Gabe Irwin (left) and Keegan Kane

Vikings can’t get offense going in 3-0 loss to Holy Cross

CANASTOTA – Traveling to play on the Canastota Red Raiders, Sherburne-Earlville managed to score three goals in the first five minutes of the game on the way to a 5-2 victory.

Within the first minute of play, Gabe Irwin got the Marauders going with his first goal of the season and his soccer playing career. Irwin jumped on a rebound from a shot that came off the cross bar and sent the ball Canastota’s keeper Jonathan Bovair.

Three minutes later, Bovair’s punt attempt after a save didn’t go as planned and Irwin hustled the ball down to put a foot on it before the Red Raiders goalie could recover. Irwin sent a pass through the box, and teammate Brogan Winton was on the receiving end to score the second goal, giving the Marauders a 2-0 advantage.

In the fifth minute of play, S-E’s Nathan Morgan carried the ball down the side line and was able to beat an outside defender. With room, Morgan found a streaking Keegan Kane at the top of the goal box and served a pass to his colleague. Awaiting the ball, Kane pushed a shot attempt past the Canastota keeper.

Canastota responded by taking Marauders’ defensive miscue and creating a scoring opportunity. Red Raiders’ Aiden Macareno’s tapped the ball around the S-E defense on the outside and sent a cross ball to Rossi Brown at the far post. Brown then fired a shot that beat Sherburne-Earlville’s goal keeper Zach Trass, cutting the deficit down to two goals.

The wet and sloppy field conditions led to the second defensive miscue by the Marauders as a defender slipped and fell down, leaving the bouncing ball untouched in the center of the field. Able to get a touch on it first was Canastota’s Trey Hopkins, sending near post shot into the goal to bring the margin to S-E advantage to just one.

Kane added another for the Marauders with four minutes left in the first half. Using his speed, Kane beat Boviar to a 50/50 ball and scored his second of the game in front of an empty net to give S-E 4-2 lead at the halftime break.

In the second, the Marauders’ defensive adjustments made by head coach Michael Rodriguez allowed the his team to put the clamps on the Red Raiders and eliminated any other scoring opportunities for the host team.

Sherburne-Earlville made several one-touch passes to breakdown the Canastota defense, allowing Irwin to break through and finish with a left-footed shot for his second goal of the game and bringing the game to a final score of 5-2.

S-E’s keeper Zach Trass ended the afternoon with seven saves.

The Marauders move one game over .500 in league play, which is good enough to make the Section III Class C playoffs. S-E hosts league leading Clinton on Friday at 4:30 p.m.

Sherburne-Earlville 5, Canastota 2

SE 4 1 – 5

C 2 0 – 2