Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake 2, Jamesville-Dewitt 2
BH-BL advances with a 3-1 edge in PKs
Another dandy. This is one I'm glad I was around for. J-D came in 18-1, ranked #9 in the state in Class A, outscoring opponents 59-13 this season. They stepped it up on the defensive end as of late, shutting 4 of their last 5 opponents out, including East Syracuse-Minoa in the Sect III finals. BH-BL came in at 11-7-1 against almost exclusively AA schools, ranked #11 in A, outscoring opponents 43-22. They won their finals in Sect II easily, knocking out Cobleskill-Richmondville 3-0. The marathon in Stillwater was well worth the wait.
Burnt Hills was looking for revenge, after J-D knocked them out at this stage last season en route to a berth in the state finals. Early, it looked like they were primed and ready for it, being the aggressors, first to almost everything. Led by Morgan Burchhardt and Meghan Malone, they forged chances early and often. Burchhardt could turn what looked like nothing into a chance, letting the cannon loose from 40+ yards on frame numerous times. In the first half, they outshot J-D 9-6, forcing Allison Butler to make 5 saves, touch the ball in non-save situations 5 more times, and have 7 goal kicks - a.k.a. they put the pressure on. However, J-D was the team who struck first. With 8 minutes left in the half, Paige Sherling played the ball in front of goal to Alex Catanzarite, who motored past everyone and knocked it through the pipes, giving the Red Rams a 1-0 lead over the Spartans. J-D did have a couple nice chances besides that in the half, but nothing else materialized either way. We went to the break with that same score. As I tweeted, a guy behind me said 'You smell that?.. OT'. I agreed. I just didn't think it was going to happen the way it did. Felt like it had 1-1 written all over it. Well, they wanted more fireworks.
Burnt Hills didn't dominate, but definitely had the better half of possession and chances to start the 2nd half. However, at about the 30 minute mark, it looked like J-D was starting to even play and they weathered the storm without giving up the lead. That all changed with just under 26 to go. Burchhardt was awarded a direct kick from slightly under 35 yards out, and the cannon came through, placing one beautifully in the top right corner of goal. Butler, who played a great game and was very strong positioning herself, had no shot at that one. With 25:46 remaining, the score was tied. It didn't take long for Sparty to capitalize on that build of momentum. Malone, who along with Burchhardt I dubbed "The Usual Suspects", received a pass in a dangerous spot with not much pressure, and she made J-D pay, putting one into the nylon at the 22:39 mark, thus giving BH-BL a 2-1 lead. With such a momentum shift, I foolishly thought what I heard a lot of people behind me saying: "this one's over". I was wrong. So were the parents, but I'm used to that. A direct kick from deep went over Spartan GK Erin Petrillose's hands, off the top post, and back down in front of goal, where Catanzarite beat everyone to the ball again, poking it into goal. Like Bounty, she cleans up the mess. That tied the score up at 2 with 19:25 left. If you're paying attention, the game before with 2 teams scoring 250 goals on the season managed 2 in 80 minutes, and the game with 2 teams scoring 102 goals scored 3 in 6:21. You just don't know sometimes, man. They each had some shots to break the tie - BH-BL with more, making Butler dive to make stops a couple times (did I mention she played like an all-star?), but J-D just missed out in the last 2 minutes. Catanzarite did what she does, beat everyone to the ball, but her shot from close went just wide of frame with under 2 to go. BH-BL outshot J-D 18-10 in regulation, forcing Butler to make 8 saves while Petrillose made 2, but what matters is the goal count, which was 2 apiece.
Sparty continued to pepper the goal at times in OT, forcing Butler to make 3 more saves in the 1st 10 minute session alone and 6 more total. However, through 30 minutes of extra time consisting of two 10 minute full sessions and two 5 minute sudden death/victory sessions, no one put a 3rd through, so we went to everyone's favorite... PKs! Happy happy, joy joy. BH-BL put Haley Schultz in goal for the penalty kicks, and she did admirably. Burchhardt & Malone started off by putting their attempts through, while Schultz stopped the first 2 J-D attempts, giving the Spartans a 2-0 lead in the Best of 5 PK attempts. Both attempts were no good in Round 3, with Butler making a save to keep the Red Rams alive. Still, with 2 rounds left, J-D needed to can both and stop both of BH-BL's last attempts. J-D started off Round 4 right, putting it through. However, Jenna Retell did the same for the Spartans, clinching the 3-1 victory in PKs and sending the Spartans through to the state quarters. A great game to cover all-around. You're not hearing me complain about the cold, the length of time, the fact that Boston Market was actually crappy after. I enjoyed myself out here. Worth the trip!
#NumbersDontLie - All-in-all, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake was the stronger team. However, J-D came with the heart and the desire, not to mention a goalie who could stop a shot from God. Mix those attributes together, and you draw up a formula to make numbers possibly lie. That being said, the Spartans generated more opportunities, looked like the team that would come out on top most of the way, and the numbers resembled that. They outshot Jamesville-Dewitt 28-13, forcing keeper Allison Butler to make 13 saves. She nearly matched that number in non-save touches. The game was somewhat corner kick-free, with only 7 corners in 110 minutes. J-D also had 18 goal kicks compared to BH-BL's 10 - I still understand goal kicks mean nothing to most people, but when you throw it in with the shot numbers, it goes to show that the Spartans were putting that pressure on the Section III representatives. A game full of drama. Sports. That's why we watch.
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