Stevens' three-points leads Saints

Stevens' three-points leads Saints

Junior Jake Stevens came off the bench to score three second-half points to break a 1-1 tie and lead Churchville-Chili to a 4-1 victory over visiting Frontier in boy's soccer.

The Saints dominated field position early in the game and took a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute when Andy Schuler scored off a loose ball in the box. With three minutes remaining in the first half, Frontier tied it at 1-1 after sloppy defense following a free kick. Just one minute later, Saints goalkeeper Jimmy Frascati kept the game tied heading into half-time with a diving stop.

C-C continued to put on pressure in the second half with great scoring chances in the 58th, 67th and 69th minutes before Stevens crossed a feed to Scott Zorn in the 73rd minute for a 2-1 Saints lead.

Stevens made it 3-1 just four minutes later when he converted Sean Tanner's free kick chip into the box from 40 yards out. His second goal of the game came in the 80th minute off a pass from Zorn for the final tally of the game.

"If we can get him understanding our system, he can be a very explosive player," said head coach Ryan Raftery of Stevens, who missed all of the 2006 season with a torn ACL. "He has unreal speed even after the injury and has a cannon for a shot." Stevens had started the game but was benched in the first half, before re-entering in the 70th minute.

The Saints improved to 2-0 after opening with a 2-1 win over Lockport. They are coming off an 11-5-3 campaign in 2006 that ended with a loss in Section Five semi-finals.