Coop captains confident about Final Four
'We're going for the weekend, not the day.' - Senior Ollie Wasson
(As the sun sets on their Cooperstown soccer careers, the Hawkeye captains said they believe they will play two more games this weekend. From left are: P.J. Kiuber, Colby Diamond, Ethan Kukenberger and Ollie Wasson. Photo by Greg Klein.)
There is one weekend left in their high school soccer careers, but Cooperstown’s four captains said Wednesday, Nov. 9, they have some things left to accomplish.
“We are going for the weekend, not the day,” forward/midfielder Ollie Wasson said.
“I think it will be a lot better than last year,” said defender P.J. Kiuber.
“We’re going to beat Maple Hill and then we’ll take our chances with Avon or Haldane,” forward/midfielder Colby Diamond said.
“Our composure is a lot better than last year,” defender Ethan Kukenberger said, “and we know what to expect now because we have been there before.”
(Ollie Wasson fights with a Mount Markham defender to get position during a game Sept. 12. Photo by Greg Klein.)
The four seniors were starters on last year’s squad, which went 19-1, losing 4-0 in the state semifinals to Alexander Hamilton.
With eight seniors on the 2022 squad, and five starters lost to graduation or other reasons, Cooperstown’s path back to the Final Four was not guaranteed. However, the captains were insistent they were repeating as section champions and intent on using that as an opportunity to avenge the 2022 team’s lone disappointment.
“We had some haters, but I think we all knew we could do it,” Diamond said. “It was section title or bust.”
The captains are four of the nine seniors on this year’s squad, with the class of 2023 in the middle of a group raised for soccer success. Friends on and off the pitch, the boys and most of the seniors have grown up together since the early days of elementary school. Many of them have been playing soccer together since first or second grade.
Only Kukenberger is not a soccer-first player; he is much more likely to be playing middle infield in college than defensive back. (He and Kiuber also won a section title in baseball in 2021.) Diamond and Kiuber are destined for college soccer. Wasson, the class president, is choosing his college path based on his academic interests. None of the four have finalized a college decision, yet.
Diamond was the leader of his class, soccer wise, for years the player with the best skills and most intense drive. Games of “World Cup” at the Clark Sports Center fields were the norm. Seeing Diamond or his friends, the Spencer brothers, shooting goals on the horizon at dusk was a common sight over the years.
Kiuber and Wasson grew up trying to keep up with their best friend and their skills developed as a result. Kiuber, whose sister Ashley plays soccer at SUNY Poly, even has a goal set up in his front yard. All three skipped junior varsity as freshmen.
The dreams they dreamed on the Clark fields have mostly come true. Mostly. As their high school careers end, the captains said they believe their legacy will be hard to top. Despite missing their sophomore year to the coronavirus pandemic, they have won 36 games in two seasons. Cooperstown has won four section titles and three regional titles in boys soccer in program history; this group has provided two of each title, back to back.
“I think we are the best team in school history,” Diamond said. “No one else has accomplished what we have accomplished in two years.”
(Colby Diamond, heading a ball against SVEC in the regional championship Nov. 5, led the team in scoring the past two seasons, with 17 goals in 2022 and 28 this year. He also led the team in assists this season with 15. Photo by Michael Perrino.)
Despite their bravado, the captains said they realize they have not succeeded without help. They expressed gratitude to their parents and fans, and the greater soccer community in Cooperstown. They had praise for their coaches, classmates and younger teammates, too.
“The thing about our coaches is we have known them both for so long, there are no surprises,” Diamond said. “We’ve all played for them for four years and we’ve known them most of our lives. We know what to expect from them and they know what to expect from us.”
Despite the senior leadership and depth, five sophomores play big roles on the 22 squad and at least three freshman have gotten playing time. Diamond’s younger brother Riley, a starting midfielder, has been among the standout sophomores. The captains agree they would not have succeeded without the help of the younger boys. In turn, they have enjoyed being mentors.
“As soon as we started having summer (captains’) practices, we saw their potential,” Wasson said.
“The nice thing is, I think the kids that have come up have been receptive to our leadership,” Diamond said.
“The sophomore class has been great,” Kukenberger said. “I think in future years, there is the opportunity for us to continue to be a soccer power.”
Despite the team’s 17-1-2 record and title wins, the Hawkeyes struggled to find themselves early in the season. The losses from 22, the young players and the need for a new offensive identity made September a dramatic month, with an 8-1-2 record and a grinding stretch of six games in nine days.
The captains agree the turning point of the season was final game of the six-in-nine stretch, a 4-2 win at Waterville on Sept. 28, which basically wrapped up the Center State Conference Division II title.
“It was after that Waterville game,” Diamond said. “We played so well together that game. I think even the coaches started to see it.”
It was the best game the team had played that month, they all agree. The Waterville win set the tone for one of the defining accomplishments of the season, they said. Cooperstown didn't allow a goal in October — seven games, including two playoff wins — a fact all four said they will remember with joy and pride.
(From left, junior goalie Charlie Lambert and inside defensive backs P.J. Kiuber and Ethan Kukenberger have been the heart of the Hawkeyes this season, allowing just 14 goals in 20 games. Photo by Michael Perrino.)
Since a 3-1 loss to South Kortright on Sept. 24, Cooperstown has won 11 straight games, nine by shutout. Junior goalie Charlie Lambert has 12 clean sheets total, a testament to the defense’s power as well as Lambert's abilities.
“He has been a rock for us,” Wasson said.
“I knew he would do a good job, because he did a good job on defense (as an outside fullback) last year,” Kiuber said, “but I did not think he would get 12 shutouts.”
They did think they would be back in the Final Four, though, even if not everyone else believed.
“It’s just the same group of people, especially on defense, before Conrad (Erway) got hurt,” Kiuber said. “So we didn’t expect anything different. We just expected we would get back here and we expect to do better this year.”
To do so, Cooperstown had to endure three 1-0 wins in the Section III Class C boys soccer playoffs. Two of the wins were third games of the season against division rivals, Frankfort-Schuyler and Waterville, and both ended with golden goals in overtime.
Kiuber scored the game winner Oct. 21, against F-S, in the first round, in the final game the boys played on Lambert Field. His 50-yard restart got accidentally headed into the goal by an F-S defender, a bit of karma for a defender who “is the only player in Cooperstown history to score an own goal in the state semifinals,” Kiuber said, laughing at his mistake from last year, which gave Hamilton its first goal.
Wasson, who had missed the first two weeks of the playoffs with a mild case of COVID, scored the game winner in the section finals against Waterville on Nov. 1, heading home a restart from Diamond.
“In both of those overtimes, we knew we were going to win the game,” Diamond said. “There was no way Frankfort or Waterville was going to beat us.”
Diamond, Kiuber, Kukenberger and Wasson seem equally confident about this year’s trip to the Final Four. They said they want to enjoy their last weekend with their team and make it last as long as possible. Their lone regret in their high school career is the loss to Hamilton. They said they want to avenge it, and despite the tough competition in this year’s Final Four, they believe they will.
“I think everybody has a reason to think they are going to get the state championship this year,” Kukenberger said. “I know we do.”
His teammates nod and affirm. They believe they are going to win, they said.
(P.J. Kiuber jumps to clear a ball during the regional championship Nov. 5. Photo by Michael Perrino.)
Cooperstown (Central Region, Section III, 17-1-2, ranked No. 2) plays Maple Hill (Northern Region, Section II, 19-1-1, ranked No. 3) at 2 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 12, in the Class C semifinal at Goshen High School.
Avon (Western Region, Section V, 21-0, ranked No. 1) plays Haldane (Southern Region, Section I, 16-2, ranked No. 4) in the second semifinal game, on the same field, at 4:45 p.m., Saturday.
The winners will play the Class C championship at 3:15 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 13, at Middletown High School.