Goal by Hilton's Nick Simone makes ESPN's top plays
Monday’s 7-0 soccer win over Churchville-Chili was special for Hilton’s Nick Simone because it was “Senior Night,” which meant his last regular-season home match for the Cadets.
The hat trick he scored made it even more special, but two days later it became a night he’ll never forget. The sinking, 25-yard free kick that Simone curled inside the far post to make it 2-0 in the first half was featured as No. 7 on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays of the Night for Wednesday.
“I think the last 12 hours have been pretty cool. Obviously, something like this doesn’t happen often and when it did I was just as surprised as everyone else,” Simone said.
The defending Section V Class AA champion Cadets (10-4-1) have been on a roll. They’re 5-0-1 since a 2-1 loss to Victor on Sept. 23 and that one draw was a 3-3 thriller last week against Fairport (13-1-1), the state’s No. 1 ranked team.
Simone leads the Cadets with 17 goals and his six assists are tied for third on the team with Meikal Lambov. Michael Provost (six goals/seven assists) and Matt DeFeo (10/11) are other leaders for Hilton’s attack.
“Everybody knows what they’re supposed to be doing," Simone said. "We’re starting to really click so I’m excited for sectionals.”
Second-year coach Mike Ellicott’s team wraps up its regular season at 7 p.m. Thursday at Webster Thomas (8-5-2). Section V Tournament pairings come out this weekend. It was Ellicott's tweet at ESPN that made the self-proclaimed "World Wide Leader in Sports" aware of Simone's wonder-strike goal.