Waterford-Halfmoon's Connor Noel heads a ball in front of Heatly's Alex Heffern during Monday's CHVL boys soccer game at Green Island's Veterans Memorial Stadium. (Photos by J.S. Carras - The Record).

GREEN ISLAND -- Connor Noel raced back up the sideline after scoring his first goal of Monday’s game against the Heatly School’s boys soccer team, saw his mother and asked, "Did you see that?"

Unfortunately, she missed his first goal, but saw her son, a senior midfielder on the Waterford-Halfmoon team, add another a few minutes later in a 7-0 Central Hudson Valley League victory for the Fordians at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Waterford (5-0-0, 6-2-0), ranked No. 6 in last week’s New York State Sportswriters Association Class C poll, has scored 25 goals and allowed just one in league play through five games.

Noel, who had previously played on defense but has shifted to the midfield to spark the Waterford offense, doubled his season goal total Monday and now has collected four goals and five assists.

Fre Breen added one goal and two assists and Peter Guenette, Jeff Ippolito, Mark Cahrenger and Matt Berthiaume added single tallies for the Fordians. Waterford goalkeeper Joe Hilton stopped seven shots to record the shutout.

Waterford-Halfmoon junior striker Fre Breen (above) is one of the area's most exciting soccer players to watch.

"It’s just good teamwork," Breen said of the key to Waterford’s success. "We all live near each other and we’re always together. It’s a family."

Heatly (1-3-1, 1-3-1) received 14 saves in net, many of them spectacular, from keeper Zach Mason.
The Hornets had a pair of great scoring chances five minutes into the first half, but Hilton made the initial save and corralled the rebound to keep Heatly off the board.

A season ago, Waterford won the Section II Class C championship and defeated Voorheesville in the Class CC/C playoff, advancing to the New York State Class C semifinals, losing to Section I’s Marathon, 1-0.
Waterford has come back strong in 2010, but a few players, Noel included, have had to move positions to make up for some of the losses from the 2009 squad.

"We lost four players from last year and we’re still kind of moving people around," said Waterford head coach Fred Engelmann. "So we’re trying to cover positions and sometimes you think you know what you got and sometimes it doesn’t work. I went through three weeks with two guys in the center mid and it just wasn’t happening, so we put two new guys in there and moved them elsewhere and things have been much better."

Waterford's Garrett Archambeault (20) attempts to control the ball in front of Heatly's Cody Rogers (8) during Monday's game in Green Island.

Neither Heatly nor Waterford field a football team in the fall, so soccer is the biggest game in town. That is just fine with the players, who enjoy the challenge of living up to the program’s legacy.

"The time I moved here, that’s what my dad told me. Soccer is big here because they don’t have football," Breen said. "That’s how I like it. I like it very much here."

Waterford won New York State Class D titles in 1992 and 1996. The Fordians were Empire State runners-up in 1994.

For video highlights from Monday's game, visit www.troyrecord.com/video/sports

"That’s how we grew up. We grew up with our travel coach, who was the star on the state championship team, so that’s something we always strive for," Noel said. "Hopefully we get that this year."

"It’s a good group of kids and they play well and they know how we want to play," Engelmann said. "I think we’ll do well. Hopefully we go as far as we went last year."

The Fordians finished with an 18-3 record in 2009 – the team has lost non-league games to Troy High and Cairo-Durham in 2010 – and the team is hoping its depth and experience can carry it through the rest of the regular season and beyond.

Waterford's Matt Berthiaume races Heatly's Adam Greenwood for the ball during Monday's CHVL soccer game. Berthiaume scored the final goal of the game late in the second half.

"It really gets easier because I’m playing with the same players every year," Breen said. "It’s much easier and fun. It’s all about fun. It’s not always about winning and losing."

"Sometimes it’s about winning," interjected Noel.

"Yeah, it’s about winning, but it’s about having fun at the same time," Breen laughed.

WATERFORD 7, HEATLY 0

Waterford (5-0-0, 6-2-0) 2 5 - 7
Heatly (1-3-1, 1-3-1) 0 0 - 0
Scoring: W-H: Connor Noel 2-1, Fre Breen 1-2, Peter Guenette 1-0, Jeff Ippolito 1-0, Mark Cahrenger 1-0, Matt Berthiaume 1-0, Alex Koscielniak 0-1.
Saves: W-H: Joe Hilton, 7. Heatly: Zach Mason, 14.
Corner kicks: W-H, 4. Heatly, 2.

--
Monday's local roundup:

TROY -- The Hoosic Valley High School girls volleyball team jumped out to a great start against the Emma Willard School in Monday’s non-league match, winning the first two games.
But the Jesters roared back, forcing a game five.
Hoosic Valley, behind 17 aces from Amber Palasz and 11 kills from Alex Gurney, rallied to win the final game and posted the 3-2 victory by scores of 25-18, 25-22, 21-25, 22-25 and 25-8.
Rayn Nigro added eight kills and six aces for Hoosic Valley (3-1, 5-4).
Fatima Johnson paced Emma Willard (1-2, 1-3) with six blocks, six digs, three kills and three aces. Mary Kemp provided five digs, four aces and three assists for the Jesters.
Troy 3, Loudonville Christian 2: The Flying Horses (5-0, 10-0) remained undefeated with a come-from-behind non-league victory at Loudonville Christian Monday afternoon.
The Eagles won the first game, 25-22, but Troy rallied 25-17 in game two. Loudonville won the third game, 25-22, before Troy won games four and five, 25-16 and 25-22, respectively.
Rachel Martin (13) and Bridget Haggerty (12) combined to make 25 kills for Troy. Vanessa Addo added seven blocks for the Horses.
Hattie Burgher (24 digs, 14 kills) and Chelsea Brown paced Loudonville (4-0, 5-1). Julia Brown added 37 assists.
Catholic Central 3, Tamarac 2: Hannah Kutny picked up 26 digs, 20 kills and 10 aces for the Lady Crusaders in a non-league victory over the Bengals (4-0, 6-2).
Hailey Frament added six digs, three kills and two aces for CCHS, while Gina Russo contributed 21 assists, 13 digs and seven kills.
For Tamarac, Nancy Vickerson chipped in with 18 digs and 12 kills, while Sarah Malsch (14 assists, nine service points) and Taylor Lewis (nine kills, seven blocks) added to the Bengals’ attack.
Cambridge 3, Berlin 1: Emily Sherman smashed 13 aces and Paige Fortier added 11 kills for the Indians (1-3, 4-5) in a non-league victory over the Mountaineers (0-3, 0-7).
Sarah Bentley scored 11 service points and chipped in with six kills for Berlin. Shaylah Morris added 12 assists and six aces.
Maple Hill 3, Taconic Hills 0: Katie Roth made 14 kills and Maggie Miller scored 15 service points for the Wildcats (6-0, 6-1) in a Patroon Conference victory by scores of 25-12, 25-13 and 25-17.
Rensselaer 3, Coxsackie-Athens 2: The Rams (3-2, 4-3) posted a Patroon Conference victory over the Indians by scores of 25-20, 21-25, 25-15, 18-25 and 25-22.

Saratoga Springs and Canajoharie played a non-league volleyball match on Monday. (Photo courtsey The Saratogian).

Boys Volleyball
Colonie 3, Saratoga Springs 1: Kyle McPadden dished out 35 assists and 12 digs for the Garnet Raiders (5-2) in a Suburban Council victory over the Blue Streaks.
Nate Krouse added 13 kills and Steve Sleaseman contributed with 10 kills.
Girls Soccer
Hoosic Valley 5, Schuylerville 4: Molly Gilchrist scored a pair of goals and assisted on another as the Indians (5-1, 7-1) earned a Wasaren League victory over the Black Horses.
Allie Robert, Janelle Standard and Cassidy Chapko all had a goal for Hoosic Valley. Nicole Senecal and Courtney Pierce both had two goals for Schuylerville (5-1).
Tamarac 1, Greenwich 0 (OT): Julie Sloboda scored the game-winner in overtime to lift the Bengals (3-2-0, 4-3-0) to a Wasaren League victory over the Witches.
Tamarac put 25 shots on the Greenwich net, while the Witches mustered just one shot against Tamarac keeper Nicole Matthews.
Chatham 7, Coxsackie-Athens 3: The Panthers captured a Patroon Conference victory over the Indians.
Boys Golf
Mechanicville 165, Waterford 197: John Young shot a low round of par 36 for the Red Raiders in a Colonial Council victory over the Fordians.
Jeff Roylance paced Waterford with a score of 46.
Averill Park 254, Saratoga Springs 257: Jimmy Sullivan shot a low round of 33 at Burden Lake Country Club, lifting Averill Park (5-6) to a Suburban Council victory over the Blue Streaks. Andrew Fasoldt fired a 41 for the Warriors.
Christian Flemming shot a 39 for Saratoga, while Matt Beckwith turned in a round of 40.
From Friday
Girls Tennis
Shenendehowa 9, Columbia 0: The Lady Plainsmen swept the Blue Devils in Suburban Council.

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