ALLEGANY, NY — In the seventh year of the Corporate Cup, the Pennsylvania Boys Gold team snapped New York’s hope of a three-peat, claiming a 3-1 victory with the help of Mitch Strauss’ hat trick.
Throughout its tenure, New York has dominated the Corporate Cup, winning five times to Pennsylvania’s one. However, first-time Pennsylvania head coach Chris Darling was eager to turn the tide and confident in his team’s complete roster.
“The focus was really team play, not individual play. We knew we had 11 starters that were strong across the board and a great back up 11,” said Darling, who coaches at Warren in the fall. “We knew we had every position. We were excited for that opportunity of a nice, complete team.”
To start the first half, New York consistently maintained possession, creating several drives deep into Pennsylvania territory. Simultaneously efficient on defense, New York also stripped passes and poked balls loose from Pennsylvania, who struggled to make it up the field for the first several minutes.
However, once it found its stride, Pennsylvania matched its opponent’s intensity, making it a back-and-forth game that saw both teams with pairs of shots on goal in the first ten minutes.
With renewed confidence, Pennsylvania would find its way onto the scoreboard first. After a 26-minute stalemate, they drove down field on a 3-on-2 drive, being met by Conroy, who stopped the initial shot. Strauss (Bradford) then found the back of the net with a simple tap that put Pennsylvania on top.
“It was really important (to score first.) New York has a lot of really threatening guys,” said Darling, “but if we dropped down one, we weren’t going to hang our heads. We knew we could get them back. We have six guys that are really talented at forward.”
Finding itself behind, New York returned with a burst of life and aggressive energy. For the next several minutes, N.Y. kept possession and pressured the attack, finding two shots on goal that were stopped at the last minute, one by Pennsylvania’s goalkeeper and the other when it ricocheted off the left goalpost. Then, ten minutes after Pennsylvania’s goal, New York tied the score with a shot from Mitch Ward (Fillmore), coming off Eric Spring’s (Allegany-Limestone) corner kick.
The last few minutes trickled off the clock with both teams fighting for one last goal before the end of the half. In the two minutes of stoppage time, New York had three shots on goal but narrowly missed every time, leaving the scoreboard knotted at 1-1.
Coming into the second half, goalkeeper Ethan Streich (Ridgway) had his work cut out for him. After their Pennsylvania’s starting goalkeeper, Will Nebinski (Warren), went down with an ankle injury early in the first, Strike filled in, saving shots with tenacity. Coming into the second half, he would continue his ironclad work in the net immediately, as New York would fire off a relentless barrage in the opening minutes.
“(Striech) had a heck of a game,” said Darling. “Especially knowing that he was going to be coming off the bench, I think it took a second for him to really get settled in, but he had a lot of nice saves.”
For the majority of the second half, the game resumed it’s back and forth assault on the net, being first led by New York’s mustered momentum, then breaking into an eb and flow assault from both teams. That changed around the 30-minute mark, when Strauss once again stepped up for his team, this time with some extra finesse.
Leading the charge on a fast break, Strauss’ fancy footwork and soft touch broke down defenders before a perfectly-placed shot to the left side made its way past New York’s goalkeeper, putting Pennsylvania back in front.
With the clock working against them, New York turned up the physicality. As they battled on defense to strip away drives and break up passing lanes, their offense attempted to muscle in shots with fast drives in close. However, with Streich still sacrificing his body to block anything and everything, New York’s hopes seemed to dwindle with every passing moment.
Then, while New York was praying for a miracle shot to tie the game in stoppage time, Strauss added insult to injury with a final goal, his third of the day, in the 48th minute, producing the final score of 3-1.
“(Strauss) is a talented kid. He’s creative and he’s hungry to score and that’s more than just talent. That’s a will to score and that’s what he does, he wills himself to score,” said Darling. “I love watching him play. I was excited to have him. Truly, I knew having him with us I knew we were going to get some goals.”
Strauss, a junior, deservedly won the Pennsylvania MVP, while Streich’s impressive rise to the challenge earned him the PA Sportsmanship award. With the win, Pennsylvania hoisted the trophy for the second time in the event’s seven years, snapping a drought that dates back to 2020.
“If (Strauss) wouldn’t have scored three goals, it would have been an easy conversation that Streich was the MVP. It’s hard to doubt that performance by Strauss, he put it away late,” said Darling. “Obviously winning is fun. It’s fun for the team, it’s fun for the PA crowd. It was a fun game.”
BOYS SILVER
New York 6, Pennsylvania 1
New York’s goals came from Owen Doherty (Ellicottville), who scored two on the day, EJ Doherty (Ellicottville), Drew Oste (Maple Grove), Evan Turybury (Genesee Valley) and Jesse Decker (Allegany-Limestone).
Pennsylvania’s one goal came from Brendan Bettwy (Clarion-Limestone).
