SHERBURNE – Cooperstown will return to the Class C boys soccer Final Four for the third time in six years after the Hawkeyes beat Section IV champion Seton Catholic, 4-1, in the Central Regional match Saturday, Nov. 7, at Sherburne-Earlville Central School.
“The great thing about it was it was a total team effort,” Coach Frank Miosek said.
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The Section III champion Hawkeyes dominated the first half of the match, playing the first 20 minutes almost entirely on offense. Cooperstown had seven corner kicks, all in the first half.
Beckett Grady put the Hawkeyes up 1-0 after slamming home a rebound following a corner kick by Gavin Grady.
Beckett Grady, a junior center-mid, was one of the keys to the game, Miosek said.
“I thought he controlled the middle of the field,” Miosek said. “You can talk about our defense, and obviously, you can praise our offense today, but I thought our midfield set the tempo and controlled the game.”
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The Saints had just two shots on goal in the first half and did not get the first until 18:30 remaining in the half. Cooperstown consistently won first balls, and few Seton passes got through, especially against the Hawkeye defense.
Henry Ayers made it 2-0 off a pass from Hayden Spencer with 6:43 left in the half.
The second half was much evener, but the Saints deficit got bigger anyway. Brayden Sentz crossed a ball to Gavin Grady for a strong finish to the left corner with 31:17 left in the half.
Miosek praised defender Shane Bradley for starting the play on a counter run.
Tomas Volpini-Romero got a deflected ball and scored from the 18 with 18:12 left in the game.
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Will Wasser got a goal off a restart with 5:04 to deny Cooperstown the clean sheet.
Other than that, eight grade goalie Paxton Hazzard was largely unchallenged. He finished with three saves, although Bradley did make one big clear and Hazzard had to dive for one ball, both late in the match.
Cooperstown outshot Seton, 17-5. The Saints had no corner kicks.
Ben Powell made eight saves for Seton Catholic (15-5).
The Hawkeyes are 4-1 in the regional round under Miosek but have never advanced past the Class C semifinals. Cooperstown lost in the semifinals in 2021 and 2022.
“It is a great feeling,” Miosek said. “We got to play everyone today. We got to get the young kids some experience, play some brothers together. It is just very special.”
Cooperstown (15-4-1) will play either Section I champion North Salem or Section XI Riverhead in the Class C semifinals at 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 14, at Middletown High School.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
