The McGraw boys soccer team failed to convert on a few good chances in the first half and Mater Dei Academy capitalized after halftime as the Eagles fell 5-1 in the first round of the McGraw Boys Soccer Tournament Wednesday at Elm St. Field. McGraw will play the loser of Cortland and Bishop Ludden at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The two teams played a back-and-forth first half without many great scoring chances. McGraw’s Logan Moffitt drilled the right post for the best scoring chance of the half and the Eagles also had a few crosses squirt through without a touch.
Things unraveled early in the second half, when Mater Dei’s James Ermold converted a penalty kick after McGraw was called for a handball in the box. Adam Edwards struck less than a minute later to make it 2-0 Saints.
McGraw head coach Jamey Crumb knew the game was well-played and competitive, but his guys were unable to recover after the penalty kick.
“It’s exactly what I felt,” Crumb said. “We made them have one good save and the rest weren’t really on goal and we kind of let one in. We had a couple defensive lapses in the second half, but after the PK we lost energy for 10 minutes.”
Thomas Murai made it 3-0 three minutes later with a beautiful shot from about 35 yards away. He sent it from the right side of the field across into the upper left corner. Ermold scored his second of the game on a free kick and Iker Guiscafre closed out the Mater Dei scoring with another penalty kick after being taken down in the box by Owen Lea.
Moffitt erased the shutout late by converting a penalty kick after a handball in the box.
Crumb was disappointed in the result, especially because his guys had so many chances to score throughout the game.
“Our expectations were pretty high,” Crumb said. “We lost two hustle players in Jaydon (Bassett) and Ryan (Parks), but we have a lot of young players who have been playing a while. We’ve been playing all summer. Our preseason practices have been really positive and good up to this point, so it was a little shock to not at least score in the offensive end as much.”
McGraw has had some scoring difficulties at times throughout the last few seasons. Crumb is hoping this group can learn to consistently put goals in the back of the net.
“Hopefully they just get mad,” Crumb said. “They have to sacrifice their bodies on a couple of those just to poke them in. I think that’s our youth. Throughout the season I have to find out where to put them and leave them. We can’t rely on going straight down the middle.”
Zach Kahle made 11 saves in goal for the Eagles.
McGraw will play again at 4:30 p.m. today at Brookfield in a CCL game, then will play in the consolation game Saturday. Cortland and Bishop Ludden play at 4:30 p.m. today at Bennett St. Field to determine the Saturday matchups.
Crumb is happy there isn’t much time to think about Wednesday’s outcome with a league game on tap today.
“The good thing about having a game (today) is that we don’t have time to focus on the negative stuff,” Crumb said. “Going up there, it’s a field about half the size of this and you don’t know what to expect. We need to focus on getting a win there then we can focus on moving forward.”
GIRLS SOCCER
BISHOP GRIMES 1, MCGRAW 0
Bishop Grimes scored a goal early in the first half to beat McGraw in the first round of the McGraw Girls Soccer Tournament. The Eagles will play the loser of Cortland and Tully in the consolation game at noon Saturday.
WATKINS GLEN 8, DRYDEN 1
Alyson Smith scored two minutes into the game and Dryden held that lead for about 20 minutes, but the Lions couldn’t keep that after. Dryden trailed 3-1 at halftime. Danielle Warwick made 11 saves in goal for the Lions, who took five shots and one corner kick.
BOYS GOLF
CORTLAND 215, HOMER 231
Finn Thomas’ 40 led Cortland to victory, but Homer’s Cooper Layaw shot a 39 at Cortland Country Club to lead all golfers.
Garrick Ott followed Thomas with a 41, Owen Michaels shot a 43, Koda Hubbard notched a 45, Cooper Cohena added a 46 and CJ Urtz’s 48 was cancelled out.
Ryder Armstrong finished behind Layaw with a 45, Dan Stiles shot a 46, Ben Wilbur contributed a 49, Brody Darnell carded a 52 and Caleb Hamilton’s 55 was discarded.
SKANEATELES 212, MCGRAW 316
Ricky Osborne had McGraw’s only sub-60 round at Skaneateles Country Club, shooting a 58. Lucas Friedman notched a 61, Riley Van Liew carded a 65, Barrett Zogg and Lucas Johnson each shot a 66 and Thomas Lea’s 68 was cancelled out.
GIRLS TENNIS
CAZENOVIA 5, HOMER 2
The doubles team of Emma Effinger and Lauren Franco began their defense of the Section III doubles title with a 6-2, 6-0 win in first doubles. Lizzie McCloy and Cathelijne Van der Plujm won their fourth doubles match 1-6, 6-0, 7-6(11-9).
MacKenzie Skodzinsky lost her first singles match 4-6, 0-6, Ginny Park lost 5-7, 5-7 in second singles, Sunny Park fell 3-6, 3-6 in third singles, Isabelle Brown and Aubrey McGrath lost 1-6, 1-6 in second doubles and Lucy Goodwin and Emma Dart dropped their third doubles match 3-6, 2-6.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
FOOTBALL
Newfield at Groton, 7 p.m. Friday at Ross Field
Southern Hills at Jordan-Elbridge, 7 p.m. Friday
BOYS SOCCER
Cortland vs. Bishop Ludden, 4:30 p.m. today at Bennett St. Field
McGraw at Brookfield, 4:30 p.m. today
Cincinnatus at Fabius-Pompey, 6:30 p.m. today
Whitney Point at Dryden, 7 p.m. today
Onondaga/LaFayette at DeRuyter, 5 p.m. today
Moravia vs. Odessa-Montour, 5:30 p.m. today at Union Springs High School
Jordan-Elbridge at Homer, 7 p.m. Friday
Cincinnatus vs. Faith Heritage or Hamilton, 4:30 p.m. Friday at Fabius-Pompey Jr./Sr. High School
Frankfort-Schuyler at Tully, 6:30 p.m. Friday
GIRLS SOCCER
Cortland vs. Tully, 4:30 p.m. today at Bennett St. Field
Marathon vs. Jordan-Elbridge, 4:30 p.m. today at Fabius-Pompey Jr./Sr. High School
Otselic Valley at DeRuyter, 3 p.m. today
Cortland at Homer, 5:15 p.m. Friday
Marathon vs. Manlius Pebble Hill or Fabius-Pompey, 4:30 p.m. Friday at Fabius-Pompey Jr./Sr. High School
Groton at Moravia, 5:30 p.m. Friday
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Solvay at Cortland, 6 p.m. today
Onondaga at Homer, 6 p.m. today
Cortland at Hamilton, 6 p.m. Friday
FIELD HOCKEY
Homer at East Syracuse-Minoa, 6:45 p.m. today
Marathon at Cortland, 5:30 p.m. Friday
BOYS GOLF
Mexico at Cortland, 3:30 p.m. today at Willowbrook Golf Club
Westhill at Homer, 3:30 p.m. today at Cortland Country Club
Jordan-Elbridge at McGraw, 3:30 p.m. today at Knickerbocker Country Club
McGraw at Homer, 3:30 p.m. Friday at Cortland Country Club
Tully at Marcellus, 3:30 p.m. Friday at the Links at Sunset Ridge Golf Course
GIRLS TENNIS
Homer at Phoenix, 4:30 p.m. Friday
