Freeman Earns DII’s Top Honor

Randolph junior Cooper Freeman (9) scored 31 goals and added 12 assists en route to being named CCAA DII Player of the Year.
Photo courtesy of Mike Frame

The Randolph boys soccer team came up one win short of the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division II league title, but there was still no doubt the Cardinals were represented by the No. 1 player in the league.

After scoring 31 goals and 12 assists across all competitions and leading the Cardinals to a 8-2-0 league record, Randolph junior Cooper Freeman was named the CCAA DIII Player of the Year. Freeman’s production from the midfield accounted for 64% of the Cardinals’ offense which scored 67 goals.

On top of its potent offense, Randolph’s strong defense was headlined by Griffin Nelson, which earned the senior a share of the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award.

Nelson shared the Defensive Player of the Year award with Ellicottville senior Ben Edwards and the Eagles were represented with the Offensive Player of the Year award by senior Owen Doherty, who scored 22 goals and 11 assists.

Portville grabbed the league title with a final regular season win against Randolph and Panthers head coach JJ McIntosh was named the Coach of the Year in CCAA DIII.

The league’s top five players in order are Randolph junior Cooper Freeman, Ellicottville senior Owen Doherty, Ellicottville senior Ben Edwards, Randolph senior Griffin Nelson and Portville senior Brady German.

Finishing atop the league Portville earned three First-Team All-Stars in German as a senior midfielder with six goals and 13 assists, sophomore midfielder Colin German with eight goals and seven assists, and sophomore defender Luke Edwards with two goals and two assists.

Portville added another three Second-Team All-Stars in senior forward Braeden Carter, senior defender Logan Zeigler and sophomore defender Parker Keim.

Randolph earned five First-Team All-Stars in senior forward Drew Hind with 14 goals and 12 assists, junior midfielder Cooper Freeman with 31 goals and 12 assists, junior midfielder Cody Slade with 10 goals and 16 assists, senior defender Griffin Nelson with three goals and two assists, and senior defender Caden Inkley with two assists.

Ellicottville earned two First-Team All-Stars in senior forward Owen Doherty with 22 goals and 11 assists, and senior defender Ben Edwards with a goal and an assist.

The Eagles earned five Second-Team All-Stars in sophomore forward Tosh Klein, senior midfielder Maddox Johnson, senior midfielder Kyle Robinson, sophomore defender Coleman Carls and junior goalkeeper Jackson Kruszynski.

Cassadaga Valley/Falconer claimed three First-Team All-Star spots with senior midfielder Gabe Lundmark scoring five goals and four assists, junior defender Donovan Delaney with three goals and an assist and senior goalkeeper Nathan Bailey, who backstopped a Golden Cougars squad that made 137 saves and six clean sheets over the course of the season.

Sophomore midfielder Jakob Huling was a Second-Team All-Star for the Golden Cougars.

Pine Valley/Gowanda senior Noah Frontuto was named a First-Team All-Star at midfield after scoring four goals and five assists.

The Individual Sportsmanship Award was earned by Pine Valley/Gowanda junior Hayden Chase.

Salamanca/Cattaraugus-Little Valley had a pair of Second-Team All-Stars in senior midfielder Jacob Herrick and senior defender Mason Brewer.

Jerome Lee Yaw was selected as the Referee of the Year by CCAA DII.

FIRST TEAM

Owen Doherty Senior Forward Ellicottville

Drew Hind Senior Forward Randolph

Cooper Freeman Junior Midfielder Randolph

Brady German Senior Midfielder Portville

Cody Slade Junior Midfielder Randolph

Gabe Lundmark Senior Midfielder Cassadaga Valley/Falconer

Noah Frontuto Senior Midfielder Pine Valley/Gowanda

Colin German Sophomore Midfielder Portville

Griffin Nelson Senior Defender Randolph

Ben Edwards Senior Defender Ellicottville

Caden Inkley Senior Defender Randolph

Donovan Delaney Junior Defender Cassadaga Valley/Falconer

Luke Edwards Sophomore Defender Portville

Nathan Bailey Senior Goalkeeper Cassadaga Valley/Falconer

SECOND TEAM

Braeden Carter Senior Forward Portville

Tosh Klein Sophomore Forward Ellicottville

Maddox Johnson Senior Midfielder Ellicottville

Jacob Herrick Senior Midfielder Salamanca/Cattaraugus-Little Valley

Kyle Robinson Senior Midfielder Ellicottville

Jakob Huling Sophomore Midfielder Cassadaga Valley/Falconer

Coleman Carls Sophomore Defender Ellicottville

Logan Zeigler Senior Defender Portville

Mason Brewer Senior Defender Salamanca/Cattaraugus-Little Valley

Parker Keim Sophomore Defender Portville

Jackson Kruszynski Junior Goalkeeper Ellicottville

HONORABLE MENTION

Portville: Garrett Reynolds (Soph.), Vic Vena (Soph.)

Randolph: Isaac Pihlblad (Soph.), Parker Patterson (Jr.), Delsin Tallchief (Jr.)

Ellicottville: Christopher Edwards (Soph.)

Cassadaga Valley/Falconer: Cameron Katilus (Jr.), Nathyn Gilbert (Soph.), Clayton Evans (Jr.), Kale Livengood (Fr.), Pat Holmberg (Sr.)

Pine Valley/Gowanda: Jarrett Meyers (Jr.), Andres Morillas (Fr.), Landon Reger (Fr.), Hayden Chase (Jr.), Sawyer Bradigan (Sr.)

Salamanca/Cattaraugus-Little Valley: Alex Crowell (Sr.), Dominick Hill (Jr.)