Meteors collect Div. III crown

BY SHANE HENIGAN
Times-Shamrock Writer

When Montrose coach Dan Cherney thinks of a turning point to his team’s season, he circles Sept. 19, when the Meteors lost to Lakeland.

From that point, he said his team really came together and began to gel.

That came to fruition Saturday, as Montrose avenged that earlier loss by defeating Lakeland, 2-1, to claim the Lackawanna League Division III boys soccer championship at Scranton Memorial Stadium.

“This is great for the kids,” Cherney said. “They worked hard all year and we’ve improved throughout the year. That’s the biggest thing, showing improvement each game.”

Lakeland (9-1-2) got on the board first in the 20th minute, when Michael Besten gave Michael Tomcykoski a pass inside the 18-yard box.

Tomcykoski fired a shot that was deflected and went past goalkeeper Brendan Buck into the net.

But the Meteors (11-1) got an opportunity on a corner kick in the 30th minute and took full advantage. Nick Henry crossed a pass into the middle and Kyle Watkins finished, heading the ball into the goal to tie the match at 1.

“I think that’s what won us the game,” Watkins said. “If we didn’t have that goal going into half, we would’ve been down at and might not have been as positive and not come out with fire in the second half.”

Both teams had two good chances in the second half but Buck and Lakeland goalkeeper Terrance Arendt came up with big saves. But a foul on Lakeland gave Montrose a direct kick opportunity in the 67th minute.

Rather than taking the shot, Giovanni Amato passed it to a charging Troy Ely, who blasted a shot from 25 yards out into the back of the net to give the Meteors the lead.

“They were all packed in the box and I just stood there wide open,” Ely said. “I was secretly calling to him to get me the ball and once he passed it, I knew it was a go.

“We had tons of chances that I just knew something was going to go in.”

From that point, Montrose controlled the rest of the game, even getting a penalty kick opportunity in the 79th minute. But Arendt turned away Henry’s shot to keep it a one-goal game.

Lakeland never got another good chance to try and tie the game.

“This shows us that we have some work to do,” Lakeland coach Tom Kane said. “Nothing’s going to come easy (in district playoffs). Teams are always going to give us their best game. We just have to make sure that we rebound with a better game than what they bring to us.”

In other soccer action last week:
Blue Ridge fell to Holy Cross, 4-3, in a Lackawanna League Division III boys soccer game Tuesday.
Axell Mejia scored twice for Blue Ridge; and Corbin French scored on a penalty kick. Raider goalie Shawn Woodruff had eight saves.

At Elk Lake, Bailey Newhart scored both goals to lead the Warriors to a 2-0 victory of Dunmore.
Zach Groover made 15 saves to earn the shutout.

At Forest City, Ryan Lavin scored two goals and James Goodenough had a goal and an assist to lead Mountain View in a 3-0 win over the Foresters.

Jesse Gerfin had 10 saves for the Eagles; while Forest City’s Dakota Knehr-Cook had 13.

At Montrose, Troy Ely and Kyle Watkins each had two goals and an assist as Montrose trounced Riverside 10-1.

Todd Lattimore, Giovanni Amato, Jared Geisler, Joe Rondino, and Riley Birchard also scored for the Meteors on Tuesday.

Montrose followed that win up with a 5-0 victory over Blue Ridge on Thursday.

Nick Henry had a hat trick to lead Montrose; while Troy Ely added two goals and an assist for the Meteors.
The win brought Montrose into a tie for the division title with Lakeland. The Meteors emerged victorious in the Saturday tie-breaker.

Blue Ridge goalie Shawn Woodruff had 13 saves.

Elk Lake was defeated 4-0 by Holy Cross. Brandon Traver had 12 saves for the Warriors.

At Forest City, Jared Paulin had a hat trick and Tyler Trichilo had a goal and two assists to lead the Foresters in a 5-0 win over Old Forge.

Adam Morris also scored.