BY HEIDI ZENEFSKI
Sports Correspondent

Coming off a pre-season 4-0 win over Mid Valley, the Elk Lake boys’ soccer team took their game to Montrose on Wednesday, Sept. 10.

With 10 players lost to graduation, the Meteors had not fared well in their pre-season matches sending them into the first game of the regular season with no goals in the book.

Montrose took the regular season win over the Warriors, 5-1. Meteor team captain Joey Rodino said, , “Our team played hard and played together as a family.”

The teams both fielded sophomores in the goalkeeper positions – with Brendan Buck playing for Montrose and Zack Groover in the position for Elk Lake.

Montrose forward, 10th grader Johnny Amato put the Meteors on the board with their first goal of 2014, assisted by Troy Ely.

A handball in the goal box by Meteor defenseman Joey Rodino gave Blake Chew a chance to score for Elk Lake with a penalty kick, tying the game up at 1-1.

Montrose answered with Michael Vanness scoring the go ahead goal with a header off an assist from Nick Henry.

With just 19 seconds left in the half, Chew took a shot for Elk Lake which was ruled a goal by the side referee. The ruling was overturned after a conference between the three refs. The ball had traveled through a hole in the net that had been unnoticed by game officials prior to the start of the game.

“It’s a difficult situation because you want to get the call right. If I let the goal stand Montrose won’t be happy. If I take it back, Elk Lake won’t be happy, but you don’t want to give them a goal that wasn’t earned,” the referee said.

The call was met by cheers and jeers from the stand. “You have to have a thick skin and ignore a lot to be an official,” the ref added. The hole was fixed before the game continued.

The second half started with a lot of back and forth with each side gaining and losing possession of the ball several times.

A tripping penalty called on Elk Lake 27 minutes into the half giving Montrose’s Henry a goal off a penalty kick. With less than five minutes to go in the game, Troy Ely crossed the ball from the far right of the field just out of Groover’s reach to score off an assist from Amato and gave the Meteors a three goal cushion.

To end the game, Meteor freshman Tom Vaccaro scored with just 1:28 left on the clock to earn his first varsity goal with an assist from Kyle Watkins giving Montrose a 5-1 win over Elk Lake.

Shots-corners: Montrose 14-6, Elk Lake 10-6.
Saves: Buck (MON) 7, Groover (EL) 7
Goals: MON — Johnny Amato (Troy Ely) 7:30
EL — Blake Chew (penalty kick) 29:00
MON — Mike Vanness (Nick Henry) 34:00
MON — Henry (penalty kick) 67:00
MON — Ely (Amato) 70:00
MON — Tom Vaccaro (Kyle Watkins) 77:00

In other soccer action, Forest City and Mountain View also picked up wins.

Jared Paulin scored late in the second overtime to give Forest City a 3-2 win over Riverside in a Lackawanna League Division III boys soccer game Wednesday.

Tyler Trichilo had a goal and an assist for the Foresters.
Goals: FC — Dave Pollak (Tyler Trichilo) 24:08
FC — Trichilo (Jace Twilley) 67:10
FC — Jared Paulin 107:56
Shots-corners: FC 13-3; RIV 11-4.
Saves: Dakota Khern-Cook (FC) 7; Nelson Pagoada (RIV) 10.

At Mountain View, Ryan Lavin and Ed Bognatz each had two goals and an assist to lead the Eagles to a 7-1 win over Blue Ridge.
Alan Weed scored for the Raiders.
Goals: MV — Ryan Lavin (Ed Bognatz) 11:52
MV — Bognatz 16:37
MV — R. Lavin (Matt Lavin) 27:47
MV — Bognatz (Alex Showalter) 48:28
BR — Alan Weed 53:33
MV — Anthony Neri (R. Lavin) 69:56
MV — James Goodenough (Kristian Passetti) 74:19
MV — Luke Schmidt 78:10
Shots-corners: BR 10-7, MV 30-8.
Saves: Shawn Woodruff (BR) 17; Jesse Gerfin (MV) 9.