Potsdam, N-N, Massena Boys Open Central Season With Ties
The opening day of the 2010 NAC Central Division boys soccer season produced two ties and a blow-out on Tuesday.
Potsdam 1, Norwood-Norfolk 1: At the Potsdam Central turf field, the visiting Flyers drew first blood when Alex Ploof converted off an assist from Drew Stone in the 25th minute.
The lead stood until late in the second half when Scott Bartenstein finished off a play set up by Pete McAdoo with four minutes remaining to pull the Sandstoners even and send the game into what turned out to be 20 minutes of scoreless overtime.
Sebastien Grimberg had two saves for Potsdam which moved to 1-1-1 overall while Jeremy Waite stood tall in the Flyer (1-1-1) crease turning aside 10 of the shots.
Massena 1, Canton 1 (OT): At Mike Nicholas Field in Massena, the visiting Bears outshot the Raiders but weren't able to outscore them.
"I thought they played better than we did but this was our first game and we got a better idea of the things we need to work on," said coach Pat Henrie after the Raiders settled for the season-opening draw.
"Both teams took advantage of the other team's mistakes today," he added.
After a scoreless first half that saw the Bears generate the majority of the good offensive chances, the Raiders got on the board first at the 7:14 mark of the second half when Bill Lint drilled home the rebound of a corner-kick from the left by J.P. Prashaw that eluded Canton netminder Jake Newman after he'd made the initial save.
The Bears got the equalizer with 9:15 left in regulation on a similar play that began with a long direct kick delivered into the area by Josh Mousaw. Massena netminder Alan Davis was able to get a hand on the ball but it rebounded to Shawn Spadacinni who converted from close range.
The teams went on to play through the rest of regulation and two 10-minute overtimes without connecting again.
Davis finished with 12 saves working the Raider crease. Newman made five stops through the first 47:14 before giving way to Jeff Hammond, who handled another four saves in preserving the tie.
The Raiders return to action this weekend as host of their annual Bill O'Neill Memorial Tournament. The Raiders take on Hermon-Dekalb at 7:30 p.m. on Friday after Parishville-Hopkinton and Salmon River square off starting at 5:30 p.m. The consolation and championship games are Saturday at 10 a.m. and noon respectively.
OFA 8, Gouverneur 2: In the other Central Division opener played in Ogdensburg, the host Blue Devils built a 6-0 halftime lead en route to their lopsided win.
Grant Prudhomme netted two goals and helped set up three others to lead the way offensively for OFA. Kyle Manke generated two goals and an assist. Paul LaPlante also struck for a pair of goals while Andy Rickett netted a singleton.
Tyler Carrow (3 saves) and Matt Tolman (8 saves) shared crease duties for the Blue Devils (3-0). Seth Carr stopped 14 shots in the loss.
WEST DIVISION
In the West Division games played on Tuesday; Edwards-Knox blanked Hammond 5-0, Harrisville stopped Clifton-Fine 3-0, Heuvelton dropped Morristown 4-0 and Lisbon handled Hermon-Dekalb 5-0.
