Hamilton, Poland rivalry to watch in 2008

The boys soccer preview will be in Saturday's Observer-Dispatch (Sept. 13). It's running a little later than intended, sorry about that. It's a busy time of year for people involved with high school athletics and getting in touch with multiple groups of coaches is a challenge - even in the era of e-mail.

 

Poland senior midfielder Richard Hazard is the subject of the feature story. Hazard, a four-year varsity player for the Tornadoes, has settled into the midfield after splitting his time between the midfield and the forward line in 2007.

 

The Center State Conference Division III race between Poland and Hamilton Central will be worth watching all season. It might be the most compelling division/league race in the area. The Class D rivals have met six times in the last three years, including in the Section III semifinals in 2007 won by Poland. The teams play for the first time this year on Sept. 19 at Poland (4:30 p.m.) and on Oct. 14 in Hamilton (7 p.m.).

 

This might be Hamilton's year to get past the Tornadoes. The Emerald Knights return nine starters from 2007, including three defenders (Alex Thompson, Bobby Dick and Brandon Meek) in front of returning starting GK Will Keever.

 

Poland has eight guys back, but the team that went to the state finals last November took a hit when senior defender Mike Hennings was lost for the season with a knee injury. Hennings, a sweeper, was a physically imposing presence in the back for Poland and his absence will be difficult to fill. Sal Collard, another senior defender who was a starter last year, is also out after having knee surgery in the spring.

 

In other area action:

 

* look for intense football rivals Whitesboro and New Hartford to bring their rivalry to the pitch in the Tri Valley League. Defending league champion Clinton is very young, with one starter back. New Hartford's top two scoring leaders graduated, including O-D All Mohawk Valley Player of the Year Michael Payne who's now at Old Dominion, but the Spartans played a challenging early-season schedule and are well coached. Whitesboro has the TVL's top returning scorer in junior forward Vinny Barbato (10-8-28). Midfielder Mike Gigliotti is also back as one of the starters with defender Joe Rucco and GK Scott Barry (1.22 GAA, 8 SO).

 

* In CSC Division I, Mohawk is off to a 5-0 start but the best player in the league is Frankfort-Schuyler midfielder Leo Nizzi. Ilion senior forward Cory Rowland (12-5-29) can give Nizzi a run and Ilion has eight other returning starters.

 

* In CSC Division II, Cooperstown is turning into the Clinton of this league - the Redskins always seem to reload and manage to stay competitive. Sophomore forward Jake Chase is a talent and returns as the team's leading scorer with 10 goals, 9 assists (29 points). The team will be pressed by Mount Markham. Dinged with injuries in 2007, the Mustangs have their best team since 2003 when the team shared the Section III Class C title with Manlius-Pebble Hill. M-PH advanced in a shootout, and the match in the Carrier Dome remains one of the best high school games I've covered. Blair Bellamy, a possession-type midfielder, didn't play much in 2007 because of a bad hip. He's back, as are the top two scorers a pair of junior forward in Tayron Ixlaj and Jeremy Slosek.

 

*Rome Free Academy and Thomas R. Proctor play in the Central New York Counties League, Class AA league dominated by Syracuse-area schools. RFA, with first-year coach Keith Meola who came from Camden after that school was unable to field a varsity team, is off to a 4-0 start. The Black Knights' record includes an overtime win over Proctor on Sept. 9. Meola is looking for midfielder Mario Gomez to be the sparkplug for his team, a guy who get 8-10 goals and 12-15 assists. Proctor should continue the nice season it had in 2007 when Nick Galiulo took over. The Raiders return a pair of junior forwards, Osman Osman (8-13-19) and Armin Budjno (13-3-29), a guy a couple coaches think is the best forward in the area.