By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Chilly temperatures greeted fans Monday night at LeBeau Field. The Hilton Cadets warmed the hearts of the home crowd.
Nick Simone netted a hat trick on senior night, and Hilton overcame a slow start to stay unbeaten in its last six with a 7-0 drubbing of the Churchville-Chili Saints.
Simone gave the Cadets all the offense they needed when he converted a penalty kick in the 18th minute. The senior midfielder forced the foul when he attacked off teammate Meikal Lambov’s cross.
“I saw Lambov chip the ball over,” Simone explained. “I was thinking the ground is wet, so I figured it would skip. It skipped around, and I went for it.
“Normally coach doesn’t let the person who gets fouled take the PK. I think it was the whole senior night thing. He was just like you can do it if you want. I just stepped up and put it away.”
Simone combined again with Lambov on his third goal of the night to give Hilton a commanding 4-0 advantage in the 49th minute.
“Lambov chipped it again. It skipped. He (Churchville-Chili defender) was trying to shield me off, but I just kinda ran around him. Cut the ball back with my left foot. I saw it was already in the six, so I just put it far post.”
“His body positioning is always flawless,” Hilton head coach Mike Ellicott commented. “People don’t quite understand his style at times. He’s very languid in the way he plays.”
Simone’s barrage followed an opening 13 minutes when the Saints strung together three corner kicks, and Colby Egan was wide of frame with his shot from the right side of the box.
“These boys are “ropa-dopey” in the way they play,” Elliott said referencing the ring technique of the late boxing legend Muhammad Ali. “They’ll absorb a lot, and then they’ll take a look around and say ‘hey how about we score a couple goals.’
“We’re a little slow out of the gate for most games. I’d love to solve why we’re like that. We’re very vulnerable in the first several minutes. It’s not that we don’t play well. It’s just that we do take a little bit of time to warm up, and as we shift through the gears as we saw tonight, we can just turn the game real quick.”
Simone went upper 90 on a direct kick from 26 yards for a two-nil Hilton lead in the 19th minute. Using his right foot, Simone wrapped a shot around the Churchville wall on the left side of the 18-yard box and placed the ball in the right hand corner.
“When he’s on, the kid’s untouchable,” Elliott said. “There is nobody in the league or in the county who can come close to him.”
Michael Provost one-timed Matt DeFeo’s cross from the right wing for a 3-0 before the half, and the reigning Section Five Class AA champions were on the way to their second straight win. After starting the season with two victories in the first five games, the Cadets have won eight of their last 10 and improved to 10-4-1 with a second straight shutout.
“Last year in sectionals we had a good run,” Simone said. “I think it’s good that we’re getting going early before sectionals, so then we get better seeding. When we go in, we keep the rhythm going and get another sectional title.”
DeFeo scored twice, and Noah Malta added another tally as the Cadets controlled the pace of the second half with pinpoint passing.
“They do move the ball very well,” Ellicott said of his team. “The whole team has bought into the philosophy of keep passing, keep moving. They see how the professionals do it. Obviously this is at the high school level. We have a style and we’re very committed to our style. We just know if we do it the right way, we can hang with anyone.”
Senior Jesse Deprez was rarely challenged in registering his second straight clean sheet in goal. Anchored by sophomore Tom Callery and junior David Stirpe, Hilton’s defense limited Churchville’s opportunities.
“They’ve done a really nice job for us,” Elliott said of his defense. “We’re young on the back line, so it’s been exciting to see them evolve. They’ve come from the mentality of just kicking the ball out and worry about it later. They’re buying into possession and moving the ball around. Everybody in the back line is a junior or younger. It’s going to be fun to bring them back next year and work with them.”
Michael Abbott and Provost both contributed with assists. Simone also had a helper. Lamb had two assists.
Simone leads Hilton with 17 goals. He also has six assists on the season.
DeFeo scored his ninth and 10th tallies of the campaign to go with a team-leading 11 helpers.
Last time out the Cadets defeated Penfield 1-0.
Hilton closes its season on Thursday at Webster Thomas. A 7 p.m. kickoff is scheduled.
Churchill hosts Gates-Chili also on Thursday for a 6:30 p.m. start.
Leave a Reply