Following Wednesday's 2-0 Section Four Class B semifinal victory over Dryden, Oneonta High's Alex Brannan sounded more like a physician than a boys soccer coach.
With his team gathered in front of him, Brannan's message wasn't centered on winning 50-50 balls or runs to the back post. Instead, the 22-year coach preached changing sheets and pillow covers, avoiding sick classmates, making certain his players drank lots of fluids and got plenty of vitamins C and E.
"We've had a number of players go down with the flu lately," said junior forward Eric Deemer, who scored the winning goal Wednesday. "We're just trying to get everyone healthy."
The Yellowjackets' health could be a huge factor at 11:45 a.m. Saturday at the National Soccer Hall of Fame fields, where they'll meet fellow Southern Tier Athletic Conference power Owego in the sectional final.
Brannan said Friday he's not sure if he'll have a full squad Saturday.
"It depends on what happens tomorrow," he said. "We're hoping to be healthy."
Second-seeded OHS (15-2-1) played without starters Matt Arcidiacono and Cody Primmer on Wednesday. Getting past sixth-seeded Dryden minus two starters was one thing, but doing it against the top-seeded Indians (15-2) figures to be much tougher.
"Knock on wood, we've been pretty healthy," said Owego coach Jason Luke, whose team advanced Wednesday with a 4-0 victory over fifth-seeded Watkins Glen. "We've had a few minor bumps and bruises, but in terms of the flu, we've been able to avoid that so far. Hopefully, no one wakes up sick (Saturday)."
Assuming both teams are at full strength, they appear to be evenly matched.
They met twice during the regular season, with Owego winning, 2-1, at Oneonta on Sept. 11 and the Yellowjackets downing the host Indians, 3-1, on Oct. 16.
Asked if there were any noticeable differences from the first game to the second, OHS defender Kyle McCue said: "Well, for starters, adrenaline, because it was under the lights and everyone likes that. Our balls to the corner were a lot better. We were hitting our wide mids a lot better. Jacob Joseph, who is probably one of the most dynamic players on our team, he was getting the ball and taking on his man."
Deemer, Joseph and Ryan Graig scored in the second meeting between the teams.
For the season, Deemer has a team-high 17 goals. Senior Joseph has 11 goals and a team-best 20 assists, and his brother Dan, a sophomore, has 10 goals.
"They've gotten better with Deemer and (Jacob) Joseph, and we're going to have to pay special attention to them tomorrow," Luke said.
Senior midfielder Graig, who has seven goals, could find himself in a pivotal matchup against Stanley Gregg, whose brother Nick plays for Oneonta State. Both are big, aggressive players who likely will compete for balls in the air.
"Physically, they're about the same size," Luke said. "He can challenge Oneonta's Graig, and he has to tomorrow."
Defensively, OHS knows who it must stop. Senior Mike Spadine has a team-best 24 goals for Owego.
"He's a strong player," said Brannan, whose team is looking for its first sectional title since beating Dryden, 3-1, in the 2006 Class B final. "He's quick, fast and strong, and has all the attributes to play at the next level."
Luke said Division II LeMoyne College and D-I Binghamton University have expressed interest in Spadine, a five-year varsity player who recently became the first Owego player to exceed 100 goals.
"He's very athletic and has a nose for the goal," Luke said of Spadine, who scored both of Owego's goals in its 2-1 win over OHS.
Rich Franz has 15 goals for the Indians, who won the Section Four Class A championship last season. He scored in their 3-1 loss to the Yellowjackets.
The Owego-Oneonta game will be one of six finals at the Soccer Hall on Saturday. In addition to championship games in all five boys classes, Davenport and Schenevus will meet in the Section Four Class D girls final.
OHS athletic director Joe Hughes said admission for all games is $6 for adults and students. Children 10-and-under and senior citizens will not be charged.
Section Four Class D
The last two area undefeated boys soccer teams could very well stay that way Saturday, when top-seeded Cherry Valley-Springfield (18-0) meets No. 2 Margaretville (16-0-1) for the Section Four Class D championship at 11 a.m. at the Soccer Hall fields.
Only one can advance, however, to the Nov. 13-14 Class D state quarterfinal round at a Section Three site to be determined.
And should it come down to a shootout, the Tri-Valley League champion Patriots and the Delaware League champion Blue Devils might be going toe-to-toe for a while as both teams have numerous scoring options.
While Shawn Cope (14 goals-4 assists) and Alex Shuster (13-5) are far and away the top scorers for CV-S, 16 other Patriots have at least one point this season.
"I wouldn't say there's a specific player or players," CV-S coach Terri Adams said. "Our philosophy is we look for the open guy, so it will be kind of hard (for Margaretville) to pinpoint one person. ... We support each other out there. We're looking for the open net and it doesn't matter who's foot is on the ball."
Tyler Smith's 43 points on a team-best 18 goals and seven assists lead the Blue Devils, who have 12 others with at least a point in 2009.
"On any given day, any one of our guys is capable of scoring a goal or two," Margaretville coach Jeremey Marks said. "That's a strength of ours. You can't key on one guy. It was different last year. Josh (Smith) had over 20 goals and was our big scorer. This year, we're more unselfish. We find the open guy and that's worked for us."
After dethroning South Kortright, 2-1, in the Delaware League final, Margaretville opened sectional play with a 5-1 quarterfinal rout of No. 10 Hunter-Tannersville. It followed with a 5-0 semifinal thumping of third-seeded Candor on Wednesday, when Brian Faulkner's seven saves helped the Blue Devils to their fourth shutout.
The Patriots cruised to a 3-0 quarterfinal defeat of No. 9 Davenport, then edged No. 5 Morris, 1-0, in Wednesday's semifinals. Wednesday's win marked Cherry Valley's fourth victory over T-V runner-up Morris this season and its sixth straight shutout behind goalie Ben VanAlstine. CV-S has held 14 opponents scoreless this year.
Considering the strong midfield play on both sides, this one very well could come down to a shootout.
"Possession is the key and controlling the ball is the key," said Adams, whose only holdovers from her 2007 sectional championship team are senior forward Ethan Burst and junior midfielders Jake Hoag and Seth Drugatz. "I think it's going to be a good match with a lot of play in the midfield. I think midfield is where it happens."
Marks will try to make it happen with the help of standout senior midfielders Marcus Moore and Greg Lehn, who have seven goals apiece. Lehn also has 11 assists, second on the team to Abraham Morales' 14 and one more than Javier Martinez's total.
"Our defense and midfield guys are doing a nice job distributing the ball and getting it to our guys in space," said Marks, who has seven fourth-year varsity players. "(CV-S) is comfortable passing and with possessing the ball. It's going to come down to who takes advantage of their opportunities."
Section Three Class C
Cooperstown will play Bishop Grimes for the Section Three Class C championship at 7 p.m. Monday at Herkimer County Community College. The meeting will mark the second match of a doubleheader that opens at 5 p.m. with New Hartford playing Jamesville-DeWitt for the Class AA sectional crown.
"They play in a very tough league with Bishp Ludden, Tully and Fabius-Pompey," Cooperstown coach Frank Miosek said of fifth-seeded Bishop Grimes (13-6), which has won three straight since a 1-0 double-overtime loss Oct. 22 to Bishop Ludden. "We saw 30 minutes of their (sectional semifinal). They're fast up front and have an explosive attack."
All three of the Cobras' recent wins came in sectional play as they followed a 4-0 rout of No. 12 Mohawk on Oct. 28 with a 2-1 Halloween defeat of No. 4 Fabius-Pompey and a 3-2 edging of top-seeded Frankfort-Schuyler on Thursday.
No. 3 Cooperstown (15-3), which had a first-round bye, downed No. 6 Sauquoit Valley, 2-1, in the quarterfinals before topping second-seeded Bishop Ludden, 3-1, on Thursday.
Brandon Lane, who transferred from Margaretville to Cooperstown in 2008, has scored four of the Redskins' sectional goals to improve his season total to 18. A former starting midfielder for Margaretville, Lane has two unassisted goals in each sectional game.
"He was my sweeper, but I put him up front with four games left in the season," Miosek said of Lane, who has scored 13 goals since moving to forward during a 1-0 loss to Mount Markham on Oct. 5. "I decided to take my best defensive player and make him our leading scorer. I knew he was capable of doing that."
Fellow senior Jake Chase, who assisted Will Dykstra on Thursday, leads Cooperstown in goals (19) and assists (14). Miosek added that moving Lane up took some pressure off Chase, one of a few holdovers from Cooperstown's 2007 sectional championship team.
"Jake is very tactical, but he was getting beat up," said Miosek, who completed the move by putting Kyle Liner in the sweeper position.
The Redskins' scoring drops off after Lane as Kyle Hohensee, another senior, is a distant third with five goals. Lane and Hohensee have eight and six assists, respectively, for Cooperstown, which has won six straight behind sophomore goalie Kevin Huggins.
