.
“We didn’t play our best soccer match of the season today, but we did what we needed to do [to win],” Tuxedo Coach Dave Powers said. “We clinched a share of the division title today.”
T-V Coach Dave Moore praised his squad for playing hard.
“We outhustled them in the first half,” Moore said. “We had a lot of opportunities [to score], but didn’t convert on them.”
The Bears ended their season with an overall record of 2-12 and 0-5 in OCIAA play.
“We lost a lot of experienced players from last year’s team,” Moore said. “This was a rebuilding year for us.”