Vintage Feldman leads Livonia to sixth straight sectional title

By PAUL GOTHAM

GENESEO, N.Y. — Senior Kyle Feldman netted a pair of first-half goals, and the Livonia Bulldogs claimed the Section V Class B1 title with a 3-0 victory over the Greece Odyssey Leopards on a dreary evening at Geneseo College, Saturday.

Feldman took a ball back from teammate Tavian Hino, weaved his way through a pair of defenders along the left side of the 18-yard box and finished inside the far post to start the scoring in the ninth minute. Less than 14 minutes later, Feldman settled with his chest a Mark Brado header and slotted it to the left side netting.

The second was Feldman’s 27th marker of the season to rank fifth in Section V.

“That was vintage Kyle tonight, especially the first one,” Livonia coach Ray Maxwell said. “Just wonderful goals. He’s a fantastic dribbler, a fantastic finisher.”

Hino pushed the lead to three just before halftime when he nodded in a Nate Adams cross. Adams set up the goal from the left side of the box when the senior midfielder beat a defender and cut the ball back to feed Hino.

The championship was Livonia’s sixth straight and fifth outright as the Bulldogs matched Red Creek (1976-81) for the third longest title streak in Section V history.

“It never gets old,” Maxwell said. “This is really just a nice group of boys. They really seem to like each other and get along. The chemistry this year has been good.”

The win was the fourth straight for Livonia (16-3-0). Saturday’s, though, took place on turf with a consistent rain falling.

“We don’t get turf very often,” Maxwell said referring to Livonia’s hoe field. “You never know how you’re going to play on turf especially when it gets slick. There’s a lot of skipping. The ball’s going fast. I thought we handled things pretty well.”

Livonia moves on the play Class B2 champion World of Inquiry in the regional qualifier. A 5 p.m. kickoff is scheduled Wednesday at Avon high school. The Bulldogs advanced to the NYS semi-finals last season.

Greece Odyssey finished the season 8-10-1. The Leopards shared the 2012 B1 crown with Livonia.