Delaney: English lads in New Hartford

A couple of English-born lads are helping the New Hartford boys soccer team in its quest to win another New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A title.

Ben Toach and Joel Kamilow will both get plenty of minutes this weekend when the Spartans (19-2) play Section I Byram Hills in a state semifinal at 9 a.m. Saturday at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta. New Hartford shared the 2004 Class A title in its first appearance in the state Final Four.

Toach, a starter, is a junior midfielder and forward with 9 goals and 10 assists. Kamilow, also a junior, plays the same positions. He has 9 goals and 2 assists.

Coincidentally, both young men came to the U.S. seven years ago when they were 10. Toach is from New Castle Upon Tyne on the coast in North East England. Kamilow was born and raised in Harrogate in North Yorkshire, which is also on the coast in North East England. Harrogate and New Castle Upon Tyne are 89 miles apart.

"The accent went away after three years," Toach said. "Some words it comes back."

Their experience with soccer in England were drastically different. Toach had a ball on his foot as soon as he could walk. Toach's parents, David and Jill, were born in England, and Ben lived and breathed the game. David Toach works for Con Med and is the junior varsity coach at New Hartford.

"Over there you want to play non stop," Ben said. "It's on your mind all of the time."

Kamilow was born and raised in rural area and did not play formally until he came to the United States.

"I never played with refs, organized," he said. "When I came here, there was AYSO, signed up and I decided to play."

Kamilow's mother, Hazel, is English. His father John is American and the Kamilows met while John was in England with the military. They are now divorced and Hazel lives in France.

Ben and Joel both had a hard time moving to a new country. Toach, especially, left behind his entire family. He also has a younger sister, Jess.

"I loved it," he said. "The food there is great."

Kamilow's adjustment was made easier by meeting many of his current teammates. But there are often reminders of where he came from.

"People always want to hear your accent," he said.

Delaney: Sunday's game of the day? Not Pats-Colts

The New England Patriots-Indianapolis Colts game Sunday night was mildly entertaining.
A solid seven on a scale of 1 to 10.

The game of the day Sunday was in Morgantown, West Virginia. The St. John’s University and University of Notre Dame men’s soccer teams met for the Big East Tournament title.

Tough to beat that action. The then-unranked Fighting Irish, who had the better of the play for most of the match, against the 24th-ranked Red Storm. Both teams No. 2 seeds in their respective divisions.

Burly Notre Dame forward Bright Dike was entertaining. The Big East Offensive Player of the Year muscled his way through the Red Storm defense a couple of times and picked up a yellow card on an interesting call. Dike, Notre Dame’s leading scorer, had at least two chances and maybe three good shots at the St. John’s net but ended up with near misses.

The match was scoreless through regulation – Notre Dame had 11 shots to 9 for St. John’s. Two politically correct sudden-victory overtime sessions were also scoreless.

St. John’s (9-2-9) took home the trophy, 5-3 in penalty kicks. The match was the third decided on PKs for Notre Dame (10-7-4), which finished the tournament 0-0-3.

Both teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament. St. John’s got the Big East automatic bid and will host either Dartmouth or Boston College on Sunday. Notre Dame hosts Wisconsin-Green Bay Thursday with the winner playing at Northwestern on Sunday.

Delaney: Not winter yet

I was driving west on Oriskany Boulevard late this afternoon when I noticed the sun setting. It was a beautiful strip of orange light in the sky.

It was not even 5 p.m. Winter's coming, I thought. I dread it.

On the way back to the office, travelling east on Oriskany Boulevard, I noticed another Mohawk Valley sign of the changing seasons. Voss' Bar-B-Q was closed up. The picnic tables were turned on their sides and chained to the front of the building, as if protecting it from the impending winter. Wasn't it just days ago people waited in line?

The separate scenes reminded me of lyrics from the Billy Joel song 'Famous Last Words.'

Sitting here in Avalon, looking at the pouring rain
Summertime has come and gone and everybody's home again
Closing down for the season, I found the last of the souvenirs
I can still taste the wedding cake and it's sweet after all these years.

Delaney: Three area soccer teams ready for state semifinals

Three Utica-area soccer teams play state semifinal games this weekend.

The Class C No. 1 Sauquoit Valley girls (21-0) play Section VI champion Frewsburg at 9 a.m. Friday at Homer High School. In the other semifinal, Stony Brooks meets Plattsburgh Seton Catholic at 9 a.m. Friday at Tompkins-Cortland Community College. The Class C championship game is 9 a.m. Saturday at Cortland State.

The New Hartford and Hamilton Central boys teams play semifinals Saturday at the National Soccer Hall of Fame Complex in Oneonta. Class A New Hartford plays at 9 a.m. vs. Byram Hills of Section I. Class D Hamilton plays Section VII Chazy at 1 p.m. in a rematch of last year's final.

Hamilton scored three goals in the final 18 minutes of regulation against Chazy last year, and Dan Kraynak gave the Emerald Knights the title with a goal 41 seconds into overtime of a 4-3 win.

State-ranked No. 1 Chazy (18-0-2) returns to the state semifinals with a young team according to a story in the Lake Placid News. Chazy coach Rob McAuliffe said in a November 14 story the Eagles start three freshman and two sophomores.

Chazy has won 11-straight Section VII titles and state championships in 2004, 2005 and 2007 according to a Chazy Varsity Boys Soccer Alumni page on Facebook.

Delaney: Hansen clinches spot on luge national team

Kate Hansen, a 17-year-old from LaCanada, Calif., won the fourth of four USA Luge race-offs Sunday to clinch a spot on the women's World Cup National team.

Hansen's two-run time of 1-minute, 40.975 seconds assures her of racing with the US National team for the first two World Cup series races in Calgary and Igls, Austria.

In this blog last week I incorrectly wrote that Hansen and 16-year-old Emily Sweeney locked up spots on the U.S. fall World Cup team. I should have used the words 'may have locked up spots.' At the time, Hansen and Sweeney were in first and second place, respectively, after three of the four team race offs.

After Sunday's racing in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada - the site of the luge venue for the February Olympics - Hansen made the U.S. team with Megan Sweeney, who was second. Reigning World Champion Erin Hamlin and Julia Clukey, who was fifth at the World Championships earlier this year, already earned spots for the fall team.

Emily Sweeney, a junior national championship bronze medalist, was fourth in Sunday's race off and will compete in the first two Nations Cup events of the season.

If either Hansen, Megan Sweeney or Clukey fail to get a top nine finish in one of the first two World Cup competitions, they will will face Emily Sweeney in a race off for the third World Cup stop in Altenberg, Germany.

Out of the mix for the World Cup team is two-time Olympian Courtney Zablocki. Zablocki, 28, was eliminated from the race-offs last week. Ashley Walden, a 2002 Olympian, was eliminated from World Cup team contention in Sunday's race-off in Whistler. Walden was third behind Hansen and Megan Sweeney.

Delaney: Six teams, three sites for state regionals

Four area boys and girls soccer teams and two field hockey teams play state regional games this weekend.

The Sauquoit Valley girls soccer team is only one of the six not playing regional games in Section III on Saturday. The Class C undefeated and state-ranked No. 1 Indians (20-0) travel to Ithaca High School for a 1 p.m. match against No. 2 Elmira Notre Dame.

The Camden and RFA field hockey teams are involved in a tripleheader Saturday at Cicero-North Syracuse High School. Class B Camden plays Maine-Endwell at 12 p.m. (noon), Class A RFA meets Greene (17-0) at 2 p.m. and Cazenovia follows at 4 p.m.

There is also a boys soccer tripleheader Saturday at Chittenango High School. Cooperstown, Hamilton and New Hartford are involved in a day-long series of matches with spots in the state semifinals on the line. Class C Cooperstown meets Marathon at 11 a.m., Class D Hamilton plays Margaretville at 1:15 p.m. and New Hartford meets Massena at 3:30 p.m.

Delaney: Jeckos in goal

Vanessa Jecko isn't the only goalkeeper in her house.

Jecko, a Sauquoit Valley sophomore, is the keeper for undefeated Indians girls soccer team. Her twin sister, Jessica, is the goalie on the Sauquoit Valley field hockey team.

The 15-year-old Jecko sisters both played soccer until 7th grade. Jessica, who's an hour older, went to field hockey for something different. She played a field position for a while but then tried goalie and found she liked the contact.

Vanessa Jecko moved to goal about the same time as her sister because of asthma that made it difficult for her to play on the field.

"It keeps me involved in what's happening," Vanessa said.

Despite the differences in their sports, the Jeckos help each other improve their goalie skills. Each have to have good footwork. In the backyard, Vanessa gets a field hockey stick and takes shots on Jessica. The girls and their father, Jim, also go to a field on the Sauquoit Valley campus and shoot balls at a goal for Vanessa.

"I like watching when she makes a great save and everyone goes 'Oh,'" Jessica said. "It's great to watch."

It's not always a pretty sight when a field hockey goalie runs on and off the field. A jog to the bench can be a cumbersome activity.

"With all of the equipment, you think she's going to fall one time," Vanessa said.