BERNE — The one thing that couldn’t happen to the Berne-Knox-Westerlo boys’ soccer team this season has happened.

A team chock full of young players has had its few experienced players injured.

The injuries were prevalent in a 2-1 loss to Schoharie on Friday.
"We are struggling to be healthy," BKW Coach Jim Gillis said. "Bobby, Brandon, and Evan are all hurting. If those three are hurting all year, we’re in trouble."

Brandon Motschmann and Evan Place are seniors and Bobby Patrick is a junior, but all bring years of varsity experience into the season.

All three played in Friday’s game, but were limited in what they could do. And younger players are having to fill in some different spots on the field.
"We have younger kids playing center halfback, stopper, and sweeper," Gillis said of key positions on the field. "We have no options. The inexperienced kids have to lead."

The Bulldogs put up a good fight against Schoharie in Friday’s contest.

Schoharie scored early as Patrick tried to clear out a ball that was kicked into the penalty area by Ryan Cleveland.

Patrick miskicked the ball and it went into the goal. Cleveland was credited for the goal and Schoharie led 1-0.
"He’s not the first player that that has happened to," Gillis said. "That’s happened to professionals and world-class players."

The Bulldogs scored with 19:39 left in the first half to tie the game at 1-1.

The Schoharie goalie tried to clear the ball with a kick, but the ball was blocked by Peter Primiano and rolled into the goal for the score.

Close game

The Indians would get the winning goal early in the second half. Anthony LaBadia scored on a header with an assist from Stephen Roy to give his team the lead.

Schoharie had plenty of opportunities to score an insurance goal, but BKW held strong to keep the game close.
"We played okay today," Gillis said. "We gave up a lot of shots. But we worked hard. We’re struggling to score goals, so every mistake is magnified."

Schoharie took 30 shots and BKW took just eight.

The Bulldogs’ sophomore goalie, Matt Lounsbury, had a good game in goal, stopping 16 saves.
"Lounsbury was great in goal," Gillis said. "They could’ve had more goals. We have two sophomores in the back five. So we have some growing pains."

The Bulldogs have a 3-4 overall record and are 2-4 against teams in the Southern Division of the Western Athletic Conference.

The Bulldogs have beaten Canajoharie and Sharon Springs. BKW has lost to Schenectady Christian, Middleburgh, and Duanesburg, along with the loss to Schoharie.
"We beat Sharon, 1-0, last Friday," Gillis said. "But we are struggling to score goals. We have nine goals in eight games but we scored four of them against Canajoharie. The other games, we’ve scored five goals. You’re not going to win many games with that."

Gillis is starting to see signs of frustation from his players as the losses have piled up in the past few games.
"They are starting to point fingers and place the blame on each other," Gillis said. "And that starts to happen when you’re losing games. What that will do to us is cause more losses."

The Bulldogs have a slew of tough games this week against teams from the Northern Division of the WAC.

BKW played at Fort Plain on Monday and lost 5-0. The Bulldogs hosted Galway on Wednesday. The Bulldogs then play at Mayfield on Friday and Northville on Monday.
"It’s not easy," Gillis said after the Schoharie game. "Fort Plain, Mayfield, and Galway are all good teams."