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.
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