St. Francis Soccer Returns from CNY With Positive Results!

Coach Hannon
The St. Francis Varsity and JV Soccer teams travelled to Skaneateles, NY on September 28 & 29 to compete in the 18th Annual Laker Cup.   Skaneateles and Henninger High School represented Section III, Aquinas Institute of Rochester (Section IV) and the boys from St. Francis tangled for two days of matches and an ancillary skills competition.   
Along the way, there was a stop at Syracuse University for an official campus tour and lunch at the SU Ernie Davis Cafeteria where our student athletes were able to discover the venerable campus, a wide range of majors and fields of study, tremendous architecture, as well as the iconic Carrier Dome.  
 
The results for the Red Raiders were tremendous!   On the field, the JV team captured first place and returned with some nice hardware and accolades.   The road to the championship began with a hard-fought game with the host team Skaneateles. Goals by Ryan Brooks and Travis Sikorski propelled the lads past the Lakers and on to the Championship round to face a speedy and skilled Henninger squad.  
 
Saturday morning for the JV’s found them heavily supported by family and friends that made the trip, as well as a fierce cheering section dominated by the Varsity Red Raiders; Fraternitas!
With a game that saw more scoring chances from the Red Raiders, score remained knotted at zero through the first half.   Hopes were nearly dashed when the Red Raiders committed a handball in their penalty area with about 20 minutes left to play.   A penalty shot would determine their fate.   Colin Murphy, who had played a physical game in the cage, came up with a huge save in the top left corner thus thwarting the chosen Henninger shooter!
 
Not long after the Red Raiders offence was awarded the same opportunity after being fouled inside the opposition’s 18.   Cole Eckman ( See footage below) buried his opportunity in the left side of the net, sealing victory for the JV side.   Final score St. Francis 1…Henninger 0. Congratulations to Coach Laura Stone and interim assistant coach Richard Luzcak for the successful weekend!
 
The Varsity Red Raiders were denied a victory against the Skaneateles Lakers in a dog fight Friday night under the bright lights and in front of a capacity crowd that included the entire JV team and family members who supported the team for the entire 80 mins.   After trading opportunities in the first half the Red Raiders found themselves in a 1-0 hole going into the second half.   Skaneateles took advantage of two set plays to go up 3-0 with about 20 minutes to play in the game.   However, the boys were not about to go down without a fight!   Damn the torpedoes, was the battle cry as Jake Pericak (PK) and Marshall Bueler dented the twines late in the second half to pull the Red Raiders within one goal of tying match. Fate had other plans as time expired on a late push that may well have tied the game…
 
It was a great game played by the entire bench, all the players were involved and the team attitude was positive for 80 minutes and the work rate was top notch!
 
Saturday would bring a new opponent in the Aquinas Institute of Rochester, and new set of results as the Varsity Squad, led by two Mike Jurek tallies, would come from a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1.   This was an impressive win over a section IV powerhouse that the Red Raiders had dispatched 1-0 at home some 5 days before.   Pierce Drake and Charlie Rath had the helpers on Jurek's goals and goalkeeper Alex Dzimian patrolled his area with a commanding presence.  
 
As a result, Jake Pericak and Mike Jurek were named to the All-Tournament Team.     Joe Jerge won accolades as well by winning the Cross-Bar Challenge and Charlie Rath was a top three finisher in the Juggling contest.   Again, the entire varsity squad contributed for the win!
 
The entire St. Francis Soccer program received praise for not only the performance by both teams on the field of play, but for the evidence of brotherhood, camaraderie and sportsmanship.   Many of the opposing team’s parents and coaches, as well as the Skaneateles Athletic Director, made it a point to communicate to the SF Coaching Staff that our boys were deserving of said praise throughout the tournament!  
 
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Success Begins at St. Francis