Dec 21, 2024
Southwestern’s Connor Young scored 41 goals to finish his career with 121, which is fourth all-time in Section VI history. For the second straight year he is the OBSERVER/Post-Journal Player of the Year. OBSERVER photo by Tim Frank
It’s not rare for a local boys soccer player to find his way on to the All-Western New York Small School team.
For Buffalo-area observers and coaches to recognize said player on the overall All-Western New York team?
Now that’s rare and reserved for special players.
Connor Young is one of those special players.
Young set a Southwestern program record with 41 goals this season and in the process capped his Trojans career with 121 tallies, good for fourth all-time in Section VI history.
Along with Young’s individual success came team success for Southwestern.
The Trojans finished the regular season with a 13-3-0 record, including 9-1-0 in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 play to share the league title with Allegany-Limestone.
Earning the top seed in the Section VI Class B2 playoffs, the Trojans rolled past No. 9 Eden 7-0 and No. 5 Akron 9-0. Southwestern then beat No. 2 Medina 7-1 in the sectional final to earn the second straight and fourth overall crown in program history.
The Trojans’ season came to an end in the Class B crossover final, 4-0 to defending state-champion East Aurora.
Young’s season will be remembered for a long time in West Ellicott.
He opened the season with two goals and an assist as Southwestern beat Catholic school St. Francis 3-2.
Young assisted on a Seth Vaughn goal in a 2-1 nonleague loss to Randolph on Sept. 9 before the Trojans went on a 13-game winning streak.
Young had a goal and an assist in a 4-2 win over Dunkirk, then his first hat trick of the season to go along with an assist in a 5-1 nonleague defeat of Ellicottville.
He followed that up with four goals in a 10-1 road win over Olean, and had a goal and an assist in a 3-1 victory over rival Fredonia.
Against nonleague power Lackawanna, Southwestern fell behind 2-0 before Young scored a pair of second-half goals — including the winner in the 71st minute — to win 3-2.
He had a pair of goals and a pair of assists in a 5-1 win over crosstown rival Jamestown before one goal against Olean and two more goals en route to gaining revenge against Randolph in a 4-1 win.
Young became a distributor the second time around against Fredonia, handing out three assists to go along with a goal in a 7-1 win.
He had his highest regular-season goal-scoring output of the season against Jamestown with five goals in an 8-1 victory Oct. 9.
Once the playoffs began, Young had three goals against Eden and a season-high six goals against Akron.
The final scoring of his high school career came in the Class B2 final against Medina when he had two goals and two assists in the Trojans’ 7-1 victory.
His most highlight-reel-worthy performance of the season came in the Trojans’ first game against Allegany-Limestone on Sept. 26.
In the 60th minute, the Southwestern senior controlled a long, high clearing pass from his defense and dribbled each bounce — seemingly with a different part of his body each time — past three separate Allegany-Limestone defenders before blasting a low shot into the corner of the goal to complete a hat trick as the Trojans beat the Gators 4-1 at the Fran Sirianni Athletic Complex.
“I wish people in the state could see that. I wish more people could see what he does on the field,” Southwestern head coach Jason Deering said at the time. “He is one of the best in the state. I want to see the player that’s better than him. He’s phenomenal.”
For establishing a new Southwestern record for goals in a season and having the potential to be electrifying every time he touched the ball, Young is the 2024 OBSERVER/Post-Journal Boys Soccer Player of the Year.
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