WEST WINFIELD – The Mount Markham boys soccer team lost to Ilion, 4-1, in a Center State Conference crossover game, at Mustang Stadium at Mount Markham High School, last Thursday. The Golden Bombers kept their perfect season alive, winning their 10th straight victory. “I guess I’m a believer,” Mount Markham head coach Charlie Engle said. “I thought we stood a better chance tonight, but Ilion is that good. They certainly know how to finish, and they defend very well.” Bryan Fisher, Dennis Basler, Justin Cobb and Kory Rowland scored for Ilion, and Fisher added an assist. Matt Fargo scored for the Mustangs on an assist from Cory Manning. Tim Blaise had 10 saves in net for the Bombers, and Shane Sullivan had four saves for Mount Markham, who slipped to 7-3 overall with a 5-0 record in the Center State Conference Division II (CSC II). Earlier in the week, Mount Markham beat rival Sherburne-Earlville, 2-1, last Tuesday, in a CSC II game at Mustang Stadium at Mount Markham High School. Dan Plows scored both goals for the Mustangs, who outshot the Marauders 17-11. Thirteen of Mount Markham’s shots came in the second half, when they turned up the intensity. The Mustangs came out flat in the first half, constantly being beaten to the 50-50 balls. “They came out a little flat, maybe, in the second half, too, I thought,” said Engle, who was not prepared for Sherburne-Earlville’s quickness. “They had more speed then I thought they did.” “We try to use a lot of one-two combinations and try to send our guys down to the corners,” said Marauders head coach Michael Rodriguez. “One thing we could have done better was that we were waiting to cross (pass) too far down in the corner instead of just above the 18 (yard line) and then utilize our speed on the outside to get inside of our guys. I think a lot of times, when we did get crosses, our offensive guys were behind their defenders, instead of cutting into the defenders.” The Mustangs might consider themselves lucky, in some ways, to come away from the game with a win, as they were unable to finish on numerous scoring opportunities. “I thought we had several chances to put the game away, but we just couldn’t find the back of the net,” Engle said. “We had lapses in all phases of the game, including the defense, but they were solid when they had to be.” Travis Tomaselli gave Sherburne-Earlville the early lead when he scored 9:37 into the game. Tomaselli took the ball at midfield and ran past everyone down the field, beating Sullivan to his left from 10 yards out. After that goal, Engle shouted to his team, from the sideline, “they want it more than you.” With 12:03 left in the first half, Plows took a center pass from Matt Fargo and scored from 10 yards out. Plows scored again, less than five minutes into the second half, on an assist from Blair Bellamy. Plows’ goal was again from 10 yards out, putting the ball in the left corner of the net. “I thought we had the momentum that first half,” Rodriguez said. “Once Mount Markham got that goal early in the second half, they seemed to maintain that momentum for, probably, the first 20 minutes of the half. Then we woke up a little bit and tried to turn things around, but it just wasn’t enough.” Sullivan had eight saves in net for Mount Markham, and Caleb Brown had seven for the Marauders, who fell to 6-3-2.
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