Coop boys win
soccer opener, 3-2

Staff Report • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

Liam Spencer scored the game winner with 25 minutes left in the second half as Cooperstown beat visiting Waterville, 3-2, in a Center State Conference boys soccer game Wednesday, Sept. 1.

Spencer scored on a double assist from Colby Diamond and then Ollie Wasson. Diamond put the ball into the box to Wasson, who tapped it back to Spencer, who connected from just outside the box.

Cooperstown had to play the final 20 minutes a man down after Diamond got his second yellow card of the game, for what the linesman deemed an aggressive foul on defense.

“That was a bad call,” Cooperstown Coach Frank Miosek told his team after the game. “That was not a foul.”

Wasson got the first goal about 12 minutes into the game off a rebound and then Diamond scored the second goal for Cooperstown, on a breakaway about 15 minutes later.

Alex Williams and Gabe Williams scored for Waterville, each getting an equalizer in the first half.

Although Cooperstown controlled much of the second half, Waterville took advantage of the numbers disadvantage and looked close to scoring a game-tying goal a couple of times late. Waterville had two corner kicks in the final two minutes. Cooperstown defender Max Porto headed one away and the second got whistled dead when a Waterville played obstructed goalie Finn Holohan, who had four saves in the game.

“That was a good team,” Miosek said.

Assistant coach Lucas Spencer told the team they had just won a game that will be a lot like section-tournament play at the end of the year.

“Welcome to sectionals,” he said. “It is going to be just like this, tough, cold, nasty weather and a hard-fought game.”