Salmon River upends OFA in Class B semi-finals
Oct. 26—"We are who we are and we always show up," Salmon River Coach Tim Cook after the third seeded Shamrocks scored a 2-0 upset win over second seeded OFA in the Class B semi-finals of the Section 10 Boys Soccer Tournament on the turf of Ron Johnson Field on Wednesday.
"We always work hard and we have some good speed," added Coach Cook.
Speedster Carter Johnson scored in the ninth minute of the game and with 2:22 to play to complement an outstanding performance by the Shamrocks' defensive backfield.
The Devils pressed from the outside and the inside but were unable to break down the SR defense or consistently generate dangerous crossing passes in front of Salmon River goalie Xavier Delorme who finished with a six-save shutout.
"After we fell behind we seemed to get out of our game. But we had a great season and we had an awesome bunch of kids," said OFA Coach Matt Sholette speaking for himself and Assistant Coach Nick Sholette.
"The guys did everything we asked of them."
The defending champion Shamrocks advanced into Saturday's 1 p.m. championship game against top-seeded and NAC Central Co-Champion Canton which downed fourth seeded Gouverneur 9-1 on Wednesday.
Salmon River 2 — OFA 0: The NAC Central Division Co-Champion Blue Devils (13-4) scored a pair of 3-0 wins over the Shamrocks (10-7-0) in going 13-1 in division play but found themselves dealing with a flipped script.
"OFA is an outstanding team and they scored an early goal in both of the regular season games. I told the guys that our key was to get through the first half and we did and we scored the early goal this time," said Coach Cook.
Johnson opened the scoring by heading a crossing pass by Sammy Moulton into the net.
OFA's Ian Rose, who completed a strong sophomore season in goal for OFA, made his best save of the game to stop Johnson who controlled a clear made a long run down the left side as the game entered its final three minutes. Rose made a leaping save but Johnson followed the ball and directed the rebound along the ground into the net with 2:22 to play.
Canton 9 — Gouverneur 1: A goal by Josh McLear broke a scoreless tie 20 minutes into the game and ignited an offensive avalanche by the top seeded Golden Bears (14-3) who received four goals one assist from Ethan Francey, three goals and one assist from Ryan Jones and another single goal by Tom Husinec.
"It was a close game for 20 minutes but we were able break loose. This is an outstanding team and we have two great leaders in Ethan Francey who set the school season goal scoring record with 31 and Ryan Jones who set the school assist record with 32," said longtime Canton Coach Matt Caufield who is a lifetime Ogdensburg resident.
"Salmon River will be tough in the finals but I like our chances."
Class A Finals: In the Class A Championship games staged on Wednesday the Massena Boys downed Malone 4-1 and the Malone Girls shaded Massena 2-1 in overtime.
