By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
November 5, 2013-Chock full of players from the Pleasant Valley Vipers and LaGrange Vikings of the East Hudson Youth Soccer League (EHYSL) and with several having also developed with the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) Olympic Development Program, the nationally-ranked Arlington High School boys varsity soccer team are the defending state Class AA champions. The Admirals’ 34-game streak without a loss is one of the longest in New York State in any sport as their last defeat was on October 1, 2012 against Beacon High School by the score of 3-1.
This season, Arlington has an 18-0-2 record. Their 1-0 golden goal win over Horace Greeley last Saturday night from a tally by defender Will Ackerman gave the Admirals their second consecutive Section 1 Class AA title. After dominating much of regulation time, Arlington’s Bryan Ashong took a corner kick in the first minute of overtime and the ball went in a goal mouth scramble from Arlington’s Nick Moses to Ackerman’s foot and into the goal.
"My hat’s off to the boys for sticking in there, hanging in there, being confident with overtime and just plugging away," Arlington coach Craig Sanborn said.
Forward David Verdis is the team’s leading scorer with 13 goals. He serves as the captain of Arlington High School as well as the Pleasant Valley Vipers.
"David has been a driving force on Arlington for two seasons now," commented assistant coach Aidan Topley, who also serves as the head coach of the LaGrange Vikings. "This year, he is a captain on the team and his hard work has enabled him to get on the score sheet multiple times, both in scoring and assists. He has a phenomenal work rate and is a difficult player to play against. He always gives 100% and is a force to be reckoned with for any defender."
The other captains are central defender Kevin Hoff, described by Topley as a "very strong defender with pace, great aerial ability and is able to play from the back with accuracy and confidence" plus central midfielder Eric Eastman, who Coach Topley said "is a very technical, hardworking midfielder, who can both win the ball and create goal scoring opportunities with his precision passes and dribbling."
Topley also singled out defender/midfielder Pat Mogan who "has a great eye for the attack when playing as a defender and is sometimes on the score sheet either as a scorer or for the assist" and central defender David Weiss who is "a very intelligent and methodical defender and has a great eye for the tackle. He is a very consistent performer at the back, with great stand up play and ball-winning ability."
Helping Verdis up top is the extremely fast Peter Garson and attacking midfielder Chris Shea, who is called upon to score in difficult situations and in tight spaces.
Next up for Arlington is the start of the state playoffs where the Admirals face Section 4 champion Ithaca at 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta.
With 123,843 youth soccer players––68,587 boys and 55,256 girls––and more than 25,000 volunteers, the non-profit Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) stretches from Montauk Point, Long Island to the Canadian border. Members are affiliated with 12 leagues throughout the association, which covers the entire state of New York east of Route 81. ENYYSA exists to promote and enhance the game of soccer for children and teenagers between the ages of 5 and 19 years old, and to encourage the healthy development of youth players, coaches, referees and administrators. All levels of soccer are offered––from intramural, travel team and premier players as well as Special Children. No child who wants to play soccer is turned away. ENYYSA is a proud member of the United States Soccer Federation and United States Youth Soccer Association. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.