10/24/05
Senior’s comeback lifts ’Cats to crown
Jones scores twice in 3-1 victory a day after hospital visit
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS SOCCER: TRI-VALLEY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
By Jeff Vella
Staff Writer
ONEONTA — Milford senior Jay Jones jogged off the field late in the first half Saturday and coach Frank Spurchise greeted him with a hearty hug.
Jones just finished scoring two goals in two minutes to lift the undefeated Wildcats to a 3-1 victory over Laurens in the Tri-Valley League championship. The sideline embrace provided warmth in more ways than one on a miserably cold and rainy afternoon at the Wright National Soccer Campus as Jones said he spent the previous day in the hospital.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]"Unbelievable," Spurchise said of Jones playing a day after he fainted and suffered a seizure. "To have him come out like that is so great. That kid has been working so hard to prepare for this game."
Jones, who said the seizure happened at a friend’s house, was cleared by doctors to play Friday night.
"It was definitely scary," he said. "The doctor said he had to run some tests to see if I was OK for the game. Everything turned out OK, so it was a good thing. I have to go in for an EEG (brain scan) next week sometime. I had a seizure four years ago, too. Hopefully it doesn’t keep repeating.
"(Winning) means a lot to the seniors and to Milford," continued Jones, who entered the game with three goals on the season. "Last year we got here and lost (to Edmeston), so this year we were coming for revenge, not just for T-V but to go much further in sectionals. Hopefully this drives us."
Spurchise said he was hesitant to play Jones, a starting forward, but decided to after doctors and Jones’ mom said it was OK.
"The doctors said playing soccer is not what causes seizures, so he said go ahead," Spurchise said. "I was really worried about him. You really set your priorities when stuff like that happens. I was really leery about putting him in, but he kept telling me on the bench he was ready to go. He wanted to play so bad."
Jones didn’t start, but he came into the game midway through the first half — after Milford (16-0-2) built a 1-0 lead. Kyle Hogan trudged through the Laurens defense and poked a shot past goalie Aaron Laing 2 minutes, 40 seconds into the game.
Jones, perhaps the Wildcats’ fastest player, immediately made an impact by scoring 19:45 before halftime. Steve Kerr got around James Warren at the left endline and chipped a pass to the near post.
Jones trapped it with his back to the net, turned and powered a shot from eight yards that went inside the far post.
"I saw the post and nobody was there, so I figured I’d just blast one in," Jones said.
Two minutes later, Jones scored on a superior individual effort. He intercepted a failed clear near the right corner of the 18-yard box, pushed the ball past a defender and stepped into a shot. Laing dove right and got his hands on it, but the ball deflected in.
"It was real nice for Jay," said senior Kerr, one of three five-year varsity players. "We were worried he’d be out. That was amazing. He had a bad day yesterday, but a great day today. Everything came together."
Milford has allowed a league-low eight goals this season, so the three-goal cushion made a Laurens rally highly improbable.
"We were just hoping to get an early one to see how they responded, and it just didn’t happen that way," said Laurens coach Dave Miller, whose team allowed a goal to Milford in the opening minutes of their regular-season meeting and lost, 1-0. "I didn’t expect that much from them offensively. They take advantage of their opportunities, and they’re so strong defensively, so if they get up a goal, it’s tough to come back."
Laurens (11-5-1) played its best soccer early in the second half, breaking through for a goal 17:46 in. Andrew Parsons punched a pass across the box, and Milford’s Arek Robinson slipped as he went for it. That left Fedno Boisrand alone from 10 yards, and he scored into the upper-right corner.
"I told them they had to start moving in the second half," Miller said. "After we went down three in the first half, we mentally started giving up and people weren’t trying. And there was still a ton of time left. You can’t give up. We came out fired up. It was nice to get at least one against them."
Milford, however, tightened its defense up after the goal and the Leopards struggled to maintain much pressure the rest of the game. Wildcats senior goalie Philip Schultes made eight saves, including a lunging punch of Greg Breuer’s free kick five minutes after Boisrand’s goal.
"We played real well the first half," said Spurchise, whose team is ranked fourth in the state in Class D. "I knew Laurens wasn’t going to give up. The conditions were bad and the kids were cold, so the second half got kind of sloppy. I knew a 3-0 lead would be tough to come back from."
Milford’s last T-V crown came in 1996. The Wildcats lost in last year’s final to Edmeston, 2-0, and in the 2001 championship to Laurens, 3-1. Kerr, Schultes and sweeper Kurt Lutz played as eighth-graders on the 2001 team.
"It feels great," said Kerr, whose team earned the top seed for sectionals and the accompanying first-round bye. "It was amazing to be here, and it was better to win it. We want to win the section, too, but to cap the season with the T-V championship makes the season that much better."
Added Spurchise: "This is a wonderful, wonderful feeling. To go through the league like that (undefeated), these kids will have memories for the rest of their lives."
MILFORD 3, LAURENS 1
Milford (16-0-2): Jay Jones 2-0, Kyle Hogan 1-0, Steve Kerr 0-1.
Laurens (11-5-1): Fedno Boisrand 1-0, Andrew Parsons 0-1.
Shots-corners: M 20-8; L 13-5.
Goalies: Philip Schultes (M) 8; Aaron Laing (L) 6.
