Local Sports

‘It’s nice to get back up here’

North Collins edges MG for Class D title

HAMBURG -- After two matchups in the regular season, splitting wins in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division III, the North Collins and Maple Grove boys soccer teams were well prepared for each other in the Section VI Class D final Wednesday night at Hamburg High School.

Tied through the first 68 minutes, the game looked like it would be heading to overtime with the contest scoreless. Then in the 69th minute, North Collins sent a cross through the box and contact going after the ball saw the Eagles awarded a penalty kick.

North Collins leading scorer Neven Sheehy made no mistake from the mark and fired home the only goal of the contest to secure the Class D title.

"It's nice to get back here," North Collins head coach Jay Walters said about winning the sectional title. "Maple Grove is a great team, they came at us with such speed. We played them twice this year and split. We played them on turf, we played them on grass. They were fast, they were physically aggressive tonight. It was a really nice contest to be a part of."

Maple Grove did not ruminate on the disappointment of the penalty call and instead began pressing as hard as it had all night for a goal.

"After a four-year break, coming back I am so proud that it's these boys," Maple Grove head coach Cara Abbey stated. "I'm so proud of them, I'm thankful for them. They know how to fight, they know how to go to war with each other and there is no better group of guys to win with or lose with."

In the final 10 minutes, the Red Dragons had their best looks of the match, starting with Dom Danielson nearly heading home an Ezekiel Padd cross in the 75th minute.

Then in the final minute three great looks were generated by Ty Oste. He first flicked a great chance toward goal off a throw-in with about a minute left that was caught by Blake Schlenker.

Oste then took a free kick from about 40 yards away with 20 seconds left and, following his ball, he raced in for a final shot that just went wide and time expired before a corner could be taken.

"I'm just so proud of them," Abbey stated. "Ty Oste is one of the best players to ever come out of Maple Grove because of his soccer ability and his heart. He loves soccer, but he loves these boys. He keeps them level headed, he plays good clean soccer and Maple Grove owes a huge debt to him, he's got quite a legacy he's leaving."

After managing the North Collins speed on the wing with Karter Bartholmew and Abe Parnitzke, it was the unfortunate penalty that doomed the steady Maple Grove defense.

"My defense, it's the best group of guys," Abbey said. "Aiden Dahlberg is just a brickwall back there in goal, he's smart, he reads the field well. ... Those four guys on the back line, I've got Nate Reinhardt. He's a ninth-grader and he's the future of Maple Grove defense. I've got Zeke Padd, our captain, our charismatic leader who's one of the best captains I've ever had and I'll get him back next year. Dylan Moore has been playing Maple Grove forever since he was a little kid in seventh grade. Then I've got Will Bryant, possibly the smartest kid with the best vision on the team. It's a great group of guys and they're coming back next year for more."

The speedy wings nearly got the Eagles on the board in the first half in the counterattack. In the fourth minute, Bartholmew nearly beat Aiden Dahlberg to a loose ball in the box.

Then, nearly 20 minutes later, Parnitzke got past the defense on two occasions, once on a cross by Bartholmew and another time with a pass by Evan Weisdel, but both times Dahlberg came up with the stop.

Maple Grove held better possession and worked into the North Collins end as a unit. However, the North Collins defense did a great job taking away the space and settling for corners that were also defended away.

The Red Dragons (6-7-2) had a prime chance in the box in the 20th minute when a ball found Gavin Kress on a one-touch shot that was snagged by Schlenker in goal.

"That's soccer," Abbey said about not getting a goal. "We had the shots, they were there, but it's a game of inches and seconds. You miss by a couple inches and that's how soccer goes. All wins and losses are judged by just a few inches."

Neither side looked as if it would give up a goal, but it was the penalty in the 69th minute that decided the contest and delivered the Eagles (6-7-3) the Class D title.

"My goalie really had to play," Walters said. "It was less hard shots on him and more timing with the mobile defense. Timing it just right to come out and pick it up. With guys coming at full speed, he judged very well tonight."