Neuqua V. drops Elgin, tempers flare

At the end, the extracurricular activities almost overshadowed the soccer. That was a shame, because the soccer was pretty good.

Neuqua Valley scored twice in the first half and held on for a 3-1 victory over Elgin in Upstate Eight Conference boys soccer action at Memorial Field Thursday afternoon.

The game was delayed with about three minutes left when a hard foul by Elgin's Jasinto Catalan resulted in his second yellow card and touched off some verbal altercations. After a cooling off period, the teams finished the game.

First half goals by Tanner Fink and Bret Hruby put the Wildcats (14-1-3, 6-0-1) ahead. Fink scored from close range following a throw-in deep in Elgin's end.

Fifteen minutes later, Hruby's shot trickled past Elgin goalkeeper Nikil Satish for a 2-0 Neuqua lead.

Elgin (9-8, 4-5) got on the board before intermission on Hugo Aranda's penalty kick. Lucas Valencia was taken down in the box on a breakaway.

Neuqua kept the pressure up in the second half, with Bryan Gaul and Jaymie Bullard, among others, creating scoring chances. But the Wildcats couldn't find the back of the net until Miguel Joaquin put a header in with just over 6 minutes to play.

Tempers increasingly flared throughout the second half.

"There was a lot of passion," said Neuqua coach Jim Johns. "But we held our composure and got through the game."

Elgin coach Dave Borg appreciated his team's intensity but emphasized the need to play under control. He threatened changes.

"For 60 minutes, we played with a good team," he said. "And then we imploded. That's a sign of some immaturity and we need to make some changes. This team might look completely different next week."

Borg also praised the defensive effort, which was led by Catalan before he picked up 2 yellow cards in a short span.

Satish and Osiel Ravadan shared time in the net for Elgin.