By ERIC AHLQVIST
Cooperstown Crier
Once the rust wore off the Cooperstown
boys soccer team, they
looked almost unbeatable.
The Redskins fell behind, 1-0,
just over six minutes into their
Section Three Class C-1 home
quarterfinal contest against Sauquoit
on Monday afternoon.
``We hadn’t played in 18 days
and it showed early,’’ said Cooperstown
head coach Frank Miosek.
``But we stuck with it and I
thought completely dominated
the second half.’’
Brandon Lane tied the score
late in the first half on a direct
kick and added the game-winner
midway through the second half
of Cooperstown’s 2-1 victory.
``Brandon was not going to let
us lose today,’’ Miosek said of
Lane. ``He left it all out there today
and he was not going to be
denied on that second goal.’’
Lane scored the game-winner
after stealing the ball from one
Sauquoit defender, spinning
around a second and breaking
free one-on-one with Indians’
goalkeeper Evan Owens. Lane
beat Owens with a hard shot to
right side of the goal.
Cooperstown will meet Bishop
Grimes in a semifinal contest at 7
p.m. Thursday night at New
Hartford High School.
The teams met in sectionals
last year, with Grimes tying the
score with six seconds remaining
to force overtime, and the Redskins
eventually winning in a
shootout.
``I know they have nine returning
starters from that team,’’ Miosek
said. ``I’m sure last year’s
game left them with a bad taste
in their mouths.’’
On Monday, the Redskins controlled
the ball in their own end
for most of the final 40 minutes,
but could not score again
Leading scorer Jake Chase
missed a penalty kick wide left
with 16:36 remaining, and the
Redskins just missed on several
other opportunities. Sauquoit
managed just one shot on goal in
the second half. The teams met
twice during the regular season,
with each team winning on its
home field.
