Final 4 Preview

Chazy boys renew state title bid

Eagles to take on Smithtown Christian today in Class D soccer semifinals.

By JOHN CORYER
Staff Writer
Plattsburgh Press Republican, published November 17, 2007 12:48 am -

PLATTSBURGH -- Winning one state championship is plenty difficult enough in any sport.

Chazy, however, will be seeking its third NYSPHSAA Class D boys' soccer championship in the last four years when it takes part in the Final Four this weekend at the Oneonta Soccer Hall of Fame Fields.

First up for the Section VII-champion Eagles, who are the top-ranked Class D team in the state with a 21-1 overall record, is Section XI's Smithtown Christian (9-5-2) at 1 p.m. today in the semifinal round.

The other semifinal has Section III's Poland versus Section V's Fillmore, also at 1 p.m. The title contest is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday.

"We've never played Section XI before," said Chazy head coach Rob McAuliffe. "We have some scouting reports on them.

"But, any team that makes it this far has to be quite a team. The weaker teams are gone by now."

The Eagles, who advanced to the Final Four with last Saturday's 2-0 victory over Section II's Sharon Springs at Colonie High School, have had one goal from the start of the season and that's to win another state title.

"There were people who probably believed this year's team couldn't get this far," McAuliffe said. "But, our players believed in themselves and have stayed focused all season.

"Our goal from Day 1 is to win a state championship and that's always our goal. It's a burden in some ways. But, we're very healthy, prepared and focused.

"We feel we can beat anyone in the state if we play well. But, we also know we can lose if we don't play as well as we're capable of.

Chazy's bid for three-consecutive state championships in a row never got started last season when Elizabethtown-Lewis defeated the Eagles in the Section VII title contest. Chazy topped the Lions this year in the finals.

"It was a huge disappointment when we lost to Elizabethtown-Lewis in the sectional finals last year," McAuliffe said. "It did help motivate us this year even more to achieve our goal.

"Elizabethtown-Lewis is a good team and it was more of a relief this year when we defeated them to win the sectional title."

The Eagles then took care of Section X champion Parishville-Hopkinton, 3-0, in regional play and then won a regional championship with last weekend's victory over Sharon Springs.

"We have six starters back from last year and this is a special time for us," McAuliffe said. "We have players who were on our 2005 team and who now have different roles on the team this season. They are key players for us now.

"Nolan Ryan is a great player for us and he scored three goals in our win over Parishville-Hopkinton. We're certainly confident we can win when Nolan plays well.

"But, our team also has the confidence it can still win when he isn't having his best game. We were able to beat Sharon Springs without Nolan scoring."

The record-shattering Ryan leads the Eagles with 45 goals, 25 assists and 115 points. He is followed in scoring by Stetson Fields (20-13-53), Kenny Bulriss (19-11-49), Jason Baker (9-15-33) and Ben Baker (6-9-21).

The Chazy defense, with Jacob Beeman in net, has also been solid all season with 14 shutouts thus far.

Smithtown Christian has scored 29 goals this season and allowed 27. Four players are tied for the team lead in goals with a very modest four apiece.

The Section XI champions defeated Section IX's The Family School, 2-0, in regional final play when Roland Adam scored 10 minutes into the game after Larry Kim had hit the crossbar with a shot and then Tony Hanft an insurance goal eight minutes into the second half.

In Smithtown Christian's prior game, Kim and Adam tallied first-half goals in a 2-0 victory over Greenport in the Suffolk County Class D title contest.