Delaney: Saturday night at the office

Grace Riker is closer to a Section III record.

The Mount Markham field hockey goalie got another shutout earlier this week to give the Mustangs senior 40 for her career, tying her with former VVS goalie Kelly Snizek. Riker has been shutout for No. 41 in her last two starts - Little Falls defeated the Mustangs, 1-0 on Friday (Oct. 10) and though Mount Markham got back in the winning column on Saturday against Mohawk, the Mohicans did get one in the cage. 

 

The Sauquoit Valley girls soccer team won again on Saturday and it looks like the Indians have a handle on the CSC Division II title. The Indians have been playing well lately and are 8-1 in league and 12-2-2 overall. 

 

The New Hartford boys, still playing without five suspended starters, defeated Class AA Rome Free Academy, 2-0 on Saturday. Shaun Hadity and Dennis Halpin scored for the Spartans. I don't know how the New Hartford is doing it.  

Delaney: Longtime coming for Sauquoit Valley girls

The Sauquoit Valley girls soccer team's 6-2 win over Cooperstown on Monday was the Indians' first home victory against the Redskins in 15 years.

 

The Rome Free Academy boys and girls soccer teams both tied Cicero-North Syracuse on Thursday. The RFA girls got a goal from Sarah Southwell to get a 1-1 draw at home with the Northstars. Dominic DiMaggio had to make 20 saves to help the Black Knights boys team to a scoreless tie at Cicero.

 

The Oct. 2-8 state girls soccer poll includes four area teams in the rankings. Clinton (11-1-2) is 19th in Class B, Mohawk (10-1-1) is 17th in Class C, Remsen (16-0) is 7th in Class D and Hamilton (11-1-3) is 10th in Class D.

 

The girls Section III Class D tournament is shaping up to be a good one. The class has three state-ranked teams to this point, topped by No. 3 McGraw. Unranked Madison and Old Forge should also be in the mix.

 

 

 

 

Delaney: Good days for Mustangs, Spartans; Wildcats rock CSC girls soccer

Mount Markham field hockey goalie Grace Rikker is closing in on a Section III record. The Mustangs senior, a four-year starter, has 39 shutouts and needs one more to tie the Section III record. Vernon-Verona-Sherrill's Kelly Snizek got her 40th shutout in 2005. Riker, now with a 58-14-4 record, has five chances to tie and break Snizek's mark. Mount Markham hosts Ilion on Wednesday (Oct. 8); then the Mustangs play at Little Falls on Friday in a game for the CSC East title; and at Mohawk on Saturday morning; and home games against Cooperstown (Oct. 14) and New York Mills (Oct. 16).

 

The Mount Markham boys soccer team clinched at least a tie of the CSC Division II title with a 2-0 win over Cooperstown on Tuesday.

 

The girls soccer game of the day on Tuesday was a Tri Valley League rematch between New Hartford and unbeaten Clinton. New Hartford avenged an early season loss to the Warriors with a 2-1 win. Class B Clinton is 8-1-2 and 10-1-2. New Hartford, the team one TVL opponent said is the best team in the league, is 9-1-1 and 10-5-1.

 

The Adirondack girls soccer team's 1-0 upset of Herkimer on Monday was an upset that could upset the balance of power in CSC I. Herkimer's loss makes its Wednesday (Oct. 9) showdown with Mohawk very interesting. Both teams have one loss since Herkimer defeated the Mohicans earlier in the year. The other key result on Monday was CSC III teams Hamilton and Oriskany playing to 1-1 draw.

 

Delaney: Mohawk boys worthy unbeatens

The mystery has been solved, at least in my own mind, and I can stop wondering: how good is the Mohawk boys soccer team?

 

Finally I saw the Mohicans play. On Tuesay afternoon, Mohawk defeated CSC I rival Ilion, 3-0, to remain unbeaten and clinched Mohawk's first league title, according to coach Gabe Whittaker, a 1999 Mohawk graduate. Whittaker has a nice way on the sideline: calm, cool and always teaching while players, fans and assistant coaches get caught up in the game.

 

The Mohicans are a good team. They're physical, more physical than skilled, it seems, but that's not a knock. How physical they can play is up to the officials to decided game-by-game. Mohawk is playing to its strength with its strength. There are some big boys on the field for Whittaker, including leading scorer John LeClair who was a one-time football player at Mohawk. Among the team's scoring triumvirate - LeClair, Andrew Fleming and Ryan Lundquist - none are lacking in size. LeClair and Fleming are taller than Lundquist, but the latter is stocky, scrappy and not easy to knock off the ball. Defender Bob Morgan might be the biggest Mohawk player with a strong foot to...ahh, boot.

 

 

Delaney: Torrez, Dent comfortable with their places in history

Looking tanned and relaxed, Mike Torrez and Bucky Dent stood to shake my hand.

 

We talked about the A.L. East Division playoff game on Oct. 2, 1978 - as was my assignment. Dent hit the game-winning home run off then-Red Sox pitcher Torrez to help the Yankees win the division title 5-4 in Fenway Park. The Yankees went on to win the World Series for the second consecutive year, and Dent was the MVP.

 

I couldn't help but notice how content they were with their respective places in baseball history -- especiallly Torrez. Maybe I expected him to be a reluctant participant in a fundraising event at St. Peter's School earlier this week considering he's was the so-called goat that afternoon in Fenway Park. Maybe I was so caught up in what I was doing, I didn't stop to realize Torrez had had 30 years to adjust.

 

I think people in my profession, sports reporters and sportscasters, tend to pin one defining moment of glory or failure on an athlete. We don't always look beyond the heroics or gaffe to see there's more to the play and, often, the person than we first thought.

 

 

Delaney: 6 area soccer teams state ranked

With 2 1/2 weeks until the Oct. 19 seeding meeting, the number of area state-ranked high school soccer teams is dwindling.

Six are in the latest rankings, including the undefeated Mohawk boys and Hamilton Central boys and girls teams.

The girls teams are: Clinton (11th in Class B), Hamilton (5th Class D) and Remsen (11th Class D). The boys are: Mohawk (5th in Class C), Poland (6th in Class D) and Hamilton (11th in Class D).

 

Nine area teams were among the state-ranked schools the last time I posted on this space, on Sept. 24. The teams that dropped out were: Mount Markham and Cooperstown boys and the Mohawk girls.

 

Still ranked - #1 in boys Class D - is Chazy with a 12-1 record.

 

Delaney: 9 area teams in state soccer poll

The weekly state soccer poll is out and nine area teams are ranked, including two schools that has its boys and girls in the poll.

 

Mohawk and Hamilton Central have that honor. The Mohawk boys remain undefeated and are sixth in Class C. The Mohawk girls are 15th. In Class D, the Hamilton girls are undefeated and ranked seventh. The Emerald Knights boys team, with one loss, is 14th.

 

The other area teams in the rankings are: Clinton girls (seventh in Class B); and Remsen (14th in Class D). On the boys side, it's Mount Markham (15th in Class B); Cooperstown (15th in Class C); and state runner-up and three-time defending Section III Class D champ Poland (5th in Class D).

 

Chazy, the team that defeated Poland in the state finals last year, is ranked No. 1 in boys Class D.