Mighty Oaks Weekly Sports Recap

10/03/2016

It was a busy week for Mighty Oaks athletics Oct. 1 and 2 as all fall sports teams were in action.

Men's golf
The men's golf team traveled to Shadow Lake Golf and Racquet Club in Penfield, New York, for the NCCGA Northeast Regional tournament. The team finished second overall out of four teams. Sophomore Sean Barron, a transfer from SUNY Brockport, finished first overall in the individual results. Barron's two-day total of 147 (74, 73), outpaced the next closest competitor by five strokes and brought home individual medalist honors. Barron's individual round score of 73 and 147 total score is an ESF school record. Sophomore William Hoffman finished third overall with a total score of 153 (79, 74). Senior Brian Walsh rounded off the top 10 with a tenth-place finish and overall score of 158 (80, 78).

The ESF squad will travel to the Penn State Blue course for the USCAA national championships Oct. 9-11. A strong performance by Barron at the USCAA championships could earn him an invitation to the NCCGA national tournament in Kissimmee, Florida, Nov. 19-20.

Women's soccer
The women's soccer team continued its winning ways, picking up victories this week over Penn State Hazleton, 7-1, and Villa Marie, 6-0.

Playing Penn State Hazleton Sept. 27, the Mighty Oaks got on the board early, only four minutes into the game when junior Lauren Archer found the back of the net off a pass from junior Anna Bishop. Two minutes later, senior Heather Carl found junior Shannon Gordinier, who blasted the ball past the Nittany Lions' keeper to put ESF up 2-0. This was Gordinier's sixth goal of the season. ESF continued its offensive onslaught, scoring four more goals before the close of the first half, taking a 6-0 halftime lead. The Mighty Oaks finished the game with a 7-1 victory.

Later in the week, the Mighty Oaks faced the Vikings of Villa Maria College. ESF came away with a comfortable 6-0 win over the Vikings. Leading ESF was Carl with two goals. In addition, freshman Alyssa Hughes, junior Victoria Field, junior Natalee Wrege and junior Giselle Schrieber all scored for the Mighty Oaks.

The women's soccer team improves to 5-1-1 overall, 1-1 in conference play. The team will face Cazenovia College Oct. 4.

Men's soccer
The men's soccer team had two important HVIAC matches this week and came out with a win and a loss.

The Mighty Oaks faced the College of New Rochelle (CNR) Blue Angels Sept. 30. This is the first year for the Blue Angels men's soccer program and the team has already built an impressive 7-2 record. ESF came out of the gates firing, with senior Zack Rede getting two quick shots on goal against the Blue Angels' goalkeeper, Cristian Perez Del Castillo. The Blue Angels began to control possession and got on the board at the nine-minute mark when sophomore Nicorey Warren put in a rebound off Mighty Oaks goal keeper Mike Hoppe. Four minutes later CNR freshman Jovanni Garcia converted a penalty kick, putting the Blue Angels up 2-0. The Mighty Oaks responded with inspired play by its freshmen, Mickael Myagkota and Thys Reynolds. Reynolds scored for ESF at the 40th minute on a loose ball inside the six-yard box to send the teams into the half with a 2-1 score.

Possession in the second half was well-balanced. The Mighty Oaks had several opportunities to tie up the score but couldn't convert. CNR pulled ahead 3-1 at the 78th minute when freshman Cesar Rodriguez beat an ESF defender on the left side and buried a shot in the right lower net. CNR came away with a 3-1 victory over ESF.

The following day, the Mighty Oaks faced HVIAC rival Vaughn College. Freshman Joseph Kulikowski opened scoring for ESF at the sixteen-minute mark of the first half off an assist from sophomore Nicholas Van Bennekum. Reynolds followed with another goal at the 32nd minute, his fifth goal of the season, putting ESF up 2-0. The Warriors responded with a goal by freshman Mohammed Aladarous at the 38th minute mark to close out the half down 2-1 to ESF.

The Warriors started the second half with a tying goal by sophomore Denis Moshchenko to knot up the score 2-2. The Mighty Oaks didn't hit the panic button. Instead, they responded with a powerful header from 18 yards out by Kulikowski at the 59th minute to put ESF up 3-2. ESF then followed up with three straight goals, putting the game well out of reach for the Warriors and earning a 6-2 win for the Mighty Oaks.

"It was a tough loss against an excellent College of New Rochelle team but I am really proud of our guys for keeping their composure against Vaughn College in the come-back win. This is an important week for us as we face our rivals Onondaga Community College and defending conference champs Berkeley College. I know our guys are up to the challenge." said Head Coach Dan Ramin.

The men's soccer team is now 6-2 overall, 3-2 in conference play. The squad faces Onondaga Community College in the annual King of the Hill Cup Oct. 6. The Mighty Oaks have lost the last three matches against OCC and hope to bring the cup back to ESF this year.

Men's and women's cross country
The men's and women's cross country teams traveled to Geneseo for the 38th Annual Mike Woods Geneseo Cross Country Invitational at Letchworth State Park. The invitational featured 288 runners and 22 teams on the women's side and 316 runners and 24 teams on the men's side. For the women, sophomore Marissa Lathrop finished 45th overall with a time of 23:51. Freshman Eden Zickler finished in the top 100 with a 96th-place overall finish and a time of 24:39. The women's team finished in 16th place overall.

For the men, senior Michael Persson came in 47th overall with a time of 27:03. Junior Nick Giordano came in 88th place with a time of 27:40. The men's team also finished in 16th place overall against a very competitive group of schools.

"We are in a very good place as a team. This is the time of the season when we must stay focused on our training. We can not let up. Our goals remain the same: win the HVIAC conference championship and then go on to USCAA nationals and compete for the top spot there," said Head Coach John View.