By Ted Waddell
GRAHAMSVILLE — October 28, 2005 – In their last game of the 2005 soccer season, the Bears of Tri-Valley were edged 3-2 by the visiting Chester Hambletonians on Wednesday in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division V contest.
In a game that at times resembled a tennis match with the score going back and forth, the Bears and Hambletonians played on a field that was very slippery due to recent rains and a touch of snow showers that morning.
Each team scored twice in the first half.
Chester’s Nick Schust and Ryan Johnson scored on assists by Gary Bell to make it a 2-0. The Bears answered before the bell with a couple of unassisted scores by Glenn Currey and Gavin Perella to make it a 2-2 game.
In the second half, Andrew Scavera teamed up with Bell, who wrapped up a “hat trick” of assists, on a direct kick to score the decisive goal in the Hambletonians’ victory.
Chester improved its record to 7-9 overall and 3-5 in Division V. T-V ended its season with a 5-11 overall record and 1-7 in Division V.
Bear goalie Fred Moore recorded 12 saves and Hambletonian goalkeeper Jared Gottlieb had 11 saves.
“The game was a well-fought match, and both sides played well,” Chester Coach John Hogan said. “We definitely had more opportunities, but with the field conditions it was hard to finish.
“Tri-Valley stayed in the game to the very end,” Hogan added.
T-V Coach Dave Moore said that while the total number of victories this season was a bit less than he had hoped for, the Bears lost some close matches – including two contests by final scores of 1-0 on penalty kicks.
“We’re a young team that’s developed a lot… we’ve been in every game,” he said. “We started out slow today, but we played a strong second half and the guys stayed together.”