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Westfield/Brocton’s Scriven earns Defensive Player of the Year award

CCAA Central honors its best

Westfield/Brocton goalkeeper Mike Johnson punts the ball during a game at the NorthLake Soccer Complex in Westfield earlier this season. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.

All year long in the CCAA II Central boys soccer division, the Maple Grove Red Dragons and the Westfield/Brocton Wolverines battled for supremacy. The rivalry even carried into the Sectional playoffs, as Maple Grove capitalized on its third shot at the Wolverines to hand the division winners their one and only loss of the season.

With how dominant both teams were, it comes as no surprise that the league’s highest honors are full of Red Dragons and Wolverines.

Westfield/Brocton’s Dylan Scriven won CCAA II Central Defensive Player of the Year, while first-year Westfield/Brocton coach Jared Winder won CCAA II Central Coach of the Year in the 2019 Boys Soccer All-Stars and Awards recently released. Maple Grove’s leading scorer Caleb Foley won the league’s Offensive Player of the Year award.

Scriven was a consistent force on the talented back line of the Wolverines’, which led the league with only three goals allowed throughout the regular season. Scriven’s senior leadership and reliability on and off the field as a senior co-captain helped ease the load on Winder as a first-year coach. Winder’s selection as Coach of the Year was a no-brainer, as his first season at the helm of the Wolverines finished with a perfect 16-0-0 record, a division title and a No. 1 seed in the postseason. The Wolverines only trailed in one game all regular season, for less than one half of play, against North Collins.

Foley was Maple Grove’s standout once again as a senior, racking up 22 goals on the way to a Section VI, Class C championship. His go-ahead goal against Westfield/Brocton in the Sectional semifinals was the first goal in a game the Red Dragons never trailed in. Maple Grove scored a league-leading 74 goals in the regular season, with only a pair of 1-0 losses to the Wolverines standing in the way of a perfect record for the Red Dragons.

Silver Creek/Forestville’s Darren Jimenez celebrates a goal during a game earlier this year in Silver Creek. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.

Scriven was far from the only Wolverines standout honored by the league this season. Senior co-captain Nathan Culbreth joined Scriven on the First Team All-Stars, as did senior Jason Almeter and sophomore Darien Swanson. Culbreth tallied 11 goals and seven assists on the season, highlighted by a stellar free kick goal in Westfield/Brocton’s 1-0 postseason win over Portville in the final game of his career at the NorthLake Soccer Complex.

Almeter, a forward, scored a team-high 14 goals this season, along with six assists for the Wolverines. Swanson had four goals and a team-high 12 assists from the midfield position, highlighted by an assist on a goal by Josh Heim in the Wolverines’ second 1-0 victory over Maple Grove to clinch the division title and a perfect regular season.

Heim was one of four Wolverines selected to the Second Team All-Stars, along with Isaac Caballero, Connor Dispense and senior goalkeeper Mike Johnson. Heim, a junior, tallied 10 goals and 11 assists, including the clinching tally to solidify the perfect season. Caballero, a senior, and Dispense, a junior, joined Scriven on the league’s top defensive unit. Behind them was Johnson, a senior co-captain, who was somehow left off the First Team All-Stars despite only allowing three goals all season, with 13 shutouts in the 16-0-0 regular season for the Wolverines. Also for the Wolverines, Elber Lopez-Hernandez, Cole Holland and Gabe Morello all earned Honorable Mention.

Joining Foley on the First Team All-Stars from Maple Grove were goalkeeper Sam Cummings and midfielder Nick Golando. On the Second Team All-Stars were junior Tristan Spillane, sophomore Cam Crist and junior Adam Marsh. Senior Kevin Ruhlman, juniors Elias Aki and Brendan Hirliman, and sophomore RJ Helt made Honorable Mention for the Red Dragons.

The rest of the division’s All-Stars are as follows:

Westfield/Brocton’s Nathan Culbreth defends during a playoff game in Westfield. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.

CCAA II Central 2019 Boys Soccer All-Stars and Awards

First Team

Darien Swanson, Westfield/Brocton, soph.

Nathan Culbreth, Westfield/Brocton, senior

Dylan Scriven, Westfield/Brocton, senior

Westfield/Brocton’s Dylan Scriven follows through on a kick during a game in Westfield. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.

Jason Almeter, Westfield/Brocton, senior

Sam Cummings, Maple Grove, soph.

Nick Golando, Maple Grove, junior

Caleb Foley, Maple Grove, senior

Christian Loretto, North Collins, senior

Silver Creek/Forestville goalkeeper Jeremy Wilcox looks on during a regular season boys soccer game earlier this year at Silver Creek High School. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.

Alex Teijeira, North Collins, junior

Darren Jimenez, Silver Creek/Forestville, senior

Jeremy Wilcox Silver Creek/Forestville, senior

Zack Carr, Frewsburg, freshman

Calob Carr, Frewsburg, senior

Evan Frontuto, Pine Valley, junior

Second Team

Isaac Caballero, Westfield/Brocton, senior

Josh Heim, Westfield/Brocton, junior

Michael Johnson, Westfield/Brocton, senior

Connor Dispense, Westfield/Brocton, junior

Adam Marsh, Maple Grove, junior

Cam Crist, Maple Grove, soph.

Tristan Spillane, Maple Grove, junior

Mitchell Warsaw, North Collins, junior

Tony Puckhaber, North Collins, junior

Spencer Harford, Silver Creek/Forestville, senior

Giovanni Pacifici, Silver Creek/Forestville, senior

Daven Wolfe, Frewsburg, junior

Trent Bjork, Frewsburg, soph.

Jared Nobles, Pine Valley, senior

Honorable Mention

Elber Lopez-Hernandez, Westfield/Brocton, junior

Cole Holland, Westfield/Brocton, soph.

Gabe Morello, Westfield/Brocton, senior

Brendan Hirliman, Maple Grove, junior

Elias Aki, Maple Grove, junior

Kevin Ruhlman, Maple Grove, senior

RJ Helt, Maple Grove, soph.

Brody Klawinski, North Collins, junior

Dominic Fricano, North Collins, junior

Chris VanCheri, Silver Creek/Forestville, senior

Don Gula, Silver Creek/Forestville, senior

Nick Emily, Frewsburg, senior

Nick Mason, Frewsburg, senior

Gavin Swanson, Frewsburg, senior

Cameron Hayes, Pine Valley, junior

Owen Ward, Pine Valley, soph.

CCAA II Central Sportsmanship Team: Pine Valley; Player: Jared Nobles

CCAA II Central Referee of the Year: Rosario Parisi

CCAA II Central Coach of the Year: Jared Winder, Westfield/Brocton

CCAA II Central Offensive Player of the Year: Caleb Foley, Maple Grove

CCAA II Central Defensive Player of the Year: Dylan Scriven, Westfield/Brocton

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