For 20 years, Greene’s boys soccer team has not had a problem scoring goals and in the past half-dozen years, Alex Driscoll and his predecessor, Mike Porter, have drawn extra attention from opposing defenses. Driscoll, the team’s leading scorer the past three years, graduated this past spring, and true to form, someone – or more aptly, more than one – has stepped up to fill his role as a go-to goal scorer.
Playing as a midfielder, senior Alex Leone recently scored his team-best 21st goal this season to lead the high-scoring Greene attack. Perhaps more of a surprise is Kurt Bartholomew, whose first obligation is on defense as the team’s stopper. Bartholomew is soccer’s version of Bobby Orr – a high-scoring defender. With 14 goals, Bartholomew has provided an able complement to Leone, and along with sophomore Karl Zaengle, gives Greene a potent one-two-three offensive punch.
Heading into this week, Greene was in the midst of a 10-game winning streak, and extended that string to 12 Wednesday afternoon to clinch the school’s fourth straight MAC league title. On their way to the crown, Bartholomew and Leone each contributed goals in a shutout over Unadilla Valley last Wednesday. Two days before that, Leone and Bartholomew weighed heavily in a overtime comeback victory over Bainbridge-Guilford. Leone had the tying goal to send the game to extra minutes, and Bartholomew netted the winner with just over five minutes to play. Based on their season-long standard of excellence and pivotal roles in the school’s fourth consecutive league championship, the Greene duo has earned our weekly honor as Matthews Ford/Planet Preowned Norwich Athletes of the Week.
The manner in which Greene operates its offensive attack has allowed Bartholomew and Leone to flourish. Head coach Rick Tallman said that if Bartholomew or Leone make a run up the field, either one – or Zaengle – will drop back into the other’s position. Bartholomew is particularly skilled at powering his way through opponents, while Leone is more of a finesse player who is especially talented in open space. Either way you slice it, the two players know what to do with the ball, and they really understand how to finish when scoring opportunities present themselves.
