Soccer Season Begins
School being in session could only mean one thing: the fall sports here at Hudson Valley are back in action.The men’s soccer team opened up against defending National Champion Herkimer. Hudson Valley held Herkimer scoreless in the first half, but the second half saw Hudson Valley giving up five goals and losing 5-0. However, Coach Trevor Cooke applauded the team’s effort.
“It was a tough loss. We like to schedule games like these to see where we’re at early on in the season. The guys did well,” he said.
On September 1, the team carried some momentum from that Thursday’s game into their match-up with the Finger Lakes. Freshman Enea Canaj scored a goal early in the first half to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead. That proved to be the only goal scored in the game. Goalkeeper Rich Acheson stopped five shots and got his first shutout of the season.
“[The win] feels outstanding,” Cooke said. “I’m happy for them.” About the chemistry on the team, Cooke said that the team is still trying to figure that out and feels that it is still individual.
Captains Eugene Corcione and Brett Gruener said that the key is to work as one unit and communicate better, and that “we’re only as strong as our weakest link.”
If these problems are fixed, Corcione and Gruener expect the Vikings to win the division and a deep run in the playoffs. This week the National Soccer Coaches Association of America awarded the Vikings with a ranking of 11 in their latest poll.
The women’s soccer team also began their season. However, their home opener was not as successful as the men’s teams. They lost a rough game 7-0.
Captains Hannah Koehn, Karly Nichols, and Jen Burke said that the team got frustrated and lost focus and motivation.
“We played pretty well together in the first half but we need to look past this game, get refocused, and get ready for Tuesday,” Coach John Pokines said.
The Lady Vikings rebounded with a 2-0 victory over league rival Clinton. Both scores came in the second half off the foot of forward Carolyn Gibbons. Assisting these goals were defender Desiree Rodwell and midfielder Alexi Anderson.
On Thursday, the Lady Vikings won their second game in a row, this time a 9-1 beat down of Manchester JV. Gibbons led the attack again this time with a hat trick and also had two assists. The other goals were scored by Anderson, Rodwell, Jen Burke, Brianna Calcavecchia, Brenna Thompson, and Moriah D’Orazio.
With how well the team is playing, the chemistry amongst team members is very strong and getting better each day, according to Koehn, Nichols, and Burke.
The Lady Vikings look to stay focused and hopefully achieve their goal of winning the conference.