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.
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