Alexander scored the Mounties’ first goal .. his 49th .. at the 28th minute of the first half on an assist from Zach Wilcox, then 14 minutes later the senior drilled a penalty kick off of the Towanda keeper, gathered the rebound and booted it into the net, reaching the 50-goal milestone.

NPL Head Coach Matt Grinnell points to several attributes Alexander displays that led to the accomplishment. 

“I’m so happy for Caiden,” Grinnell says. “He plays his absolute hardest and is so focused every time he is on the field. His speed and how hard he works .. during the season and all summer long .. he deserves this.”

Alexander echoed his coaches’ point that hard work and dedication to the sport provided him the assist on his accomplishment.

“I’ve played soccer since I was five years old, in AYSO,” Alexander explained. “I started playing travel when I was seven, moved up as I got older, and have played at Corning United the last three years. I gained a lot of my skills and work ethic playing travel ball, and to be able to combine all of that into my high school soccer career, with great teammates, was a huge contributor to this (milestone).”

Grinnell points out that it wasn’t just beneficial to Alexander .. his travel experiences.

“Caiden takes his skills as a player and works with the other kids, on moves,” Grinnell says. “He’s always looking to get better.”

The Mounties may have lost just a little focus after celebrating their teammate’s accomplishment, as Towanda came out of the break and scored just 48 seconds into the second half to cut the NPL lead in half at 2-1.

Alexander assisted on a Carter Grinnell goal at the 31:20 mark, then Derek Litzelman secured the Mountie win with his goal at the 26-minute mark .. on another assist from Wilcox.

The Black Knights had a 26-21 advantage in shots-on-goal, while the Mounties’ six corner kicks doubled up Towanda’s three.

Keeper Stettson McGovern recorded 15 saves for NPL, who improve to 4-2 overall with the win.

Alexander knows very well that there are numerous people that he has to thank for helping him achieve a 50+ -goal career.

“I would like to thank my Mom and Dad for their encouragement and support,” Alexander explained. “My brothers for pushing me, my family and friends for cheering me on.”

“I also need to thank Phil Brogan, who taught me soccer fundamentals, my travel coach, Chad Freelove, for allowing me to play for Corning United, and finally, my team of all four years I’ve played for Liberty and my coach, Matt Grinnell. I couldn’t have done it without any one of them.”

After Alexander’s five-goal game earlier in the week, he traded uniforms and switched over to his other Fall-sport of choice, football. In the Panthers’ 34-7 win over Towanda on Friday, Alexander was good on four of his five extra-point attempts, with one try having been blocked, and gave his “other” team a boost not only by scoring needed points for them, but also by booming his kickoffs deep, leading to poorer starting position for the opposition.

As much as he enjoys handling the kicking duties for NPM, Alexander’s heart is on the soccer pitch.

“Hitting a 35-yard field goal is really amazing,” Alexander explained. “But running up the field to make a goal in soccer is just ten-times better.”

Alexander knows his time in high school is coming to an end, and while he says he’d love to play in college, he is exploring as many options as he can.

Alexander and his Mountie teammates, now 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the league, will welcome Williamson .. 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the NTL .. for a league-match-up on Monday at 4 p.m.