Where in the World Is Jeff? 9/30-10/5

Already hit a pair of games yesterday - busy & interesting rest of the week!

Today (Tuesday) - Guilderland boys soccer heads to Clifton Park to take on Shen, ranked #9 in the state in AA. Game starts at 4:15, and I'll join the mayhem. Missed out on a Stillwater trip last week - making up for it tonight, as their girls soccer squad has a 7:00 start against Mechanicville.

Wednesday, maybe a couple girls soccer games, but probably just one. The definite is in Voorheesville, where they take the pitch against Ravena. If I'm anywhere at night, it's a Foothills trip for Amsterdam @ Broadalbin, but taking the night off sounds more appealing.

Thursday is a goody. The 4:15 game features two state-ranked squads battling: 14th ranked Saratoga visits #20 Niskayuna in ladies' fútbol. At night, I'll run to Colonie where #11 Columbia visits the home team in girls soccer. At the same time, Bethlehem football will be playing at Colonie, so I'll probably hop back and forth!

Friday Friday, gotta get down on Friday! I guess the 4:15 will be another girls soccer game.. visiting the Cannoneer turf for the first time for Fonda/Watervliet. The big one is at night though, making another trip to Schalmont - my 4th of the year and 2nd for football - for Ravena/Schalmont pigskin! Thankfully there's a Cumberland Farms a mile away from Schalmont.. Free Coffee Friday!!

Saturday - Morning start, kinda, as Mohonasen soccer heads to Burnt Hills for an 11:30 start. I'll stay in Burnt Hills for the football game. BH-BL, coming off a loss, hosts South Glens Falls, coming off a win. Just wanted to say that because I never thought I'd have the chance. May or may not stop at Stillwater for their 6:00 girls soccer start against Lake George, but likely taking a break until the night falls. Guilderland awaits, as we have a later start for football. CBA @ Guilderland, 7:30. I'll be there, as should you!

Sunday... you never know. I might head to Vermont @ UAlbany soccer in the afternoon. The possibilities are endless.

Thank God I don't have stalkers... at least I hope I don't.

Upstate Teams Enjoying Success

The newest edition of the NYSSWA state soccer rankings came out yesterday - a little bit of motion, but a lot of schools in Section 2 and 3 are having their success noticed. Some of them are the usual suspects, others are names enjoying newfound success or a resurgence.

In AA, Shenendehowa is having one of the most successful all-around seasons in the entire state. Both soccer teams (along with football) are putting a hurt on teams, and all 3 are ranked in the top 10 in the state. Football is at #10 as of last week, but a 35-6 W over Saratoga on Friday may push them up a little bit. Boys soccer lost to Shaker last week after being ranked #1 in the state, but they're still in the top 10, sitting at #9. Girls soccer is in the drivers' seat in the Suburban, now ranked #7 in the state. A lot of love for upstate in girls soccer rankings, especially - 6 schools in the top 20 are from Section 2/3, four of them from the one to the east. Shen is the highest ranked of them all at #7; conference foes sit not far behind. Columbia is at #11, Saratoga Springs is at #14, and Niskayuna clocks in at #20. Lifelong rivals represent Section 3 at the AA level, with Cicero-North Syracuse at #13 and Liverpool at #15. 'Pool has one loss, and that's to C-NS. C-NS has one loss too... we'll talk about that one in a minute. On the boys end, Shaker catapulted up to #6 after beating former top-ranked team Shen, who dropped. One of the two teams in between Shaker & Shen is undefeated #8 Fayetteville-Manlius, and Nottingham is sitting at #14.

A big thing jumps out at me in Class A, and that's how quickly Albany Academy has ascended. A couple quality wins knocked them up from #14 in the state in boys soccer all the way to #2. There's a big drop before you get to the only other boys soccer team in the Class A rankings, Scotia-Glenville, who holds down the #12 spot. Both of them are above the top-ranked team in Section 3, CBA, who's at #15. Fowler is at #18, making two of the four main Syracuse public schools state-ranked. A couple traditional powers and a new face hold down the A rankings in girls soccer for Section 3 - Jamesville-Dewitt, with just about everyone back from a team that made it to regionals last year, is at #2. Marcellus bumped up to Class A this year but it hasn't slowed them down, as they're at #10. The north country is getting a little love this week too, 8-1 Watertown scrapes in at #20. Not so much for Section 2, with Queensbury at #16 and Burnt Hills at #17, despite them being 3-6. Queensbury's 1 loss is to Garden City, defending state champs - but with them at 3-3-1, that loss may look a touch worse. Would have thought Scotia girls would make it in this week, but they're still on the outside looking in. A lot of success for that school so far though, as the girls soccer & football teams are at honorable mention status while the boys soccer team is state-ranked. The Q and BH-BL girls soccer are trying to catch up to their football teams - Queensbury football is #1 as of now in football rankings, and BH-BL is #4, but a loss to Schalmont this past Friday may drop them.

We'll lead Class B by mentioning Cazenovia because of their hot starts all-around. Football sits at #3 as of now, boys soccer is #8 in the state, and girls soccer dropped to #9 after a loss to Westhill, who's now up to #5. One of the two teams ahead of Caz in the football rankings? Section II's version, Schalmont. Their playing styles are different, and you get a different feel going to each town/city, but the Sabres and the Lakers enjoy similar success. Schalmont is at #2 in the state in football (at least until tomorrow) and face off against #16 Ravena in a showdown Friday.. we'll be there! Their boys soccer team isn't ranked although I think they should be, and their girls soccer team has been riding the #1 spot in the state all season. This Class B team is the one that beat Cicero-North Syracuse, #13 in AA. Hoosick Falls is also in the girls soccer rankings in B - the perennial contender is rockin' the #12 slot, and Catholic Central is at #19 behind the high-powered duo of Alexis Riffelbach and Madison Purcell. Hoosick Falls won a matchup between them, but I'd love to see a repeat. HF's football team is also state-ranked... as always. They're #5 in Class C, and perhaps rising. The aforementioned Westhill & Caz rep Section 3 in the girls' rankings. If I still lived in the area, you know I would've been there last week! As usual, Clinton's in there too, #15 this week. On the boys side, Broadalbin-Perth rockets to the #2 slot and Ichabod Crane fell 6 spots to #12. Cazenovia and Skaneateles are at #8 and #9 - they play each other today!

In Class C, 6 teams grace each soccer poll between the two sections. It's balanced on the boys end and Section 3 dominant on the girls side. They have one thing in common though... Sauquoit? And the boys team is ranked higher than the girls? Welcome aboard, Sanderson & Co.! The boys are at #12 and the girls sit at #18. Lake George paces the boys poll for this group at #5 - other Section 2 reps are Cepiel squared and the rest of Stillwater at #18 and Greenville on their heels at #19. Section 3 has MPH and Notre Dame joining Sauquoit, with MPH at the #8 spot and Notre Dame two spaces behind. The Jugglers also have Kev Warmack and the football team in the state rankings, at #8 in C and rising. Bishop Grimes runs the show in the girls rankings... They don't f wit youuu! Dominating teams to their #1 ranking, and the Cougars of Canajoharie are right behind them doing the same thing. Schoharie is the only other Section 2 rep besides Canjo - the other WAC rep is at #15. Besides Grimes and Sauquoit, Section 3 has Tully at #7 and Waterville at #12, led by 14th year varsity standout Hannah Gray... seriously, she's been on varsity for what seems like half of her life.

Finally, Class D. It's Poland as usual, but only on the girls side. Tornado boys are more like a slight drizzle this season. Two things jump out at me - one is expected, one is a surprise. There is an absence of teams from Section 2 involved besides Fort Ann, as usual. Fort Ann boys are #6 and girls are #19, and there's no other teams involved in the rankings. No surprise. Section 3 has one school represented in both Class D soccer rankings... not Poland, not Cincy.. how about Copenhagen? They're undefeated and #16 for the boys, and the girls are up at #4. The Owen D. Young resurgence is real - even with Marty Collins gone, boys sports are back. They're #3 in the state, and usual face McGraw is at #17. Morrisville has been dominating teams and hold down the #6 spot for girls, and the Beavers of Brookfield, led by Abby Reilly (19g-13a) are at #15. Remsen, on the other hand... tough week. They were #4 heading into a battle with Poland last week. After getting whacked by them and taking a loss to Little Falls, they're out of the rankings. Morrisville is the only school with a football team knocking on the state rankings door (combined with Hamilton) - besides that, none of them have football. No surprise there.

Another week of mayhem ahead. Happy hunting! More organized rankings for boys & girls soccer in Section 2 and 3... right below!

Boys
AA
6.) Shaker
8.) Fayetteville-Manlius
9.) Shenendehowa
14.) Nottingham

A
2.) Albany Academy
12.) Scotia-Glenville
15.) CBA (the Syracuse variety)
18.) Fowler

B
2.) Broadalbin-Perth
8.) Cazenovia
9.) Skaneateles
12.) Ichabod Crane

C
5.) Lake George
8.) Manlius Pebble Hill
10.) Notre Dame
12.) Sauquoit
18.) Stillwater
19.) Greenville

D
3.) Owen D. Young
6.) Fort Ann
16.) Copenhagen
17.) McGraw


Girls
AA
7.) Shenendehowa
11.) Columbia
13.) Cicero-North Syracuse
14.) Saratoga Springs
15.) Liverpool
20.) Niskayuna

A
2.) Jamesville-Dewitt
10.) Marcellus
16.) Queensbury
17.) Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake
20.) Watertown

B
1.) Schalmont
5.) Westhill
9.) Cazenovia
12.) Hoosick Falls
15.) Clinton
19.) Catholic Central

C
1.) Bishop Grimes
3.) Canajoharie
7.) Tully
12.) Waterville
15.) Schoharie
18.) Sauquoit

D
1.) Poland
4.) Copenhagen
6.) Morrisville-Eaton
15.) Brookfield
19.) Fort Ann

Academy Rolls

Albany Academy 48, Ichabod Crane 7

The Cadets of Albany Academy were coming into Valatie looking to even up their record, and the Riders of Ichabod Crane were hoping to break into the win column. A rough start kept on getting rougher, and it left the Ichabod Crane coaches stretching for any kind of silver lining.

This one was pretty apparent from the start. Ichabod Crane needed weapons of mass destruction to stop Vinny DiCaterino. A 2nd & 13 was no problem for AA, as DiCaterino hit Jimmy D'Lorio with 10 & 13 yard completions, followed by the person who I'm dying to call VD (but I won't) running it 34 yards to the house. Jordan Lockridge missed the PAT - probably IC's form of karma for him scoring the opening goal for Academy's boys soccer team against IC this past Monday - and it was 6-0 less than two minutes in. By the way, Jordan (or J-Lo, as I heard people yelling at the soccer game) didn't miss another one. Ichabod Crane had one of their many false starts in a 3 & out on the ensuing drive, but Academy couldn't muster anything for a while. As a matter of fact, the teams traded 3 & outs a couple times back and forth as AA suddenly forgot how to snap/catch snaps out of the shotgun, fumbling 3 of them in rapid succession. Ichabod Crane took over at the Albany Academy 28 late in the 1st, but an Alex Lambert pass was picked by D'Lorio. On the first play of Academy's return drive, DiCaterino broke free and the 6'3", 240 pound quarterback listed as a running back took it 85 yards to paydirt, putting the Cadets up 13-0. The Riders continued to have issues, not picking up a 1st down until there was less than 4 minutes left in the half. However, it was 20-0 at that point, as DiCaterino went 4/4 on a drive and hit D'Lorio on the money over the top for a 34 yard score. A Rider drive that made it to the Academy 32 ended with another Lambert pick, this time to Sal Arena. Academy threatened to score again, but Dakota Harvey was brought down at the 5 after a long run on the last play of the half - it would've been called back on a hold if he scored, but the penalty was declined. DiCaterino threw for 103 yards and ran for 124 more in the half, and Academy outgained Ichabod Crane 252-34 in the first 24 minutes.

Big shocker, nothing changed. Ichabod Crane received the ball to start the 2nd half, and with a new QB (Cody Farrell), the same result took place. After a no-gain run and an incomplete pass, D'Lorio picked off a pass and took it the remaining 23 yards to the house, putting AA up 27-0 in a heartbeat. They finally got the ball rolling with a 27 yard run from Brandon Cross, but it stalled from there and a Farrell incompletion turned it over on downs. They had another chance after AA 2nd half QB Will Bennett was picked off by Ryan Block in Academy territory, but they turned it back over on downs. They went back and forth with this until Academy struck again. The guests, up 27, were certainly airing it out; every 3rd quarter play was a pass. Bennett had a 17 yard completion to Lamine Gueye, which set up a 44 yard bomb to Sal Arena to put them up 34-0. The next time they got the ball, Dakota Harvey got to the outside and ran 79 yards to the house, stretching it to 41-0 with over 9 minutes remaining. The Riders finally got on the board on their next drive, a 10 play one spanning 65 yards that was exclusively on the ground besides an incompletion. 6 different people had carries, and 7 of the 9 carries were for 5 yards or more. Zach Cole finished it off with an 8 yard spurt, getting Ichabod on the board at 41-7. Of course Academy would respond, though. It was Harvey again, bursting 56 yards on the 2nd play of the drive bringing it back to a 41 point game. Cole had 2 more carries for 23 yards on the ensuing drive, but time ran out before anything could materialize.

Get Your Weight Up play of the game - When Albany Academy got off the bus and had enough able bodies to play the game. That was about what it took.

#ByTheNumbers - Do we need to go there? Alright... Ichabod Crane ended up running 19 more plays than their counterparts, but they had 170 yards on their 63 plays while Academy had 481 on their 44. 100 of those 170 yards came in the 4th quarter; then again, 136 of Academy's came in the 4th too on just 3 plays. The QB disparity was loud enough on the field to deafen you. Vinny DiCaterino, who did it for the 1st half, went 8/13 for 103 yards and 2 TDs along with 7 carries for 124 yards and a rushing TD. In the 2nd half, Will Bennett went 4/8 for 105 yards along with a TD and a pick. Altogether, here was the disparity:

Albany Academy QBs: 12/21, 208 yds, 3 TDs, INT; 7 carries for 124 yards, TD
Ichabod Crane QBs: 1/10, 13 yds, 3 INT; 9 carries for -10 yards

That'll do it. Dakota Harvey did most of his damage in the 2nd half for Academy, ending with 193 yards on 8 carries and 2 TDs. For Ichabod Crane, no one dominated the ball. 53 of their plays were on the ground, and they had 10 different players get a carry. The most productive of the ten were Brandon Cross and Zach Cole - Cross had 10 carries for 64 yards, including the 27 yard one, and Cole had 7 carries for 46 yards and a TD. Cole didn't get his first carry until late in the 3rd. This one was over from the start, which is what the doctor ordered with undefeated Schuylerville next on the list.

Weaver Weaves His Way to a Maginn Win

Bishop Maginn 22, Averill Park 15

Every play mattered in an unseasonably warm Saturday game with pretty large implications in the division battle. Although Averill Park moved the ball more consistently, their adversaries made the most big plays in big moments and were able to walk away with a tough win.

Averill Park started off with the ball and the drive instantly headed in the right direction. A pair of carries from QB Tim Vermilya totaled 37 yards to bring it to the Maginn 28. After another first down to get in the red zone, the drive stalled and they eventually turned it over on downs - this became a common theme - to Maginn. The Griffins didn't do anything with it, and after a 3 & out, Vermilya broke off a 48 yard carry to set up his own 1 yard TD dive. The PAT gave Averill Park a 7-0 lead, and Vermilya had already broken off 92 yards on the ground in the first 6 minutes. Maginn responded with about the same thing - a 46 yard run from Ky'Ere Tillery helped set up his own 8 yard TD run, and the 2 point conversion put them up 8-7 after trailing for less than 2 minutes. The tale of the game changed a little bit on the ensuing drive. On a 2nd & 7 with 3 minutes left in the 1st, Vermilya was wrapped up low and a second hit twisted him on the way down. The awkward combo of hits left him on the grass for a couple minutes in obvious pain. He would return to the game later, but the effects of the injury were obvious. AP eventually punted, and after Maginn had another 3 & out, the home team had its next opportunity squandered. With a run-heavy game, a team becomes susceptible to holding penalties. They had two of them on this drive - one on a 1st down which they eventually recovered from to keep the drive going, but a second on a 3rd down they would have converted, but had to repeat and weren't able to convert again. They punted it away in Maginn territory, and Maginn proceeded to fumble it away soon after at their own 38. With such good field position to start off, it was a grand chance for the Warriors, but another hold set them back and they eventually turned it over on downs (still in Maginn territory) after fumbling on a 4th down option toss, Vermilya's first play back in. Maginn squandered chances on drives themselves, including the ensuing one. After picking up a 1st down near midfield with over 3 minutes left, they picked up three penalties in one series - 2 false starts & an illegal substitution - and had to punt it away, giving AP the ball at their own 44 with 1:19 left in the half. Some odd clock management (including a little disagreement amongst coaches about it) resulted in nothing, and although Averill Park was outgaining Bishop Maginn 205-85, the Griffins were the ones with a 1 point advantage on the scoreboard.

Maginn received the ball to start the 2nd half and had their most sustained drive of the game - a 10 play, 52 yard march where they overcame an early holding penalty and got into striking distance with runs of 22 & 14 from their QB Neiko Blanchino. On 4th & 15 from the Averill Park 19, Blanchino hit Jauushir Weaver with a 19 yard TD pass. The 5'8" (maybe) Weaver had to spring up and take a hit while catching it but was able to hold on - it wasn't the last of him, and it was a great time for Blanchino to complete a pass; he was 1/6. The conversion was no good, keeping it at one possession for AP, down 14-7. Averill Park responded with a 13 play, 65 yard drive exclusively on the ground ending with a 1 yard TD plunge by Vermilya (his 2nd of those). He sprung the drive early with carries of 7, 12, and 12 on consecutive plays and Garret Ryan kept it going with 26 yards on 5 carries in that drive. The conversion was good, putting Averill Park up 15-14 with 11:33 remaining. It didn't take long for that to go away. Weaver had a 30 yard kick return, negating a deep AP kick, kept the drive going with a 6 yard carry on 2nd & 5, and after Paris Jenkins picked up 16 yards on a rush, Weaver did the rest. He ran up the gut and found a hole, and it was off to the races from there. He broke two tackles simultaneously around the 10 yard line on the way in - one of them was Vermilya, who was shaken up again with the same issue as earlier and missed the next drive. This conversion was good, putting Bishop Maginn up 22-15 with 9:50 remaining. Brandon Cellucci came back in for quarterback duties for the 2nd time - he picked up a 1st down with his feet, but then another holding penalty on a run that would've moved the chains again brought it back, and a 3rd & long situation turned into a pass that was tipped twice and picked off by Ayinde Duckett. Bishop Maginn didn't score on the ensuing drive, but they were able to chip another 3 minutes off the clock with the ball, eventually punting it away to AP who had 3:24 remaining when they got it at their own 29. Vermilya came back in for this drive and started off strong with a 12 yard carry. A perhaps underused Isaiah Moak carried twice after for 14 yards, pushing the ball into Maginn territory. They made it to the 35 before the drive stalled - on 3rd & 10, a Vermilya pass went through the hands of Jarid Lucier which would have put them deep into opponents' territory - and a scramble went begging a few yards short of a 1st on 4th & 10, effectively ending the game.

Get Your Weight Up play of the game - Co-winners (if you want to call it that) this game. The Jaushiir Weaver 37 yard TD run, breaking tackles along the way, has to be one of them. After Averill Park picked up the 4th quarter lead, they got Weaver on his bully, yo. Knocked the home team right back to where they were for 2 and a half quarters. The other play, although not a positive, has to be the Vermilya injury. Not saying that Cellucci didn't do a good job backing him up - it was just that Maginn had no answer for Tim Vermilya. He ran for nearly 100 yards before getting injured in the 1st quarter and still rushed for 162 despite essentially missing a quarter & a half over two stints. If they had him under center for those drives, maybe they would've scored once more.. and that's all they needed.

#ByTheNumbers - This was one of those games that reminds you that it doesn't necessarily matter who gains the most yards or who does it most consistently. If a team makes enough big plays, they can change the outcome of a game. Averill Park won the yardage battle 319-224, running 66 plays to 41 for Maginn. They won the time of possession stat by a long shot, and their quarterback was the most effective offensive player in the game. Tim Vermilya did most of his damage on the ground; he went 2/5 for 16 yards in the air, but ran 20 times, finishing with 162 rushing yards & 2 TDs. Their fullback Garret Ryan, weighing in at 245 on the roster, had 73 yards on 15 carries and would drag defenders along for the ride. Bishop Maginn was led by Ky'Ere Tillery in the 1st half and Jauushir Weaver after the break. Tillery ended up with 80 yards on 13 carries and a TD; Weaver had 66 yards on 8 carries and a TD, and he also caught the 19 yard TD pass which was the only Maginn completion of the day. Averill Park's numbers sound better. Why didn't they win? Well, it's simple when you look deeper...

Football is a different game. It's not fast paced like basketball or soccer. Especially in a ground & pound game (both teams threw fewer than 10 times) with 35-40 seconds in between snaps, you only get the ball so many times. When you squander 4, 5, 6 legitimate opportunities to score, it costs you. AP started off turning it over on downs at the Maginn 12. They moved the ball well in an 11 play drive, but a couple holding penalties (one on a run that would've been a 1st down) forced them to punt. Another turnover on downs. Clock management was iffy late in the half - the way they were moving the ball, 60 yards in a couple minutes with 1 timeout was feasible, but 35 seconds in between snaps ended that. When all was said and done, they turned it over 4 times in Bishop Maginn territory; 3 times on downs and 1 interception. Add the penalties and clock management, they lost 6 scoring chances. You lose 6 scoring chances in a game, you're not going to win many games. Bishop Maginn - who wasn't exactly taking advantage of all those blown chances - made enough big plays when they needed it to get the win.

Bombs Away: Aerial Attack Too Much For 'Toga

Shenendehowa 35, Saratoga 6

When two people are not only better than you, but have a twin-like connection on the field, it's basically a foregone conclusion that they'll tear you to shreds. The Ryan VanGalen - Jordan Zlogar connection alone was on full display and more than enough for the Plainsmen to move up to 4-0. The fact that Shen has more than that going for them is what makes them scary.

Despite the final score, it was the visiting Blue Streaks who got on the scoreboard first. In a hostile environment for a rivalry game and Shen's student section rolling deeper than Adele (500-600 deep), Saratoga QB Brian Williams hit Nick Anderson on a quick out route on 3rd & 8. The corner covering him whiffed the tackle and Anderson was off to the races like the thoroughbreds in his city every summer. 65 yards to the house he went, and after a missed PAT it was 6-0 Saratoga in the opening minute & a half of the game. After the teams traded punts, Shen got going. A false start pushed them back to the 35 to start the drive, but VanGalen hit Brendan Marra for a 23 yard completion, and he finished with a 42 yard TD pass to Zlogar to put them up 7-6 midway through the 1st. Another 3 & out and a short punt gave Shen the ball back in 'Toga territory. They made it to the 7 before having a 24 yard field goal attempt blocked in the closing seconds of the 1st. Saratoga was again forced to punt, and Shen took advantage this time. A 26 yard completion to Eric Kromer and a 32 yard run by Matt Taft set up Oliver Robinson time. The punishing back had the next 4 carries in the red zone, the last being a 1 yard plunge on 3rd & goal to make it 14-6 midway through the 2nd. Once again, Saratoga punted after picking up one 1st down and Shen took over late in the half. Two completions to Jordan Zlogar for a combined 60 yards put Shen in dangerous position at Saratoga's 20, but a turnover on downs at the 12 ended that chance. Ryan VanGalen went 11/14 for 220 yards, Zlogar had 4 receptions for 111 yards, Shen was outgaining Saratoga 287-111, but it was still a 1-possession game.

That changed quickly. Shen got the ball to start the 2nd half, and even though a bad return made them start at their own 11, it didn't matter. On 2nd & 8, the Shen formation was bunched up and Saratoga's coaches were yelling 'COUNTER! COUNTER!'.. well, it fooled them too. The play resulted in a 52 yard completion to Kromer, which sprung the drive forward. It ended in - you guessed it - an 11 yard hookup from VanGalen to Zlogar. The best way to describe it was this - college-level play from both on that one. The throw was only where Zlogar could get it, and Zlogar made a phenomenal grab in the front corner of the end zone, falling the right way backwards to get one foot down. The PAT made it 21-6 early in the 3rd. Saratoga needed an answer, and although a couple completions from Williams got them around midfield, they'd be forced to punt once again. They started inside their own 20 once again, but it didn't matter... once again. Thing 1 (VanGalen) found Thing 2 (Zlogar) for a 27 yard play, followed by another 13 yard play. After that, offensive holding & defensive holding on consecutive plays gave Shen a 1st & 18 on the Saratoga 48. They'll pass, right? Everyone thought so - so of course they didn't. The draw to Matt Taft worked wonders, and he ran free for a 48 yard score which made it 28-6. The ensuing Saratoga drive was possibly its most sustained one, but after moving it 34 yards in 7 plays, a fumble gave it back to Shen - it was returned for a TD, but a personal foul on the return negated that and brought it back to midfield. Shen turned it over on downs at the Saratoga 21, but the Plainsmen D stepped up. Williams was sacked, a ball carrier was brought down for a loss, Williams sacked again & fumbled it away to Shen. The ensuing Shen drive was more like a walk - one play, seven yards, Oliver Robinson made it look easy, and Shen was up 35-6 with over 7 minutes to play. From then on, it was all over but the crying.

Ryan VanGalen cooled off in the second half, if you want to call it that. He went 16/25, throwing for 337 yards and 2 TDs. Mind you, this broke the Shenendehowa single game record for passing yards, previously held by his brother. Jordan Zlogar, Thing 2, caught 7 passes for 162 yards and both of those TDs. Can't forget about Eric Kromer, who had 5 receptions for 105 yards. Matt Taft rushed for 112 yards on 10 carries & a TD, and Oliver Williams had 2 TDs on the ground and 44 yards on 13 carries. Not much happened on the ground for Saratoga - no one rushed for over 21 yards. Brian Williams went 12/17 in the air, throwing for 137 yards and the lone Blue Streak TD, which went to Nick Anderson who had 6 catches for 96 yards.

So now, I pose this question... Who's stopping Shen?

9/25 Most Valuable Thoughts: South Glens Falls/Scotia-Glenville Girls Soccer

Scotia-Glenville 2, South Glens Falls 1 (OT)

Because they know how much I love soccer.

80 minutes wasn't enough for these two teams, coming in with a combined record of 12-3. Although the home Tartans really dominated play most of the way, SGF has a good record for a reason and was able to put a scare into Scotia. With all the great chances Scotia had throughout the game, it was a hurried corner kick into a lot of traffic that led them to the promised land.

From the start (or when I got there 8 minutes in), it looked like my 3-1 Scotia prediction may have been a little bit too conservative. South High put a couple mini-chances together but nothing materialzed. Besides that, it was Scotia Scotia Scotia. The pressure was relentless. Here a shot, there a cross, everywhere something dangerous. Nothing finished. Through ball played a touch too long. Shot just wide. Nice save by the keeper. Whatever the reason was, the pressure wasn't turning into direct success, and it didn't for the entire first half. Scotia outshot their opponents 9-0 in the amount of the half I was there for with a 5-1 edge in corner kicks (including 3 in around 5 minutes), but it was scoreless at the break.

SGF came out looking better to start the 2nd half - for the first couple minutes, making you think it might not be as dominant for the home team and they lost a big chance - but Scotia took it back quickly. The ball felt like it stayed on Scotia's end, and that's because it did. There was a developing theme going: Scotia has chance, doesn't connect, South Glens Falls has a goal kick and doesn't boot it too far, Scotia controls, repeat. I know I'm the only person in the world that counts how many goal kicks teams have, but this was astonishing. South Glens Falls had 27 goal kicks while I was there, compared to 3 from Scotia. For what it's worth, the ball was always down there. You knew at some point it had to pay off.. and with 31:29 remaining, the Tartans were finally able to break the scoreless tie. Dom Puglisi is an animal on the soccer field, and she made some very impressive plays over the course of the game. She controlled the ball, turned on the jets to beat her defender, and sent a perfectly placed cross to a streaking Maddy Carroll who got to it and found the back of the net. Watching the game, you felt like that was the kicker (no pun intended). That was about to open the flood gates. Scotia was going to break it open, right? Wrong. Less than 5 minutes later, a Lexi Potter corner kick was popped through by South High's Elizabeth Spada, and on their 2nd shot of the game, they tied it at 1. Scotia would break the tie and get it over with, right? Wrong again. SGF has a good record for a reason. Sometimes, even when you're getting dominated, you just do enough to get the job done. Scotia controlled possession and had chance after chance - their adversaries bent, but didn't break. Despite being outshot 25-3 in regulation, South High was able to push Scotia into OT all square at 1, thanks to the defense not breaking, some great work from goalie Elyse Green... and maybe a little luck. More of the same happened in OT - a few chances, resulting in about as much as a Wale mixtape or a Seinfeld episode (nothing, hope you caught that) - for just about the entire first 10 minutes. Scotia was awarded a corner kick in the waning seconds of the 1st session of extra time, and Puglisi hustled to run it down and quickly get it back into play. A rushed corner bounced into the box and straight to Maddy Carroll once again, who finished.. once again! The ball went through with 4.4 seconds remaining in the 1st extra time. South High was able to get themselves a couple opportunities late, but couldn't tie it back up and the Tartans, a team knocking on the door of being state-ranked in Class A, escaped to become 8-1 on the season.

Funny how the game of soccer can be sometimes. While I was there, Scotia dominated in every single facet but had huge troubles actually getting the win. They outshot SGF 36-4, had 14 corners to 4 for South, their keepers only needed to make 2 saves and control it 4 other times combined (they use 2) compared to Elyse Green, who had 11 saves and 12 other controls for South. South had 27 goal kicks to 3 for Scotia. The ball was around there nearly the whole time. Possession and in-game control doesn't always mean definite success though - it's all about putting the ball in the back of the net, and with all the times Scotia could've made it happen, it was a rushed setup into a pack of traffic that ended up winning it. Puglisi is a stud, Carroll is a finisher, Gracie Mailey can finish although she didn't score in this game, but sometimes you just need a bounce to go your way. It doesn't always have to be the prettiest goal, but the scoreboard doesn't distinguish how cute a goal was - just that it was a goal. S-G did just enough of that to hold off SGF.

The Magic Conch: Section 3 Football, Week 4

There's a game in Section 3 tonight, so maybe I should crank these out. Quick score predictions, let's see how far off I am!

Homer 56, Chittenango 6
Westhill 48, Phoenix 7
Corcoran 27, West Genesee 16
Inst. of Tech. 27, Tully 7
Nottingham 14, Central Square 13
Auburn 35, Fowler 6
Baldwinsville 34, Fayetteville-Manlius 20
Liverpool 21, Cicero-North Syracuse 14
Carthage 36, Jamesville-Dewitt 13
Indian River 28, Whitesboro 20
New Hartford 30, Watertown 6
General Brown 28, Lowville 7
Solvay 27, Skaneateles 14
Camden 22, CVA 16
Canastota 27, Port Byron/Union Springs 14
CBA 50 (a lot), RFA 6 (a little)
Marcellus 35, Ithaca 17
Thousand Islands 22, Pulaski 12
Weedsport 34, IHC 13
Little Falls 21, Waterville 14
South Jefferson 35, Mexico 20
East Syracuse-Minoa 30, Cortland 0
Herkimer 34, Frankfort 14
Sandy Creek 28, Cato-Meridian 14
Beaver River 27, Onondaga 8
Mount Markham 41, Sauquoit 6
Jordan-Elbridge 28, Bishop Ludden 0
Oriskany 35, LaFayette/Fabius-Pompey 30
Clinton 20, APW 13
Westmoreland 35, Morrisville-Eaton/Hamilton 27
Henninger 41, Proctor 24
Fulton 27, Oswego 21
Cazenovia 42, Holland Patent 7
Dolgeville 27, West Canada Valley 7
New York Mills 20, Cooperstown 12
South Lewis 34, Adirondack 27
Oneida 35, VVS 27
Notre Dame 27, Sherburne-Earlville 21

We'll see how much I suck on this one! Feel free to agree or ridicule the picks, I do it for the love.

The Preview: South Glens Falls/Scotia Girls Soccer

Folks, we might have a good one on our hands today. 7-1 Scotia-Glenville, who received honorable mention in the recently released NYS rankings in Class A, plays host to 5-2 South Glens Falls. Both of them have lost once to Queensbury - take the Brit LaPlants out of the equation, and the only blemish is a SGF loss to Schuylerville. They're back on the winning path though, and Scotia never left that path. What are we looking for?

For SGF, it's been balance on offense and - besides Queensbury - stout defense. They've served up 4 shutouts in their 7 games, but a 9 goal outburst from the Q skews their goal numbers. The visiting SGF won their first 3 games by a combined score of 12-0. After losing 2 straight, they've bounced back and won their last 2, including an 8-0 decision in their last game Friday. They're led in scoring by a junior and two sophomores: Lexi Potter's tallied 5 times, with Gabrielle Kreppein & Emily Herren doing so 4 times. Their whole team is rather devoid of people old enough for their night license, with just one senior on the roster. They showed their balance in their last game, an 8-0 drubbing of hapless Hudson Falls. 7 players scored, with Herren being the only one with 2 goals.
On Scotia's end, they've been smacking the bejesus out of teams not named Queensbury - coincidentally, I've watched them once this year and it was against the Q. However, it must be noted that their strength of schedule hasn't been phenomenal. The combined record of teams they've played is well below .500 (14-21, not including Johnstown & Amsterdam who I can't find complete records for but they aren't good), and that includes the 7-1 mark of their lone defeat. There's a lot of 1 and 2 win teams they've left in their path. That being said, they're certainly taking care of business, outscoring their opponents 48-5 so far. 6 of their 8 games have been won by shutout, and all of those were by at least 4 goals. Not many close ones for the Tartans. They're not exactly senior-laden either, boasting 5 on their roster, but they get production from the juniors and seniors. Two juniors and a senior lead the way in the goals department, with the juniors Gracie Mailey (11) and Abby O'Connor (8) ahead of senior Maddy Carroll (7). Not to be outdone, senior Dom Puglisi racks up dimes not unlike a familiar name of Christmas past from a rival school... When I think of assists, Morgan Burchhardt always came to mind. With Burchhardt already doing her thing at St. Rose, Puglisi is well on her way to holding the Section 2 assist crown this year with 14 already.

What do I think will happen? They've beat the same teams, but Scotia has been more dominant. They both lost to Queensbury, but Scotia gave them a fight and SGF didn't. Scotia's at home... Gotta roll with the Tartans. I'll say 3-1 just because I didn't see a whole lot from them when I watched.

4:30, South Glens Falls @ Scotia-Glenville. Beautiful day. Support!

The Preview: Guilderland/Mohonasen Girls, Troy/CCHS Boys

2 games today on my schedule. In the afternoon, making the trip to Mohon in their quest to knock off Guilderland. At night, the battle of Troy for the boys!

Guilderland @ Mohonasen
Guilderland lost their first 2 games - they haven't lost since. Four of their six straight wins have been by one goal, but they're getting the job done. In the two losses, they gave up six goals. In the next six wins, they've given up just three. They're not the world's most potent team offensively, but they've been doing enough. They average 2 goals a game and give up around 1. That's a good ratio. A strong defense with Taylor Dorado in between the pipes with a save percentage at nearly 90% will do it for you. Seven players have scored for the Dutch this season, led by Emma Oliver's 5 goals & 5 assists (that we know of - no scoring details available for a 3-1 W over Ballston Spa). They face a Mohonasen team going right in the other direction (queue plane dropping out of the sky noises here). They won their first game. They haven't won since. After going 1-1-2 to start the season, they've dropped 4 straight decisions and really need something to get them going. Despite losing, they perhaps took a step in the right direction last game in their 3-2 L to Colonie. They hadn't scored a single goal in 11 days (4 games) before that one. The thing about Mohonasen is they can give anyone a good game. Ask Columbia! The current front-runner in the Suburban Council who cracked the state rankings in AA finished in a 1-1 draw with Mohon. Shenendehowa needed a pair of 2nd half goals to get by Mohon. They can battle you, they just haven't been good enough. They'll need some production from Lexi Canavally, who's produced 5 of their 10 goals - she had the goal against Columbia which started the streak, and then ended it against Colonie. Will today be the day?

Troy @ CCHS
Well, look on the bright side. Someone will win..? CCHS is 2-3-1 according to their reports, but both of their wins have come against 1-5 Cohoes. They also tied Class B Tamarac. One score from LaSalle hasn't been reported, but if that's a loss, they're 2-4-1. I watched them once, against Albany. They lost 3-0 in what looked like a lackluster game from the Falcons and really couldn't get anything going. They've scored 6 goals on the season, 5 against Cohoes: Jack Ellis has tallied half of them. They'll need more of that. They host Troy, who's certainly had their own problems. At 1-6-1 with 3 straight losses, the wheels are falling off the struggle bus right now. I've also seen them once - against Albany - and they struggled mightily. Sound familiar? They score a little more but also give up a little more. Mouayad Khlalafalla leads them with 5 goals, and Sean Dory is right behind him with 4. Both of these teams are in desperate need of something good, and I mean.. throw out the records, it's the battle of Troy! Hoping to see some excitement under the lights.

Run It Back, Section 3 - September 22

17 finals reported in boys soccer; 5 in girls. Little bit lopsided today, as it usually is in Section 3 with scheduling, so let's jump right in!

Start right off with some whoopings. Clinton acted like an NFL running back and beat the hell out of Canastota, 11-0 final. Gavin Gleasman had 2 goals & 3 dimes, Fritz Gale added 2 & 1, and Carlos Espinal Jr. got in the act with 2 goals. Thousand Islands nearly matched that, beating Sandy Creek/Pulaski by what must have felt like a thousand, but was 11-1. Ben Knecht hit the net 5 times in a Hamilton 8-0 beatdown of Waterville. Cooperstown handled Frankfort 6-0 - Max & Tanner Clinton with 2 goals apiece. More Clintons scored today than in the White House in the 90s! Now that I got that out of the way, let's move on. Kenny Schimpf & Tyrell Thomas had a pair apiece in Watertown's 6-1 disposal of Carthage. Tyler Modzeleski finished with 2 goals & a dime, and his boy Cole Willard made the scoreboard operator do some work twice too in Cazenovia's 5-0 smacking of RFA. Faith Heritage handed Cato-Meridian a 4-0 loss, and Emmanuel Jackson terrorized the C-M defense like Stonewall Jackson did to the Union and Curtis Jackson did to Ja Rule's career with a pair of goals. Cincy beat Blessed Virgin Mary 5-1 - Caleb Eaton was eatin', 2 goal game for him. Copenhagen (not Denmark) did the same to Sackets Harbor behind 2 goals from Antonio Figueroa - more than just a basketball player - and a goal & 2 dimes from Brenden Jacobs. All 4 assists for Copenhagen came off the foot of a Jacobs, with Breven collecting the other pair. Holland Patent beat Adirondack 2-1 - Mason Herkel scored, Kyle Swiecki answered, Eric Miller came back with the winner. Carter Lawrence with 2 goals for Old Forge as Poland remains in a tailspin (on the boys end at least), 3-0 decision for the Eskimos. Indian River left IHC with a 4-3 win, Kyle Smith with 2 goals & a dime and Junior Malinoski 1 & 1 (goals/assists, not free throws). Lowville got 2 goals by CJ Ward and beat General Brown by the same score. MPH got a goal apiece from the usual suspects, Gerrit Church and Luke McQueeney, in their 2-1 decision over the Cobras of Bishop Grimes. The names of the night go to Chittenango - in their 2-1 W over Jordan-Elbridge, they got goals from Seamus St. Leger & Keoni Saturnio. I can dig it. Finally, Sauquoit got the lone goal from Nick LaQuay on a Kevin Griffith assist, and Derek Pritchard had a 4 save shutout in their 1-0 W over Mt. Markham.

This should be quick. A grand total of 5 games in Section 3 girls soccer. The biggest one was surely Remsen/Poland, the 4th ranked team in the state in Class D visiting the top-ranked one. However, it was more of the home team turning the no-flex zone into a glorified practice, stomping Remsen 7-2. Mikayla Blumenstock, who's already scored about a million goals, bumped it up to about a million & four with her 4 tallies in the Tornado victory. Holland Patent did nearly the same to Old Forge, winning 6-1. It was Avery Crossley's world and everyone was just living in it - she had a hat trick plus 1 too. Homer put a down home spankin' on Oswego, 7-0. None other than Kimmy Mittens herself (Kim Dieroff) had a hat trick & 2 dimes in the win, Olivia Porter added 2 & 1, and the other half of the Mittens sisters, Cally Mittens (Carolyne Yonta) with 1 finish and 1 helper. Emmelynn Smith with 2 goals & a dime, and the youngster Abby Reilly with 1 & 1 in Brookfield's 5-2 W over DeRuyter. Finally, Liverpool topped West Genesee 2-0. Leanne Barnard and Meagan O'Neil with a finish apiece, Julia Richey 5 saves in the shutout!

Run It Back - Section 2, September 22

Section 2 had a little bit going on. A dozen scores have been reported so far on the boys end, and I don't feel like waiting for more. Let's get to it!

It wasn't a big day if you like offense. 12 scores in, and 5 of them were 1-0 finishes. Canajoharie got by Duanesburg 1-0, thanks to a goal from Elijah Bowley. John Mejicano was the man with the plan for Cairo-Durham, as his finish gave them a 1-0 win at Coxsackie-Athens in the battle of the hyphenated schools.. or if you would like to reverse them, they won the battle of AC/DC! Anywho, let's move onto Berlin (not Germany), who was able to get one by Johnny Dariano - and that was enough. Ryan Willis got the goal in their 1-0 victory over Loudonville Christian. Back to the WAC, where Nick Nagengast was the lone goal hero in Berne-Knox-Westerlo's 1-0 triumph over Spa Catholic. We'll stay in the WAC quick, another 1-0 game! Jake Restivo did it for Galway and Rob Baron got the shutout in their win over Mekeel. Couple 2-1 games too - Albany Academy got by Ichabod Crane in a great but windy one - and if you want more on that battle between state-ranked squads, an article is coming soon! Maple Hill was a minute away from getting a win against Greenville, but Tyler Biernacki squared it up near the end of regulation and all the wind in the Capital District came from it leaving Maple Hill's sails. Bryan Drossel scored early in OT to end it with Greenville on top, 2-1. Cobleskill jumped to a 2 goal lead in the first half & handled Ravena 3-1, 2 of them coming from Michael Lang. Waterford exploded in the 2nd half like I did after I left the dinner table tonight, 4 goals after intermission in their 5-2 dub over Heatly. The soccer field was certainly the king's 'Castle' for Nick - Mr. Castle scored twice in the W. 3 blowout shutouts on this end, too. New Lebanon sent the Thunder Chicken home fried like KFC, 4-0 final. Justin Bingham flexed on 'em, hat trick in the win which is his 3rd of the season. Mayfield mamed Schoharie, 6-0 final and Todd Briggs had a hat trick of his own - his 1st, but he's had 3 other games with 2 goals. But no beatdown was quite like Lake George's lashing of Bolton. 8 first half goals, 11-0 final... and no one scored more than once! Damn, homie.. In high school tomorrow, they're all the man, homie!

Lot of close ones on the girls side. 14 games reported - 6 1-goal games and 2 draws. Ravena & Cobleskill couldn't decide a winner, neither could Voorheesville & Lansingburgh, with both ending in 1-1 draws. Hannah Almy tallied for Cobleskill & Jasmine Powell had the equalizer for Ravena. Judging by save numbers, looked like Cobleskill GK Kristen Kruglak had a lot more work headed her way! Very one-sided despite the draw in the other one as well. Veda Hensel tallied for Voorheesville and Dory Fitzpatrick handled it for Lansingburgh; Lansingburgh GK Emaleigh Maloney credited with 21 saves compared to 1 for Voorheesville keeper Jordan Pettograsso. Liz Singleton had 2 goals & a dime for Mekeel in their 3-2 W over O-E/St. Johnsville, or Alphabet Soup as our man Jon Rathbun says. Mekeel was down 2-0 at one point in that one, scored twice in 3 minutes to tie it up. Scotia scored all 3 of theirs in the 2nd half in their 3-2 W over Broadalbin-Perth. Maddy Carroll had a goal & a dime, Abby O'Connor assisted on 2 goals too. Samantha Casale got the equalizer and the winner in OT for Tamarac in their 2-1 W over Hoosic Valley - the only other goal was scored on the other side by another Casale (Nicole) - I guess that's the fun fact of the day. Sharon Springs picked up a win over Spa Catholic, Abby Reynolds with the lone goal in the 2nd half in the 1-0 W. Teamwork award goes to Sarah Hume & Natalie Ricci, who helped each other out a little bit today. Each assisted on the other's goal in Cohoes' 2-1 triumph over Watervliet. Ichabod Crane's girls made up for their boys losing by 1 with a 4-3 win over AAG, 3 coming in the 2nd half. Canjo won again, are you surprised? The girls are ranked #3 in Class C, and Hannah Smith tallied twice in their 4-0 W over Duanesburg. Back to back 2 goal games for Rachel Pine, this one with 2 assists to go with it in Hoosick Falls' 5-0 handling of Stillwater. Carley Ryan kept up her tear with 2 goals & a dime on the 3rd goal for Middleburgh, who knocked Fort Plain off the top of the hill in the 3-0 W. Berne-Knox-Westerlo made it a 2-0 day for varsity soccer with a 2-0 win over Northville. It was all Cambridge in their W over the winless Golden Horde of Granville - Suzie Frisch with a hat trick (the only one in Section 2 girls soccer today) & Lillian Snyder with the other 2, 5-2 finish. Finally, Schoharie took care of business in light work over Mayfield, 5-0 final. Carolyn Krohn with 2 goals, and Seana Cleveland, Kaitlyn Kendle, and McKenzie Phelan with a goal & a dime each. Spreading the wealth!

Feel free to blast up the comments section with thoughts on the games!

Where in the World is Jeff? September 22-28

Hop aboard the MVT bus!.. well, it's really a hybrid. The gas mileage is for real. Anywho, looking like I'll have to hit 13 games this week. Where, though?

Monday
Light day - just one game, but a very good one. Catch me at Albany Academy as their boys soccer team takes on Ichabod Crane at 4:15.

Tuesday
A twin bill. Start off with some girls soccer, Guilderland @ Mohonasen at 4:15. The night game? Back to boys soccer and the battle of Troy, Troy @ CCHS at 7.

Hump-DAYYYY
3 games! Starting off at HVCC to catch a women's/men's soccer doubleheader between them and MVCC. The fun all starts at 3:00. Making the trip up to Granville @ Stillwater girls soccer at 7:00.

Thirsty Thursday
Scotia girls soccer for the 2nd time this season, Tartan time! South Glens Falls is coming to town at 4:30, and if I'm anywhere at night, it'll be CCHS @ Troy girls soccer.. again... at 7:00.

Friday
It's looking like I'll be up at Mechanicville in the afternoon for some G Soc - Cambridge is coming for a visit at 4:15. Football time at night, and rivalry at that! Saratoga/Shen day! 7:00.

Saturday
Back to Shenendehowa to start it off for girls soccer, Averill Park is coming to town (not to be confused with Santa Claus) at 11:00. The AP love continues right after, making the trip there (maybe I should surf on the bus) to watch Bishop Maginn @ Averill Park football at 2:00. More football at night, making the trip south and going full circle.. caught Ichabod Crane/AA boys soccer to start the week, now Albany Academy @ Ichabod Crane football to end the week at 6:00.

Hope to see as many people as possible out and about this week!

9/18 Most Valuable Thoughts: Columbia/Shaker Girls Soccer

Columbia 2, Shaker 0

Damn, it's the midway point of the season already?

Columbia & Shaker were at two different points in the Suburban Council before Thursday's game: Columbia had the momentum, riding a high after beating previously unbeaten Shen, and they had one loss of their own. Shaker was really trying to get something going - they haven't been able to put anything in the back of the net this season, which has been a sour note to a team that is strong defensively. Not much changed during this one. Columbia took advantage of a couple chances, Shaker came up empty on their opportunities, and Columbia's still rolling while Shaker's still reeling.

Right from the start, you could tell it would be an 80 minute battle. They were trying to feel each other out at first, with Shaker winning the possession game over the first 15-20 minutes. In the first 20 minutes, each team had taken 3 shots - Shaker took 3 weak shots on goal, and Columbia ripped 3 shots off frame. I said right then, I'd rather be in Columbia's position because of the strength of the shots. A couple minutes later, I'd really say that. Columbia's leading scorer Kylee Arno was able to get the ball and zig zag through a few Blue Bison defenders like traffic cones, and her finish in the 22nd minute put Columbia up 1-0. The rest of the half was stagnant - not a bad stagnant, just a 'not a whole lot happening' stagnant. Play was about as even as you can get, except for the scoreboard. Shots were about even at 8-7 Columbia, but Shaker had put 1 more of those on goal. It was anyone's game still, and Shaker started the final 40 minutes on a tear... but didn't score. For the first 15 minutes, it was the first time a team looked noticeably better on the field, and it was the home team. Shaker was putting things together and putting pressure on Columbia's back end, but it continually broke down late, leading into a weak shot or no shot. Columbia was able to ward off the early Shaker push and evened play back up. The Blue Devils put a couple shots on goal, including a high one that Shaker's GK Madison LaMarche made a fine save (as the soccer heads call it) to her right. She would have no such luck in the 77th minute though, when Lindsay Mulligan put up a shot from the Northway that looked more like a pop fly... and dropped perfectly into the top of goal over her hands. With 3:48 and a 2-0 score in favor of Columbia, pretty much all was said and done.

Shaker's problems throughout the season leading up to Thursday showed again. They could dominate play and be the better team, but the team that wins is the one who scores the most; and they couldn't finish. Plays that looked great disintegrated at the tail end, opportunities that should provide a strong shot on goal turned into a dribbler to the goalie. They can be competitive against nearly anyone, but really need help putting the ball in the back of the net. Columbia outshot Shaker 16-13, and Shaker had 3 corners to just 1 for Columbia - all of those in the 2nd half. LaMarche made 5 saves and controlled it 6 other times in non-saves for Shaker, and Jessica Schafer made 6 saves and 8 non-save controls for Columbia. Even the goal kicks were equal at 8 apiece. Two balanced teams went at it, but one was able to finish, and they brought home the W.

Run It Back: Section 2 Girls Soccer, September 18

Girls soccer first. Lot to get to. 15 games with scores reported for the ladies, and it was Shutout Thursday. 9 teams won by the glory of not letting the other team score. Columbia scored early and late in a 2-0 W over Scoreless Shaker, who's been shut out a lot this season. Want more on that one? Article's coming, if you're into that whole reading stuff. Lansingburgh got locked up by Fonda, who won 1-0. Cobleskill handled Holy Names 3-0, with Kristen Kruglak picking up the shutout and Allie Pacatte doing her thing on the other end - 1 goal, 2 dimes. Saratoga picked up a 2-0 W over Bethlehem while getting goals from people not named Ellery or Ya Ya, so big ups to them. In case you care to know, Delaney Dyer and Theresa Starnes did the honors. Julia McDonald only needed a pair of saves for the shutout. Shen bounced back from a loss earlier in the week to beat Mohonasen by the same score, Kendra Harbinger & Amanda Volk each tallied with Volk adding the helper to Harbinger's. Cuatro save-o's for Jill Shippee in the blanking. Sarah Meisel broke a scoreless tie off a Mackenzie Bowie cross for Mechanicville and Lauren Claeys had 6 saves in their 1-0 victory over Tamarac. Only 5 goals given up in 6 games for Mechanicville. Bolton bounced back from a loss against LG to dispose of Whitehall by the score of 5 to nil. Olivia Seamans gets buckets - or goals, in this sport. 2 of them with an assist. Madison Eddy with a pair of goals for Hoosic Valley and L'Rae Brundige in goal for their 3-0 shutout W over Granville. Beatdown of the night goes to arguably the best team - Averill Park needs some ice cream after the whoopin they got from Nisky. The sleek Greek Marika Contompasis with a hat trick, the OG Sophia Constantine with 2 goals & 2 dimes, and the nickname-less Hannah Munro with 2 & 1 in the 9-0 slashing. Not much info on this one - but Guilderland went up to Ballston Spa and handled business, 3-1 final. Schalmont's still kinda really good, and they showed it in the 2nd half after Teller Wood & Co. kept Ravena hanging around. 4 second half goals led the Sabres to a 5-1 win, and Hailee Metzold had a part in 3 of them - 1 goal, 2 dimes. Pause... time for a close game. Down 2-0 at half, Burnt Hills reeled off 4 second half goals to get a comeback 4-3 win over Colonie. Danielle Sloan, who only had 1 assist leading into the game, dropped 2 goals and a dime in that half! Back to beatdowns. Rachel Pine & Taylor Mann manned the scoring for Hoosick Falls, 2 goals apiece helped them send Cambridge back with a 5-1 loss. Stillwater got their first win in convincing fashion last night, 6-1 decision over the Witches of Greenwich. Erica Nichols was a corny magician with a hat trick, and Alexis Lockrow - who last time I saw a couple weeks ago had a scary-looking injury that she was carted off the field for - with a goal & 2 assists. Finally, Catholic Central gave Schenectady a little smackdown, winning 8-1. 3 hat tricks in Section 2 last night, and the 3rd one was a familiar face - Madison Purcell put that work in, and Alexis Riffelbach had a goal & 2 assists.

The Preview: Columbia/Shaker Girls Soccer, Albany/Troy Boys Soccer

In case you were wondering where I'll be at today... There you go! Twin bill for me, a 4:15 start at 'North Colonie' - Shaker High School for the normal folk, and a 7:00 start at Troy High. I've spent more evenings at Troy High this fall... wait, that sounded wrong. Let's see what we're getting into.

Columbia at Shaker
Columbia is having themselves quite the start. They had a blemish on Monday against Saratoga, but backed it up by knocking off previously unbeaten Shen 2-1 the following day. Kylee Arno had one of them for Columbia, and Bridget Austin tallied her first of the season as well. Arno, on the other hand, has been doing this for a while. She leads a relatively balanced attack with 6 goals and 3 assists through 6 games. The 4-1-1 Blue Devils are right in the thick of things at the top of the Suburban. Shaker is a tough opponent, but it's painfully clear what has held them back so far - they can't score. They scored 3 goals in a season opening W over Burnt Hills, but in the 5 games since, they've only scored twice. That includes 3 consecutive shutout losses, ending with a 1-0 victory over Colonie this week. Although they've had their problems scoring, they've stayed competitive because they don't let teams score. Over their last 3 games, they've given up just 1 goal, going 1-1-1 over that stretch. Camryn Careccia is the only Shaker player with more than one goal so far - that included the lone goal in their Tuesday win. She's got 2. The 2-3-1 home team has shown that because of their defensive prowess, they'll still at least compete with just about anyone. It'll be a nice battle between skilled offensive players in Arno & Lindsay Mulligan (among others) and the strength on the back end from Shaker.

Last time I saw Columbia girls soccer - never. First time for everything!
Last time I saw Columbia at all - Boys soccer against Mohon a week and a half ago. I'm getting used to this whole Suburban Council thing.
Last time I saw Shaker girls soccer - They took a week & a half ago at the hands of Saratoga. Fun game to watch. That was also the last time I saw anyone from Shaker - of course.

Albany at Troy
I haven't been to much boys soccer this season, but I have already caught Albany. That game, they handled Catholic Central, a team that was certainly not the strongest. As it's shaked out thus far, Albany has only won one other game besides that. They will score, but they won't explode on the offensive end. In their 6 games (2-4 so far), they've scored one goal in half, two goals in a couple other games, and their scoring outburst was 3 in the aforementioned CCHS game. Albany is another team without a dominant scoring - no one has scored more than twice. Jackson Leon is certainly a threat though. His stellar footwork and ball control put the defense on ankle watch, and he leads his team in points - 1 goal and 3 assists. They have yet to play Troy, another team who's been struggling out of the gates. They'll be at their midway point after tonight and sitting at 1-5-1 currently. Their lone win was an 8-0 beatdown they gave to Lansingburgh, which skews the scoring data just a touch. They've lost 3 straight since then to CBA, LaSalle, and Albany Academy. Mouayad Khlalafalla leads the Flying Horses with 5 goals & a dime, and Sean Dory has 4 goals of his own. They score more, but also give up more than Albany does.

What to expect - An even game. They're back and forth against their common opponents. Troy has played Schenectady twice and went 0-1-1, Albany lost their game against Schenectady and all games were close. Troy lost 2-1 to LaSalle; Albany beat them by the same score. They both got handled easily by CBA. Expecting a close one!

Last time I saw Albany boys soccer - Just mentioned it. Handled CCHS 3-0 early in the season.
Last time I saw Albany at all - Saturday, I think. Their American football team needs work. Or a weight room, their best athletes not to go to private schools, something.
Last time I saw Troy boys soccer - Making my Troy boys soccer debut (French origin word of the day, yes that's a thing).
Last time I saw Troy at all - Must have been girls soccer. I've caught them a few times already. Assuming they won, Carlee Lockrow probably scored, Stinson probably scored or did some nice things. It's all blending together to me now. I need a beer.

Good luck in your games today. Hopefully you have a little Mexican soccer announcer that you can put to work and make them yell GOOLLLLLLL GOALASOOOO!!!

9/15 Even More Valuable Thoughts: Johnstown/Troy Girls Soccer

Troy 5, Johnstown 1

The Johnstown train derailed not long before takeoff on Monday night, and Troy used a dynamic 1st half to blow out the visiting Lady Bills. 0-0 turned into 2-0 quickly, and the wheels on the bus fell right off.

Johnstown started off looking like they were up for the challenge. Troy wasn't getting anything going, and it was a lot of in between the 18s passing for both sides. After a few minutes, the Flying Horses started to get on track and let a couple shots fly, and in the 10th minute, a Carlee Lockrow cross was deflected & after Lauren Paravella directed it over some more, Eliza Stewart buried it to give Troy a 1-0 lead. It didn't take long for that to double - Theresa Stinson let one fly from nearly 25 yards out about as far right as Rush Limbaugh, and it snuck into the left side of goal to make it 2-0 with 28:26 left in the half. Troy continued to pour on the pressure, turning that even play into some Fox News one-sidedness. Carlee Lockrow, a consistent scoring option with an assist already, struck a beauty to make it 3-0 in the 27th minute. A shot from the left side around 20 yards out ended up a right upper 90, and Troy was up and running again. With 6:33 left in the half, a Stinson corner bounced off a Johnstown defender that we'll call Player Player, like the Michael Jordan characters in the 90s video games. The ball trickled into goal, and the own goal made it 4-0. Johnstown was able to get an opportunity not long after, and the ball ended up in the back of the net. Couldn't tell who finished it off. I thought Reily Kotwasinski may have finished it, but the official scorebook gave her the assist and Payton Sardella the goal. Oh well, we may never find out. Ooh, scary. Johnstown brought it back to 4-1 late in the half, but they would get no closer. Troy only tacked 1 more on themselves, an Eliza Stewart finish after her and others put Johnstown GK Briana Esposito under a firing squad for a couple minutes. Troy would shoot, Esposito would secure or there would be a goal kick, Troy would win the 50/50 ball and get right back to business. That 5th goal with 19:27 remaining cemented Troy's dominance in this one.

Troy ended up outshooting Johnstown by a ridiculous margin, 37-7. Let that marinate for a minute... 37-7. That's brutal.  Troy had 7 corners to Johnstown's 4, and Esposito had way more work to do. She touched the ball 34 times in this game, which is a record for me at games that I've covered. 14 of them were legitimate saves, and another 20 were non-save controls. They also had 16 goal kicks. Yeah, the ball was down there all game. This game showed me one thing - I have a love/hate relationship with possession style soccer. I've watched enough and worked in the game over the last 8 years to the point that I know what I'm watching and talking about. Nothing keeps my attention like a good team that plays a possession game. Ball movement, player movement, some nice footwork and good spacing, a good possession game is a hell of a fun thing to watch. However, when teams try to play a possession style game and they're not good enough on the ball for it, it can lead to some ugly soccer. The few times that Johnstown was able to work the possession game, it looked great, but when it didn't, the small increments of moving the ball forward backfired and allowed Troy to barrel down the throats of their opponent. I guess the moral of this game was 'know your strengths - do what it takes to be competitive. If you're not going to keep it close playing a possession game, ditch that thought.' Whether it's Johnstown or the Red Bulls, do what it takes to win.

9/15 Most Valuable Thoughts: Mechanicville/Albany Academy for Girls Soccer

Albany Academy for Girls 1, Mechanicville 0

This marks the first time I've been all politically correct and called the Albany Academy for Girls.. the Albany Academy for Girls. Four for me, Glen Coco.

Enough about me. There was a pretty intriguing game that happened on the AA campus this afternoon. There were more chances to score than the lone guy at a sorority party, but that lone guy was just a little too ugly for 68 minutes and went begging. Finally, the home team hit the back of the net, and that was all they needed.

Got there about 10 minutes into the game - which may have started 5-10 minutes behind schedule to begin with - and could quickly tell it'd be an interesting one. Little did I know that it would take so long for someone to score. It resembled the Steve Nash Phoenix Suns playing against each other - back and forth, back and forth, back and forth we go. One goalie gets pressured, and the other gets pressured within 30 seconds. It was very even the entire time I was there in gameplay and stats. If you put a gun to my head and told me to pick a team that had an edge in the 1st half, Mechanicville would be the one. Though Academy put the two most challenging shots on goal up, their opponent looked a touch better and more comfortable in the half. They were hanging around goal quite a bit, but they were only able to put 2 on goal for the course of the half I was around for, and both were saved.

Mechanicville may have looked a touch better in the opening half, but Academy was a touch more physical. Their challenges were tough and often successful, both physically and mentally. You could see the frustration from a couple Mechanicville players at times over physical challenges that were accepted. That may have helped AA as the game went on... With around 20 minutes to go, the game started to take a different feel. The entertaining scoreless game turned into the entertaining scoreless game with a sense of urgency attached to it. Neither team wanted to drop this one. However, this wouldn't be the case. Albany Academy's Taylor Lockwood beat her defender and had a little bit of a breakaway chance. Mechanicville GK Lauren Claeys came flying out and deflected the Lockwood shot away right after it left her foot, but after a couple bounces brought it to the foot of Penny Rocchio with Claeys out 15 yards away from goal, it was just a matter of Rocchio putting it on frame from slightly beyond that distance. She did, and the ball hit the back of the net for a 1-0 Academy lead with 12:03 remaining. Mechanicville, led by Keara LaFountain and Kali DeMarco, continued to push forward and try to tie the game up, but AAG wasn't feelin' all that. Academy GK Ellie Daly walked away with a shutout in a hard-fought 1-0 W.

Freshman Penny Rocchio scored the lone goal - Ellie Daly had 5 saves and secured it 2 more times while I was there. Lauren Claeys had 6 saves and secured it 4 other times in that timeframe. Shots were nearly as even as you could get, 17-16 in favor of Mechanicville. They also had both corner kicks in a relatively corner-free last 70 minutes. Only difference - Albany Academy had 12 goal kicks to Mechanicville's 5. The numbers really describe the game well. Mechanicville had plenty of opportunities, with some of them very dangerous ones, but sometimes they did just a little toooo much. Little too much leg on the shot, tried to lead a teammate too far, overdribbled into a crappy situation and let it fly off-frame, things like that. Academy was a little slower with its opportunities but left more of theirs in front of goal than beyond it. One of those that remained on the field turned into the game-winner for the home team! Certainly wouldn't mind catching these teams against each other again... maybe with a little more at stake.

9/13 Most Valuable Thoughts: Schenectady/Albany Football

Schenectady 46, Albany 6

A dreary Saturday with weather across upstate New York that was in one word, crap, certainly affected the attendance in this one that I would have expected to normally be greater. The weather did clear up for the nearly three hours this one took at Bob Ford Field on the SUNY Albany campus, but it may have done the home team Falcons a disservice by holding off. Schenectady's aerial game and playmakers were able to get loose time and time again, reeling off 33 straight over the last 2 & a half quarters.

At different points of the game, the Schenectady Patriots showed they could win this game in multiple ways. They flexed the ground game to start off the evening, utilizing a 9 play, 65 yard drive that was exclusively fueled on the ground to get on the board. Keenan Chandler sparked with carries of 7, 24, and 13 on his first 3 touches. Colby Youngblood finished it off with runs of 20 and 4, the latter being a TD run 4 minutes in to give Schenectady a 6-0 lead. Turnover issues that plagued Albany last week reared its ugly head again on the ensuing possession, and that would be the case throughout the night. After a big Tysheem Morris return put them near midfield, the snap on the first play from scrimmage sailed above Reed Drucker's head (would've sailed above Dwight Howard's, too) and after a scrum, it was possessed by a Schenectady defender. Tack on a personal foul after the play - penalties were an issue for both sides - and Schenectady had it at Albany's 11 yard line. Patriot QB Brandon Gwinner hooked up with his favorite target, Alex Rodriguez, for an 11 yard TD pass to quickly bump it to 13-0. After the teams traded 3 & outs, the Falcons had easily their most sustained & successful drive of the season to that point. A 14 play, 61 yard drive that chewed up over 5 minutes of clock ended in a Denzel Keyes 4 yard TD run to make it 13-6. Albany was able to score despite committing three penalties on the drive - 2 of them resulting in a 1st & 15 situation, and the 3rd backing them up from the 1 yard line to the 6. As was the case for a lot of the game, it didn't take Schenectady long to recover. On a 3rd & 17, Gwinner aired one out to Rodriguez, this one turning into a 65 yard point getter. On the 2nd play of Albany's ensuing drive, Drucker's pass was picked off by Vincent Winfield and taken back 35 yards to the house. In case you're counting, 13-6 turned into 26-6 in the matter of a minute. The excitement on the Falcon sideline quickly turned into 'here we go again'. Another big return set up solid field position for Albany, but the story of this drive was a microcosm of the game itself. At one point in the short drive, flags were thrown on 3 straight plays - back to back offsides penalties against Schenectady, followed by an Albany hold that totally negated the 2 Patriot penalties. On the play after the hold, Drucker was picked off again and a 58 yard return set Schenectady up at the 15. Albany's defense held and made the Patriots turn it over on downs, but after a couple quick first downs for Albany, Schenectady's defense made them turn it back over on downs. The 3rd consecutive Falcon turnover late in the half proved costly when Gwinner and Rodriguez hit paydirt a 3rd time, this time a 33 yard TD play. They connected on the same exact route that was called the previous play, where a defensive pass interference set them up with much better field position.

After an Albany punt, Schenectady marched down to their opponents' 11, where their drive stalled and they turned it over on downs. Albany's offense quickly coughed it right back up when a fumble was recovered by Schenectady at the Falcon 18. The Patriots would make good use of such field position, when Brandon Gwinner hit Jayquan Beckford for a 13 yard TD pass on 4th & 5, making the score 39-6. Albany fumbled on the first play of its ensuing drive - the 6th of their 8 giveaways on the night. Once they got the ball back, a Tysheem Morris-fueled drive got them to the 25 of Schenectady, where another drive stalled thanks to penalties and a turnover. Two straight false start penalties pushed them back to 1st & 20, and Morris went to the end zone on 2nd & 14, where Colby Youngblood was waiting, along with a perfectly timed jump to grab it. Even when the Falcons got it back on Schenectady's 29 on their next drive, it was fumbled away on the 1st play of the drive. Jahvontay Brown finished the scoring on Schenectady's last drive, when he waltzed 23 yards to the house with around a minute remaining. The last 3 quarters of the game certainly did sting, and the final points rubbed only the roughest, most painful salts in the wound.

Schenectady QB Brandon Gwinner went 8/17 in the air and 135 yards, but half of his completions were touchdowns compared to no interceptions. His favorite target, Alex Rodriguez, had 5 receptions for 112 yards and 3 TDs. He had a pile of running backs taking some reps, with Keenan Chandler and Colby Youngblood running the show in the 1st half and Jahvontay Brown & Kyle Bacon taking it over later on. Chandler had 7 carries for 44 yards early in the game before getting hurt in the 2nd quarter and missing the rest of the game. The visiting Patriots amassed 328 yards from scrimmage on 53 plays, and Albany managed not much over half of that (197) on 52 plays. Penalties were running through like looters after Hurricane Katrina: Schenectady was penalized 10 times for 87 yards, 4 of them were offsides penalties. Albany gave up 87 yards on 11 penalties, and 3 of those were half the distance penalties inside the 25. Tysheem Morris was a bright spot for Albany as he was in Week 1, shaking off a rough throwing day while under center (1/7, 16 yards, INT) by picking up 115 yards on the ground in 15 carries, along with making 2 receptions for 39 yards. He's a kid you like to watch - smaller and shifty, but plays violently. If he realizes he isn't going to make his way around you, he tries to run you over instead and put through his fair share of shots on both ends of the field. His style also means he takes his share as well, which would hurt Albany mightily because they don't have anyone else that can make an impact like him. Sure, Albany needs to get better. They need a better performance than that - and you can't say it was all Schenectady's doing. Sure, their play had a part in that. Schenectady beat Albany, but Albany also beat Albany. Half of the 8 turnovers were unforced giveaways, and that won't fly. If they want to get off this slide and finally win a game in Class AA, they'll have to work on the little things first.

The Magic Conch - Section 2 Football

Prediction time! We'll put our predictions on the table for Friday night football games, feel free to run your mouth to us if we're wrong since I don't know jack about Section 2 yet!

Hudson 21, Cobleskill 13 - Hudson is coming off an easy win over Ichabod Crane, Cobleskill was on the other end against Hudson Falls. Expecting more of a challenge for Hudson in this one, but they'll still walk away with a win.

Schuylerville 30, Corinth 20 - Both teams are coming off blowout wins over teams that are.. ehh, not so good. Giving the advantage to the road team in this one.

Schalmont 41, Cohoes 7 - I was told by a Cohoes player that they're going to get smacked. I'll listen to him. Schalmont's good.

Averill Park 28, Lansingburgh 6 - Averill Park had a moment last week. Up 13-0 on Troy late, but gave it up and lost 14-13. Lansingburgh had no such moment, getting torched by Mohon. Advantage, AP.

Albany Academy 14, South Glens Falls 12 - Could go either way here, but picking the Class B to knock off Class A. Just a hunch. AA lost to a pretty good Ravena team last week, SGF took one on the chin against Bishop Maginn. Looking for Cadets to step up.

Cambridge/Salem 35, Canajoharie 14 - Defending champs in Class D flexed last week, Canjo had a tough loss against Whitehall. Look for Cambridge to pile it on early against a reeling Canjo.

Queensbury 34, Troy 7 - Troy came from behind to get that feel-good first W last week. That's great. It wasn't Queensbury. Business as usual for the defending A champs.

Shenendehowa 38, Colonie 13 - Colonie's not bad, but Shen is a different level. This will be a tougher opponent than what Columbia could show them, but they could've hung 80 on Columbia last week. High octane offense, look for them to go off again.

Gloversville 27, Scotia 21 - Scotia is getting better and can challenge teams. Gloversville can find the end zone again.. and again.. and again. Could go either way, rolling with Glove City.

Bishop Maginn 27, Niskayuna 7 - Nisky ran into a buzzsaw last week in Queensbury. Maginn was the buzzsaw last week. They'll keep the momentum rolling.

Stillwater 20, Greenwich 18 - Looking for the visiting team to come up and steal one here. Stillwater hung tough in a loss last week against Watervliet and will be hungry to even it up.

Watervliet 27, Voorheesville 20 - Another close one that could go either way, with both coming off wins. Watervliet has the momentum that comes wih a brand new field, and they'll ride the wave.

CBA 28, LaSalle 21 - A fun one here between a pair of good teams. CBA's looking to keep it going after handling Shaker in a AA final rematch, and they have the target on their back. They'll get LaSalle's best shot, but it won't be enough.

Bethlehem 14, Ballston Spa 7 - Bethlehem beat down a team that hasn't won in AA in 7 years, Ballston Spa lost to a pretty good team but kept it competitive. Look for them to give Bethlehem a much better game than Albany did, but too many options for Bethlehem.

Shaker 24, Saratoga 21 - This one will be a fun clash to watch. Shaker is looking to get back on the right track, 'Toga is looking to keep it rolling after knocking off La Salle. Shaker won't drop to 0-2, though. Look for them to sneak out with a win.

Guilderland 42, Columbia 7 - Columbia has a long way to go. Shen is really good, but they won't be that competitive in AA this year. Guilderland will keep the momentum rolling after a W last week.

Burnt Hills 34, Green Tech 16 - Green Tech put up a bunch in a loss last week, but I'm looking for Burnt Hills to neutralize that and handle GT the way they handled Scotia.

Ravena 35, Ichabod Crane 7 - Beatdown central, could be worse. Ravena is good, and Warnken & Co. will handle business against an Ichabod Crane team reeling after a big loss last week.

Mohonasen 23, Amsterdam 20 - Amsterdam got smacked last weekend at the Carrier Dome, but Cornwall is really good. Mohon smacked last weekend, but Lansingburgh isn't so good. Good one shaping up here, but Mohon will grab this one at home.

Hudson Falls 35, Johnstown 6 - Johnstown took one on the chin last weekend, and they'll do the same tonight. Too much Geno Brancati for them to handle. They'll need pills and potions to get this one.

Broadalbin-Perth 35, Glens Falls 7 - Broadalbin needed a late drive but got by Cohoes. Glens Falls got hammered worse than the frat boys tonight. Sure, it was Schalmont, but they're still rubbing off the wounds. Broadalbin will ride the wave.

Mechanicville 36, Granville 14 - Mechanicville put up 48 in a win last week, and I'm looking to see more of the high power scoring tonight.

Run it Back - Section 2 Soccer, Thursday 9/11

Lot of games in girls soccer! Let's get right to it.

Maple Hill turned it up in the 2nd half to handle Taconic Hills 6-0. Like 'Who Let The Dogs Out?', there was no answer for Sarah Friess. Hat trick & an assist. Productive day, lad. Speaking of beatdown shutouts, Saratoga handled some business with Averill Park, smacking them 7-0. Ya Ya Van Ness also had a hat trick & a dime, and the usual suspect Ellery Bianco had 2 & 1. YAHH TRICK YAHH! Check out Queensbury... put up 7 big ones in the 2nd half to smack Glens Falls 8-1. I don't have to tell you who scored, but I will... Brit LaPlant, of course. 5 goals & a dime. You'll need more than a red light to stop her. CCHS beat Albany 4-1 - read the article I just posted for more on that. Megan Sweet & Shannon Van Tassel tallied for Chatham, 2-0 winners over Catskill. In another conference battle, Cairo-Durham needed an extra 20 minutes but got by Hudson 3-2. Taylor Caputo (no relation to the Long Island Medium, I don't think) dropped 2 of them in the win. Coxsackie-Athens was able to get over 2 Carly Johnson goals to beat Greenville 3-2 by spreading the wealth. 3 girls scored a goal apiece. Emma Willard may be a tough squad this year, showing it with a 3-0 W over New Lebanon while spreading the wealth themselves. More wealth-spreading going on than Communism on this day - Schuylerville had each goal scored by a different girl in their 3-2 W over South Glens Falls. A different Fountain is running for Waterford now too - Claudia had 2 in their 4-2 W over Heatly. Albany Academy got by Ravena 3-2, big thanks to Valerie Taylor on that one. 2 goals & a dime for her. Holy Names picked up a 3-1 victory over Watervliet, and every goal was scored and assisted by someone different. Fort Ann couldn't contain the Seamans', and Bolton left with a 5-3 W. Olivia had a hat trick and Abigail had the other 2. Guilderland picked up a very nice win over Nisky - Breanne Ford was the lone goal hero, and Taylor Dorado was credited with 13 saves in a 1-0 shutout. Shen knocked off Bethlehem by the same score on the road, with Kelsie Moinzadeh scoring the lone 2nd half goal and Maddy Welch having 9 saves in the shutout. Columbia adds to Burnt Hills' struggles, smacking them 3-0. Kylie Arno with 2 goals & a dime in the win. Ballston Spa & Colonie had nearly a symmetrical scoresheet - they played to a 2-2 draw, no one had multiple goals, and each scored a goal in each half. Shaker & Mohon played to a draw too - a scoreless one. Troy bounced back from Tuesday and beat Schenectady 3-1, with 3 scoring a goal apiece. Finally, Lansingburgh got by Cobleskill 3-2, and Caitlyn Maloney hit the back of the net twice in the W.


Quickly for the boys' end, not that many games reported. Joe Stewart was the lone goal hero in Stillwater's 1-0 W over Hoosic Valley. Brendan Martin was the human eraser, picking up the shutout. Jared Parsons did the same thing for Burnt Hills in their 1-0 W over Columbia, and Alex Gigliotti had 6 saves in the shutout. Mechanicville & Hoosick Falls played to a really high-scoring draw, 4-4. Eric Krasuski was a magician, finishing with a hat trick for Mechanicville - Cole Webster finished with a pair of goals for HF. Voorheesville got a pair of goals from Sean Nolan in their 3-1 triumph over Cohoes. Now, for the beatdowns. Albany Academy got 6 in the first half and handled Ravena 9-1. Jordan Lockridge had a hat trick, Billy Melchioni had 2 goals & an assist hat trick, and Ryan Uccelilini (try and say that, I dare you) had a pair of each. Matt JeanPierre had a pair of goals and Dave Adediran added a goal & 2 dimes in Shaker's 7-1 beatdown of Mohon. It was that score at halftime - I was there for a little while, and Shaker literally wouldn't shoot in the 2nd half. Anders Trestick gave Ballston Spa a hat trick in their 4-1 W over Colonie. Shen made light work of Bethlehem in a 4-0 W. Tucker Marvin made the back of the net move twice in the W. Broadalbin-Perth gave Amsterdam a primetime beatdown under the lights, 5-0 final. True wealth-spreading, 5 players with a goal apiece. Stephen Spraker had a dime to go with his goal. In the Thwart Em Thursday Beatdown of the Night, we had Tamarac making an example of their experimental rat, the Not So Golden Horde of Granville. 10-1. Zackary Horton & Daniel Nealon both had hat tricks in the win.

Phew. Time to take a breather!

9/11 Most Valuable Thoughts: Albany/CCHS Girls Soccer

CCHS 4, Albany 1

I wonder if Catholic Central is sick of me yet. Starting to get some repeats going - 2nd time this week at CCHS watching them play, and 2nd time catching Albany girls on the road. Albany needed 100 minutes to get by Holy Names 0 - CCHS needed about 10 to get by Troy. It took a bit longer for the Crusaders to break it open against Albany, and the visiting squad continued to challenge for all 80 minutes even when it was apparent they wouldn't be coming back, but Catholic Central was able to show their dominance once again.

If one thing has struck me about CCHS, it's that they can and will jump on you early. They did that once again, thanks to the duo of Madison Purcell & Alexis Riffelbach, a.k.a. High Octane. Purcell had a gorgeous redirect on a Riffelbach corner, putting them up 1-0 in the first 4 minutes. Unlike the game Tuesday, one didn't turn into four in a heartbeat. As a matter of fact, Albany answered to even up the score. On one of their few legit opportunities, Adrianna Guidetti let one fly that was initially saved by the CCHS goalie, but it went through her hands and trickled to the right side of goal. After finding an avenue in between a couple defenders and the recovering goalie, Nina Rouse was able to sneak through the equalizer, tying it up with 20 to go in the half. Quick strike Madi came back though - Purcell ripped a ball from 20 yards out that bounced down into goal off the top post just a couple minutes later to give CCHS the lead, one they would never relinquish. Their coach continues to preach 'first 5 minutes, last 5 minutes' - score early, score late. The stress pays dividends. Purcell was able to find Lauren Drake, who finished to make it 3-1 with 1:30 left in the half. The lone goal in the 2nd half came from Catholic Central's Hannah Field, who put one through with around 20 minutes to go. Purcell finished with 2 goals & a dime for CCHS; Lauren Drake had 1 & 1, Field had a goal, and Alexis Riffelbach and Claire Chaisson had assists. Nina Rouse scored for Albany.

The Crusaders continued to put pressure on Albany's GK, Emily Andrews. Mind you, she's a damn good goalie. Only so much you can do when being pressured almost non-stop. She made 6 legitimate saves on SOG, including a couple diving stops, but she controlled possession 23 times between saves and non-saves. Albany also had 12 goal kicks and were outshot 23-6, along with giving up 8 corners. That's a lot of scoring opportunities and a whole lot of time with the ball hanging near goal. This is all with Riffelbach out for most of the game - apparent injury. Neither team I've seen CCHS play has matched their quickness and physicality - when they match up with one, I'm there!

9/10 Most Valuable Thoughts: Hoosick Falls/Tamarac Girls Soccer

Hoosick Falls 4, Tamarac 1

It took a while for a tough Panther team to wake up, but they turned a close game into one everyone was waiting to have end very quickly in their 4-1 win. Coming off a 4-3 victory over CCHS and playing a Tamarac team that hadn't played a game yet, you could sense the malaise for a while. Once they turned on the afterburners, they left their opponents in the dust.

The visiting Hoosick Falls controlled the game at the onset - not necessarily getting clear scoring opportunities, but possession was theirs. Angela Gonzalez got them on the board with a rebound off a Taylor Mann assist. However, play was a bit more even over the last 30ish minutes of the half. Tamarac saw the ball on their attacking end much more often, although not generating scoring chances. That being said, Hoosick Falls wasn't getting those chances either. The game felt like a chopped & screwed song - slllloooooowwwwwwww. Not much going on. You could sense a little bit of frustration on the HF side, who probably would've liked a better start after their impressive last win. They turned it back up to start the 2nd half, though. They didn't score in this timeframe, but were able to let off 5 shots in the first 2 minutes of the half. At this point, it was like a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. You didn't feel it yet, but you knew it was coming. High-octane speedster Jordyn Haynes got it going for them with around 30 minutes to go, speeding past the defense to give herself a 1 on 1 against the keeper, and of course she won. Fast forward another 6 minutes, and she found more open space and beat everyone upfield, scoring another one to make it 3-0. They started to cool the jets after that, and Tamarac evened play again. It got tough to watch at times, as it looked like both teams were just waiting for the clock to hit all zeroes. When that happens, it feels like it takes forever to get to that point. Mann broke the silence with a few minutes remaining, finishing one to add to her assist and make it 4-0. Tamarac was also able to tally in the waning moments - a shot from the right side went through the hands of HF's keeper, and a hustling Annie Paone beat everyone to the ball and poked it through to make it 4-1. None more would be had, though, and Hoosick Falls made the trip back home as winners.

Hoosick Falls outshot Tamarac 17-7 while I was there (missed a few minutes early) but not too many were on goal for either side. Tamarac's GK, Courtney Dreher, ended up with the ball in her hands 14 times over that time I was there. Her adversary, Jayde Tutunjian, only needed to control it 4 times. Tamarac had 7 goal kicks compared to HF's 2 - all this showing that the ball was on HF's end for quite a while. Jordyn Haynes has been killing it for a long time, and she's just a junior still. They showed what they can do after beating CCHS, so despite this being kind of a blah performance for a while, look out for Hoosick Falls (as always) this fall.

The Preview: Hoosick Falls/Tamarac Girls Soccer

In case you were wondering, that's where I'll be at this afternoon. The getting familiar with Section II tour takes me to another Troy area school where girls athletics tend to be strong. They certainly have a more-than-formidable opponent in the near-Vermont Hoosick Falls Panthers.

So far - Well, not much. Hoosick Falls showed how good they can be, Tamarac showed they can wait. They haven't had a game yet! Finally, the home team will be able to get to the action. Hoosick Falls had one game in Section 2.. a challenging one, for sure, against CCHS. Unlike Troy last night, Hoosick Falls was able to beat the Crusaders 4-3. After watching that squad last night, I'm looking forward to see what HF can bring. They keep churning out good teams in almost every program!

Never watched either of these girls soccer programs before, new experience! I've also never been to Tamarac, so my Section II virginity is being lost one day at a time. Last time I was at Hoosick Falls: watched their boys basketball team beat Lake George pretty handily. Went through hell & high water.. well, high snow, to get there. That mountain is wonderful...

See you there this afternoon at 4:15!

9/9 Most Valuable Thoughts - Troy/CCHS Girls Soccer

CCHS 6, Troy 2

The first battle of Troy this season, this one on 7^th Ave, turned into more of a beatdown than a battle straight from the opening minutes. Floyd vs. Manny turned into Floyd vs. reading, and the home team was the Harry Potter book, thanks to Alexis Riffelbach (sounds like a Hogwarts house), Madison Purcell, and a concerted effort from everyone on the field.

Let’s pretend music played during games, like it was King of Kings. It would’ve been 2-0 before the first song was over. Riffelbach started the onslaught with a goal off a Purcell assist about 2 minutes in (no scoreboard, so times are approximate). Before I had the chance to finish recording that goal, Lauren Drake added another off a fine strike (I think my fellow soccer heads would call it that) on a direct kick from 20 yards out. Purcell broke into the scoring column herself using her speed not long after, and CCHS grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes. Not backing down, it was Theresa Stinson’s turn to tally, booting one through from deep out on the right side 2 minutes later to bring Troy within a pair of goals at 3-1. It would get no better for them, though. Riffelbach beat the defense in the 19^th minute to make it 4-1, and then the game turned into a Milli Vanilli record. Riffelbach beat the defense in the 19^th minute to make it 5-1. Yeah. Goals 2 & 3 of her hat trick came just 30 seconds apart – the 2^nd off a nice feed from Purcell. Troy GK Lauren Paravella nearly made a phenomenal diving stop on one of those goals, but was just an inch too short as the ball went into the corner of the net off her fingertips. Troy evened play for the back half of the first half and may have even had the better of possession, but they weren’t able to draw any closer. Purcell completed CCHS’ scoring with around 25 minutes left to play – this one on a feed from Riffelbach to make it 6-1. Carlee Lockrow, surely the sparkplug in Troy’s win over Stillwater that I was around for last week, did the same for a long stretch of the 2^nd half in this one, but it was surely too little, too late. She had a nice left-footed finish to make it 6-2 in the late stages, but there would be no more.

Damn. The Crusaders showed they have the firepower to score with almost anyone. They did it early and often, and it was 3-0 before Troy could even think about settling in. The Purcell/Riffelbach attack was dominant. 5 goals & 3 assists between them, assisting on each other’s goals. The Catholic Central keeper wasn’t tested often because of the defense’s ability to thwart any opportunities before they made it that far. CCHS also started the game playing physical, and it took the better part of the first half for Troy to match that physicality. They were much better off once they did. Lauren Paravella did well in goal for Troy – not looking at the goals scored, she had to make a lot of plays. She made 11 legitimate saves on SOG and controlled possession on non-saves 11 more times. A lot of the goals scored were nearly impossible to prevent on her part. It was a matter of Troy getting jumped on and not being able to recover. You could get a little sense of the bad blood in this one from the play on the field and the chatter in the bleachers… regardless of the score, when Troy and CCHS meet up, it’s always going to be a must see.