- By Adam Heck
- Sports
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 Empire State GamesEditor's Note: On July 30 the Central Soccer team coached by Lansing's Adam Heck and Groton's John D'Antonio won the gold medal in the Scholastic Division at the Empire State Games. Here is Adam Heck's journal of the event: |
The Empire State Games were held in Rochester last week and there were over 6,000 athletes there competing in a number of events. There are three divisions and within each division there are 6 regions. The divisions are the Masters (over 40), Open (College and beyond), and Scholastic (athletes entering the 12th grade). Within each division the state is divided into 6 regions: NYC, Hudson Valley, Adirondack, Central, and the host Western region.
The team consisted of 16 players and were coached by Lansing's Adam Heck and Groton's John D'Antonio. Locally there were two players on the team from Lansing- Adam Hardie and Lucas Heffron.
Game #1:
The run started Thursday. Central had to play host and heavily favored Western. Central won 3-1 with all goals coming in the second half. Mitch Weaver from Carthage scored the first goal on an assist from Jeff Hazrd from Poland High School. Western tied it up less then a minute later.
Central went ahead for good when Lucas Heffron scored on an assist from Sidney's Mike Guerriere- Guerriere scored the sealer on an unassisted goal. I felt our midfield played great!
Game #2:
Central 2 Hudson Valley-0
Goals- Greg Stucker from Skaneatles and Mawuena Agbossoumonde from CBA. Assists- Lucas Heffron and Chris Cary from Cicero North Syracuse. Keepers- John Albanese (East Syracuse Minoa) and Matt Wopperer combined for the shut-out
GAME #3: WINNER GOES TO THE GOALD MEDAL MATCH
Central-1 Adirondack-0
Goal came from Mike Guerriere in the first half- Assist- Dan McGowan- from MPH. Again the defense was great! We bent but did not break in this game- Adirondack kept coming but we refused to let one in. Brandon Tarney (Baldwinsville)-Adam Hardie(Lansing)- Rob Dickinson (U-E) and Aubrey Brown (Marathon) played great as a defense!!!!!
GOLD MEDAL GAME:
Central-0 Western-0 Games goes to penalty kicks and Central wins 4-2 Chriis Cary wins it on the teams 5th shot-
He told me he would make it so I put him their and moved him up one spot. An absolute great experience. I have been fortunate to win many games a a coach but this experience I will never forget. To get kids from 15 different school to play together and win the gold was such a great thing! These kids really wanted it and the team chemistry is what made us win it.
I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS TEAM!!!
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