A Day in Review: March 10

WOW.

It was a light day, I guess. Could’ve went to OCC, where there were 6 regional games. A lot of dandies, from what I heard. Would’ve been great to watch, even though no way in hell my phone would’ve survived. Decided to roll with Oneonta like initially planned though to catch 3 games: C girls, D girls, D boys. I’m glad I made that decision.

We’ll talk about the games first. I won’t give a rundown here – they were in the tweets. If you want the rundown, refer to Twitter. What I’d like to talk about is the support these communities showed their teams, and damn it, it was just loud. Great environment. I’ve already said it twice, and I’ll say it more: Cooperstown/Harpursville (C girls) was probably the loudest I’ve ever heard a gym get for a Class C/D basketball game. With how back and forth it was, and the amount of people there (due to proximity and ease of travel – keep that in mind, Section 3), Oneonta’s gym was raucous. The “guest” (Cooperstown) is actually closer to Oneonta than Harpursville HS, but even for Harpursville, it’s just a simple drive up 88. Cooperstown had a whole 20 minutes to travel, and the Hall of Fame may have even shut down judging by the amount of Redskins that were in the stands. I see both ends of the argument about large-school vs. small-school, coming from a smaller school and being immersed in the large school life. One thing I will say is that when a smaller school makes it to this level, their community will truly get behind them. It’s a great thing to see. Same with Oriskany/Franklin. The “guest” (Oriskany) really felt like the guest: The O-Zone didn’t exactly come to perform, and with their stellar cheerleading squad (yeah, just complimented cheerleaders) at a state competition in Rochester (#YouGoGlenCoco), the O-Redskin crowd lacked the enthusiasm that the C-Redskin crowd had the game before. Not to mention… Franklin’s crowd came out amped. Franklin is in the Oneonta area, and you could tell with the crowd representation. With Oriskany winning that game, it truly felt like they won a road game. The last game between New York Mills & Marathon lacked the drama and excitement that the first two brought, for the most part. It had its moments – but even when Marathon started the game on a 7-2 spurt, the outcome was never truly in question to me, and it was easily the most quiet/emptiest of the three games. It had its share of funny moments, as expressed on Twitter. Marathon never quit, and that is to their credit. With NYM up 51-31, that could’ve been the case. However, they did claw back and get it to single digits, only to have NYM win by 13. At Oneonta, it was Section III 2, Section IV 1. All-in-all, out of 10 Section III champs, 5 have advanced to the Final 4. In AA, A, and B, there will be 1 apiece, with C-NS girls, Ludden & Westhill boys respectively. Class C went 0 for 2, and Class D will send both NYM boys and Oriskany girls to the promised land.

Now quickly to Oneonta State itself. Over the years, I’ve been to enough neutral sites. For as long as I’ve known the difference, I’ve had a beef with Section III about neutral sites. Generally speaking, their love of keeping it close to the ‘Cuse. However, I frankly think they don’t use sense. Whether it’s have a game at a crappy Baldwinsville HS gym when there are better within a 10 minute radius, or have games such as Herkimer/Cooperstown or Mohawk/WCV at OCC, there’s some lack of sense issues. Section IV has this one right. When I grade neutral sites, I think of a lot of things. Parking, attitude of staff, working room, freedom of movement, seating (enough, but not too much), condition of court itself, concession stand/price of goods. Those are just a few. Oneonta’s gym isn’t the most comfortable to sit in as a 6’6″ spectator when it’s packed (trust me, I’ve been there), but that’s the only knock I have. Maybe the selection at the concession stand, but the price makes up for it. Hell, the stuff at their concession stand was the cheapest I’ve seen since the regular season. OCC overcharged. The Dome… well, obviously. Oneonta’s was great for a tight budget. There’s enough parking to find a spot somewhere within walking distance. The seating amount is perfect. You can easily fit a couple grand in there, but when that group makes noise, the place gets rockin’. Pretty large gym, but it has a small gym feel to it. Great atmosphere. It’s a little bit bigger version of HCCC (which is horribly underutilized in Section III). Section IV and NYSPHSAA, you hit the nail on the head with this one.

Best Moment: The last 50 seconds of Cooperstown/Harpursville. Awesome. Sumer Murdock hitting the game-tying trey w/ :45.0 seconds left, and the lid blew off the building. Miranda Drummond hitting the go-ahead and ultimately game-winning trey just over 7 seconds later, and the lid blew all the way to Owego. Sucks that someone had to lose that game.

MVP of the Day: The aforementioned Miranda Drummond. Mind you, right before she hit that 3, she jammed her finger pretty good. Maybe the sound was worse than the pain, but I was 50 feet away from where she got a hand in the passing lane and poked a tough chest pass away, and I heard the pop. Nasty. She was out for a few seconds, came back in, and nailed the three. Those were the last 3 of her 26 points on the day, scoring nearly 60% of her team’s 45 points in a 2 point W. That’s clutch. Honorable mention goes to Jordan Beers of Franklin. Even in a loss, it’s well-deserved. Franklin doesn’t get there without her, and they don’t look competitive in that game without her either. Franklin scored 46, and she had 30. Probably had 4 or 5 assists on the team’s 6 or 7 FGs that weren’t hers as well. She had a part in just about every Franklin point. Oriskany knew Beers was their offense, and they geared for it. They just couldn’t stop it. Impressive.

What I’ll Take Away: 2 things. #1: Damn, Mike Adey really complimented officials pretty much the whole way. I guess he only got on them for the first 500 wins. #2: who cares how small your school is? Get the community behind you, and you can still rock the house!

Until next time, MVT out.

A Day in Preview: 3/10/2013

MVT Presence At: Cooperstown/Harpursville (girls) – 1:00, Oriskany/Franklin (girls) – 3:00, New York Mills/Marathon (boys) – 5:00 (all games at Oneonta State)

Last MVT appearance in Oneonta: November 21, 2012 at Oneonta High School, where Mariah Ruff & company led Oneonta girls to a 45-32 victory over Troy (both teams still at it – Troy won their 1st regional game in A over J-D Tuesday, Oneonta’s playing Notre Dame at OCC tomorrow).

Last MVT appearance at Oneonta State: Taking it back a couple years now. Like tomorrow, it was Sect. 3/Sect. 4 regional play. March of 2011 – South Kortright girls won a tight game over Hamilton (led by 1,000 point scorer Jordan Peterson). Harpursville girls, with 2,000+ point scorer Hannah Kimmel, made light work of Fabius-Pompey, led by 1,000+ point scorer Stevie Ray. New York Mills boys pulled away and beat a game squad from Hancock. That NYM team, led by Fred Russ (Class D Player of the Year) and 6’9″ Matt Welch (1st team), went on to win the NYSPHSAA state title in Class D that year.

Preview: Cooperstown is coming in clicking on all cylinders. They’ve got quickness, size, shooting ability, and they play well as a unit. Sumer Murdock, their leading scorer, has been lighting teams up of late, yet Liz Millea (their FRESHMAN point guard) has been controlling the game on both ends. To me, she’s their most important player, and a member of the Cooperstown coaching staff, while in conversation with him, seems to agree. Nicole Cring has continued what she’s been doing all year in the blocks. Gives them double digit scoring consistently, and she’s earned the name Windex from us because she cleans the glass. Grabs boards, and at 6’1″ with jumping ability and long arms to go with good timing, getting 5-7 blocks in a game isn’t anything new. The only thing that can come back to haunt them is foul trouble in their backcourt – they have bodies on their roster, but Coach Niles doesn’t have a whole lot of backcourt help off the bench. When Millea/Murdock/Maggie Hall are out, the game changes. Admittedly, I know very little about Harpursville. What I do know is at 18-3, they’re sitting at #5 in the NYSSWA Class C polls (2 spots ahead of Cooperstown). The program is synonymous with success, and what I remember about the team 2 years ago was that even though they had a 2,000 point scorer, there was much more to that squad. Their 2nd best player at the time… was a freshman. That would make her a junior now, which I’ve always said is a player’s hungriest year. This junior, Miranda Drummond, dropped 27 in their 60-36 W over Unatego to win the Section 4 crown. Also, they won’t be afraid of the moment: they were here 2 years ago, and they lost in the sectional finals last year. It isn’t their first rodeo. Should be quite a battle to start!

Then we have Oriskany/Franklin. Oriskany undefeated, #2 in the state in D and feature Christina Graziadei (1,298 points – Oriskany’s record holder), along w/ a very capable supporting cast, with sophomore PG Madison Zizzi, senior wing Shannon Van Shufflin & sophomore F Jordan Sahl shouldering a lot of the load as well. Don’t let the box score from the 40-37 Oriskany W over NYM in the finals (where Graziadei dropped 31) fool you – this has been a potent crew that just happened to take a night off collectively. Franklin is also undefeated, ranked #5 in the state in D, and they also feature a stud of their own. Jordan Beers was a 1st team all-stater last year, and she’s continued her roll this year. They fought off a determined Morris crew in the Section 4 finals, and Beers dropped 24… in the 2nd half. 33 for the game. 2 players puttin da team on their backs doe… I’m very interested in this one. Personally been following Oriskany hoops through the sectional run. Great group of kids. Watched Franklin soccer in the fall, was impressed with workmanlike attitude of players, and some of them are on the basketball court. Also seemed like a good group of kids. Looking forward to it!

Finally, New York Mills/Marathon boys. Admittedly don’t know much about Marathon, but they beat Morris by 5 to make it this far, and they’re actually below .500 – 10-12 on the season. I know enough of Morris to get an idea of Marathon’s ability off that score. NYM is 19-3 and ranked #3 in the state in D. What I will say about NYM is they’re not the most consistent bunch – I can say that because I’ve seen both sides. In the regular season, I watched their highs. They made a highly anticipated matchup with West Canada Valley turn into a Marauder-fest blowout. However, a month later at Oriskany, they laid an egg and ended up losing by about 25. It was a shockingly awful performance (mind you, I called it at halftime with them down 4). They let Copenhagen play them tough to start sectionals, and Oriskany got up double-digits on them early in their quarterfinal game. Since then, NYM has hit another level. They blew Oriskany out in the last 2.5 quarters and got a double digit W, followed that with a W over Faith Heritage, who sported one of the best players in D this year in Luke Last, and dominated Cincy at the Dome with a 25 point W. NYM has some size. Not as much size as before, but 6’5″ Zach Vennaro had a nice showing at the Dome, and 6’3″ Cody Mariotti has been a contributor for them all year. NYM has an experienced point guard. Senior JT Ross was their starting PG in the state championship run as a sophomore. NYM has Nick Comenale. That helps quite a bit. Mr. Silky Smooth has his legs back under him after missing time with a sprained ankle late in the regular season. If NYM goes out and lays an egg tomorrow, expect Marathon to put up quite a fight and perhaps steal one. If NYM plays like they did against Cincy, it might feel like a 32 minute marathon for the Section 4 representatives.

The politician Rob Drumm is in good ol’ Stony Brook for SUNY business this weekend, so it’s just me tomorrow. No Blues Brothers getup like Thursday either – back to normal. Swing by. I might actually wave if my name gets thrown in a chant, New York Mills…

– Jeff Mlinar

10 Most Interesting Things About the Section 3 Finals

With a combination of things on my plate that a workaholic would cry about (school, 2 jobs, modified coaching), I can admit 2 things: I haven’t been able to make as much sectional action as I’d like, and I definitely haven’t posted as much as I’d like. C’est la vie, as they say over in France. However, I did spend Wednesday watching hoops (and getting parking tickets) at OCC, along with all of Sunday. I spent a lot of the time… hmm, you could say information gathering. And getting my name thrown into staple chants in student sections. Thanks again Mills! There are a good number of things that have sparked my interest about these upcoming matchups & things revolving around them – so here goes. The 10 most interesting things about the sectional finals, in no particular order!

1.) Can anyone touch C-NS? Sure, Breanna Stewart’s a Husky now. The Northstars are still rollin’. 17-3 on the season, but 15-0 against Section 3 schools and winning by an average of about a million points per game. They have Corcoran in the AA final. They just played Corcoran 2 weeks ago.. won 63-28. So I guess this isn’t interesting after all. C-NS do what C-NS do. (Oh, by the way, they played a favorite in AA out of Section 2 already in Albany.. beat them 90-27. Yikes.)

2.) In the same vein, how many of these games will actually be competitive? Don’t expect it out of AA girls. The 2 finalists in Class D girls (Oriskany & NYM) have played twice – Oriskany won both 55-31. At the D level for the boys’ side, after watching the Faith Heritage/NYM game and portions of Cincy/McGraw, I feel that the last 2 teams NYM has played to get to the Dome were better than who they’ll play there. Although Cincy showed resilience Sunday, that doesn’t make up for size & skill that NYM wins out on. Westhill & Skaneateles (boys B finalists) played each other early in the season, Westhill 58-43 victors there. However, that one seems like it could be a game. Throw in factors in other games, such as the fact that both teams in the girls A finals (Whitesboro/J-D) have spurtability, along with Cooperstown in C, and if they get going, it could be quite a long night for the opposition. Throw in New Hartford/Ludden in the As for the boys. A lot of these games have good written all over them, but an equal number have good night written all over them, too.

3.) Is this the year for Mohawk? They’ve been knocking on the door the last couple seasons. The Mohicans, 19-1 on the season and winners of 18 straight (though their non-league schedule had more Boeheim cream-puff games than Tom Izzo challenge games), face Fabius-Pompey in the C2 final at HCCC (we’re going to get into this with another point). If this year isn’t it for Mohawk, it never will be… literally. With the Mohawk/Ilion merge a done deal basically, this is the last season of Mohican hoops as we know it. With basically all of Mohawk’s impact players being seniors (sans Mitch Werenczak), this is a core that’s been through the ringer. The fact that their sectional final is practically a home game doesn’t exactly hurt. It’ll be a dogfight against the Falcons – but I’m thinking they’d love to have a matchup at the Dome against Beaver River, the team that knocked them out of the playoffs at the semifinal level last year.

4.) Speaking of Mohawk and HCCC… Section 3 preaches that these games are at “neutral sites”. However, I have to ask myself, is this really a neutral site? Sure, it’s not at Jarvis. Couldn’t get any closer though! I’ve made the Herkimer-to-Fabius drive multiple times before (seriously). It’s about an hour and a half, give or take a few depending on if there are any cops or Amish on the roads. Better chance of seeing the horses & carriages. I’ve also made the Herkimer-to-Mohawk drive multiple times before (again, seriously). It’s about rock-throwing distance. I know Mohawk’s the #1 seed, so the game deserves to be closer to them. However, the section has always said that these games should be half the distance to the higher seed as it is to the lower seed. Wait… how about RFA? Sounds about right! As a Herkimer resident, the proximity is cool with me, and I’ve made enough pointless trips to Syracuse to gladly take this (such as Herkimer/Cooperstown, Little Falls/Cooperstown, and Mohawk/WCV at OCC this past week). It’s still a pain in the ass to see Section 3 be so hypocritical on things such as this, though.

5.) How many people actually care about the best game of the event? I normally wouldn’t make a comment that sounds so ridiculously biased, but I think this one is obvious after looking at the facts. There haven’t been many more games to me that have been more interesting on paper and in mind than Notre Dame/South Jefferson in the B girls final. 2 absolutely dominant teams. South Jeff comes in undefeated and ranked #6 in the state, Notre Dame at #19, which is bogus. There are not 18 teams in NYS Class B better than Notre Dame. They might get at you differently on the offensive end. South Jeff spreads the love (Austin Stevens leading the way at 13.5 ppg, 5 players around 7 or more). Although Notre Dame has plenty of scoring threats, when all is said and done, the rock is in Emily Durr’s hands. Both teams make their living by shutting you down defensively. Notre Dame came into Westhill’s house (ranked #5 in B) and beat them by 20. South Jeff played Caz at OCC (ranked #11 in B) and beat them by over 30. No one has touched South Jeff up north in years. Notre Dame is next-to-untouchable in the Utica area. Two powerhouse programs meeting up. Get your popcorn ready.

6.) Can New Hartford hang with Ludden? Very interesting game – well, at least it could be. One of the rare games at this point in the season where I look at it and think it could be extremely competitive or a complete blowout. If Ludden exploits where they have the advantage (SIZE SIZE SIZE), this one could be in the books. However, NH can really get hot from deep. Each Henderson could give you 20+, each one could hit 5 or 6 treys. Tom Clifford’s in the game to give you a long-range threat, and he hit 2 big ones in succession against Carthage in the 4th. Not to mention pretty much anyone else that they put on the floor can give you a deep threat, with the general exception of their 2 post players. If Ludden pounds the blocks, gets NH in foul trouble, and defends the 3 point line, this one could get nasty. If NH hits a few treys and Ludden lets Sparty get some confidence, this could be a shootout at the OK Corral!

7.) Is this the year that Henninger beats Proctor in a sectional final? Proctor is the defending AA champs at the boys side, and they beat Henninger to win it. Proctor/Henninger used to be the battle back in my high school days, with Proctor guys such as Deandre Preaster, Wes Jackson, Ron Tarver, Akeem Flagg, and Henninger guys such as Ben Cronin, David Simmons, Stefan Gage, Kihary Blue. The last time Henninger was the top dog in these battles was back in the ’03-’04 days, where Proctor had one Josh Wright (Syracuse University), but Henninger had one Cornelious Vines (Hofstra) and Andray Blatche (NBA). They’ve played each other twice this season, with each team winning by double digits on their own floor. Can’t wait to see the madness that ensues! Hopefully not in between the two student sections and next to Tevin Chisholm’s family like last year.

8.) Whose student section will be the best?! Through the regular season, I said it wasn’t even a competition: Ludden’s kids BROUGHT IT. Original, entertaining, and besides the idiot who ran on the court at the end of their game against Grimes, legal. However, NYM’s Marauder Maniacs gave them some stiff competition over the weekend during the Faith Heritage/NYM boys game. I know Proctor and Henninger will both bring it. So who will it be? The favorite Bishop Ludden, the upstart NYM, the always tough Raider Nation, the equally-as-tough Henninger crew, or will it be a darkhorse? Bring your A+ games, student sections! Even if that means including my name in a chant…

9.) Who will make their name here? Last year, Tyler Cavanaugh came out and impressed. Shannon “Every Day” Van Shufflin iced it for her Oriskany Redskins. Little Falls made the story of a lifetime with 7 strong winning the C title. A couple years ago, Anthony DelCoro went from Del”Who”ro to DelHero in one game for C-NS. Who will it be this year? Nick Comenale is looking for it – he played well in the Dome last year, too. Carson Murphy, with over 1,600 career points, could cement himself here. Chris Simmons? Austin Stevens? Liz Millea? Or will it be someone else? Someone we don’t expect? Only time will tell…

10.) Who’s ready for an MVT invasion? We won’t be there Wednesday or Thursday – previous obligations. However, the boys finals will get the MVT takeover on Sunday. Get your popcorn ready!

– Jeff Mlinar

Section 3 Girls Soccer Athletes of the Year

Alert: we have co-athletes of the year at the small school level. Too tough to choose at this juncture. Here goes.

LARGE SCHOOL – Jessica Holmes (Jamesville-Dewitt)

She may not have the sort of standout numbers that you’ll be seeing with our small-school athletes, but her impact on a team that made it to the Class A state championship game is unquestioned. J-D had a strong team – good players at every position so one person must do great things to stand out. Once it hit sectional/regional time, Jess did just that: turned her game up to the next level. She scored 15 goals on the season – 7 of them in sectional/regional play, over half of J-D’s total goals in that timeframe (12). She had a pair in their quarterfinal game against New Hartford, the one to break the scoreless tie in the 2nd half and the one to make it 3-0 and really put it away. She scored both in their 2-1 W over Camden, the A semifinal. She put through the lone goal in their A final over Whitesboro on a scramble off a corner. She didn’t just stop at sectionals – put one through in their 2-1 comeback W over Massena in the regional final, and scored the lone goal in their state semifinal victory over Brighton. Get the trend? She made big plays when it counted. Jamesville-Dewitt had some bigtime players all over the field – but at the pair of games I was at, she separated herself. She had a motor that didn’t stop. I made the remark to another media member at a game that she was acting as J-D’s Energizer bunny. She made every run, even if it was far-fetched for her to catch up to it, and it put pressure on defenders to make quicker decisions. She has a relentless game, a gas tank that seems to always be on F, and a whole lot of skill to go with it; and the coaches at the next level notice this. She was an early commit to North Carolina to play soccer (yes, the UNC, my college team for life), but the NCAA (or as I call it, Nazis Controlling Amateur Athletics) is doing their boundary overstepping and their program is under a little fire with accusations of violations. Maybe they shook the hand of a recruit or something, I don’t know. Other schools are hot on her trail with offers in hand though, including (I believe this was her mother who told me this one) Vanderbilt, among others. Wherever she ends up, she’s bound to succeed with the rare combination of skill, relentlessness, and work ethic that she possesses. We wish you the best of luck at the next level, Jess, and congrats on the MVT Large-School Girls Soccer Athlete of the Year!

 

SMALL SCHOOL – Erin O’Connor (Remsen)/Mikayla Blumenstock (Poland)

Crazy that the CSC IV was so damn good that both of our recipients come from the same league. Small school was a little tougher – there are people who aren’t getting this that would most years. Class B was stacked, Elisa Marchione was Elisa Marchione, Bailey Rutan continued with a strong season in an illustrious career at Cincy. However, two people really stood up from the pack: I call them The Present and The Future. We’ll start with Erin. If you don’t know about her accomplishments yet, stop hanging out with Patrick Star and get out from under that rock. All she did was have one of the most productive seasons offensively that New York State has ever seen. If I remember correctly, 58 goals on the season, which, when the NYSPHSAA updates their record books, will tie her for 4th all-time for most goals in a season. She finished her nearly unprecedented high school career with 180 goals, which puts her at 6th on the career goal list, and 3rd in Section 3 history. We already posted something about this (check Erin O’Connor and the Battering Rams on Jeff’s Jabs), but a quick brief: everybody around her on the list has either played Division 1 soccer, professional soccer, or both. Not bad company. The team, ranked #1 in the state in D for an extended period of time, was upset (damn near shockingly) by Cincy in the D semis, but that doesn’t take away from the sort of numbers Erin had. Hell, if she had a hat trick, the first thought in my head was that’s it? That shows how ridiculous your numbers are if that’s my thought. So Erin, best of luck wherever you’re headed next year and we’re sure you’ll excel there as well!

Onto Mikayla. She’s the future in my head, but she showed she’s the present as well with what she did this year, especially in the postseason. She was an absolute terror to defenses for the Class D state champion Poland Tornadoes, and her speed and skill sent teams packing. Like J-D, Poland had a team. I still think Paige Sullivan is one of the most underrated players in the section, and I saw about half of the teams in the section this year and all of the good ones. Tara Seigle could put the ball in the back of the net, as she showed by scoring twice in the state final, including the OT goal (off a Blumenstock assist). Mikayla was just able to make a big name for herself and command attention with her performance in the win-or-go-home stages. She had 39 goals and several assists over the course of this season, her freshman year. Serious. She had a hat trick in the D quarterfinal game against Sackets Harbor, a hat trick in the D final, a 5-3 W over upstart Cincy, and a hat trick in their 4-1 regional victory over Franklin. She had a goal in each game in Cortland, a 2-1 semifinal victory over Jasper-Troupsburg and a 3-2 OT W over Chateaugay in the final. She also assisted both Tara Seigle goals in that state final. I personally watched Poland play twice this year – in the middle of the regular season, in a 6-1 beatdown that they took from Remsen, and then the 4-1 beatdown they gave Franklin in the regional final. Two totally different teams, and I think a whole lot of that had to do with the evolution of Mikayla Blumenstock. I left Remsen thinking two things: first, this game was closer than what the score indicates, but Remsen is better, and second, Paige Sullivan is their best player, no question. When MVT hit Fulton for the game against Franklin, an entirely different Poland team, a team with a fast, skilled, confident Blumenstock spearheading the offense, was on display. A couple of her goals were her speed doing the trick and one move doing the rest – beat everyone to the ball or up the field and had a 1 on 1 with a strong Franklin GK that was stepping out, and shook her to get the goal. The other goal was incredible – watched her dance and dribble her way through 5 Franklin players like they were parking cones in dribbling drills and put a strike past the keeper. One of the most skilled goals I’ve seen this year. And just to think… she’s a freshman (clap clap clap-clap-clap). With her, Sullivan (a junior), and Seigle (also a junior) back next year… look out, world.

Congrats to both Erin O’Connor and Mikayla Blumenstock, Section 3 MVT Girls Soccer Small School Co-Athletes of the Year!

Section 3 Football Athletes of the Year

Finally here, let the debate begin. A lot of players had big-time seasons, but we’ve narrowed it to a large school and small school athlete. This is about who was the most valuable piece to their team – not necessarily the best player on the best team. Here goes!

LARGE SCHOOL – Tyler Rouse (Baldwinsville)

Hopefully there wasn’t much debate here. The kid put up more numbers in 10 football games this season than most athletes do in 3 year varsity careers. He was the heart and soul of this team on the field in every aspect. He ran the ball harder than anyone else this year, and he came back defensively and hit the other team’s running backs as hard as other teams wish they could’ve hit him. He had a ridiculous amount of hype built up over the first 8 games – MVT had the pleasure of being at the last 2, and all we can say is: believe the hype. He finished up one nice gain away from a 3,000 yard season, with 2,977 yards on 331 carries. He ran for 45 TDs (and a 46th TD on a punt return), 15 of those rushing TDs at least 50 yard scampers, and 2 more of them were 49 yard runs. He led the Bees to the AA final when honestly, he wasn’t just the focal point of their offense; he was their offense. He averaged over 10 yards per carry in 5 of the 10 games played, the greatest being slightly over 14 yards per carry, a 26 rush, 366 yard performance against RFA. By the way, he was out for the 3rd quarter that game… at the hospital getting stitches. Came back and continued to go nuts. His season high rushing was 2 weeks after that against Liverpool, a 54-29 W in which he accounted for 7 TDs, 3 of them over 50 yard runs, and 388 yards on 38 carries. When sectionals came around, he didn’t slow down. During the 3 games, he rushed for games of 262, 274, and 209, with 12 TDs between the 3 games. As a testament of how good Rouse was, that game of 209 yards and 3 TDs? The consensus was that CBA contained him. Dude still ran for over 200 yards. I’d like to be good enough that people feel I’ve been contained if I “only” rush for 209. Also liked his attitude. Got to spend both of those games on the Bville sideline, and in general, the team wears their emotions on their sleeve. If they’re happy, you know it. If they’re not, cover your ears. Rouse had a very even-keel, focused demeanor. Didn’t ride the highs, didn’t ride the lows. Kept playing every down like it was his last, but didn’t really show frustration. I appreciated watching that, personally. Although the sectional title in AA eluded them with a 35-24 L to CBA, Rouse definitely proved his worth and then some, and for that, he is the Section 3 MVT Large School Football Athlete of the Year.

 

SMALL SCHOOL – Conor Herr (Skaneateles)

There were a number of kids who put up big numbers in our small-school level, but again, we feel that this one was pretty easy to call. Skaneateles was coming off of a major scandal, really unprecedented when it comes to public high school sports in New York, and that’s coming from journalists who have been in the hunt longer than I’ve been alive. This team could have just folded under the scrutiny, but they turned around with a new coach and new guys at basically every skill position, and they won their 1st sectional title. QB Conor Herr was the spearhead of the movement, and he had the numbers to match. In 11 games, he went 188/321, slightly under 59% completion percentage, and 2,778 yards in the air. He also ran for 588 yards, bringing his total beyond Rouse’s number: 3,366 on the season. He threw for 40 scores and ran for a half dozen more. Herr put up big numbers when it counted – especially the C-1 and overall C finals. Against Bishop Ludden, a team that gave Skaneateles a scare in the 1st game of the season, Herr was efficient. It was one of only two games that he attempted less than 20 passes, and also one of only two games (same other game) that he threw for less than 200 yards. However, now let’s get to the actual numbers. He went 13/19, threw for 183 and 3 TDs, and ran for 111 yards and 2 TDs. He accounted for everything but the XPs and a field goal in their win. He followed that up with even more all-purpose yards in the overall C final against Herkimer, throwing for 289 and rushing for 52 (341 total). He went 17 for 31, shaking off a dry spell for a long portion of the 1st half after their early outburst. He threw for all 5 TDs, including 4 to favorite target Jake Cooney, in their 33-16 W. He threw for over 300 yards 4 times, highest number being a 327 yard game at the beginning of the season against Ludden, and he also rushed for over 100 yards a pair of times, highest being 126 in the regular season finale. Herr is a very strong thrower, but drop a lot back into coverage, and he’s not afraid to run for big yards until you respect that. The true dual threat that he brings led us to proclaim that he was an all-around better football player than last year’s QB, highly touted Troy Green. They ended up taking a 28-21 L to a tough Chenango Forks in regionals, but that doesn’t take away from what the squad at Skaneateles was able to accomplish this season. Congrats to Conor Herr, Section 3 MVT Small-School Football Athlete of the Year.

College Rankings

Theses are my guesses for College Football rankings

Notre Dame – 1
Alabama – 2
Georgia – 3
Oregon  – 4

Just a guess. We will see what happens. Stay tuned

~Rob

UPDATE

Check out Jeff’s Jabs and Rob’s Rants for some of our thoughts recently. Just put the mouse over the tab and find something in the drop down. Feel free to comment on it for us.

Section 3 Athletes of the Week – 10/22 to 10/28

Time for our MVT Athletes of the Week. We don’t do it like others. We cover such a large base (2 sections, which means over 200 schools), it wouldn’t be fair to just one athlete. Therefore, the wealth will be spread. We select an athlete for Large School Football (Class AA-B), Small School Football (Class C-D), Boys Soccer, Girls Soccer, and Field Hockey. This is Section 3 – check back for Section 2. Here goes!

Large School Football – Don’t really think there’s a whole lot of debate. This kid has been an absolute powerhouse, a man among boys. He’s created buzz through the section, the state – hell, the country, and he finds his way onto our Athlete of the Week stage. This, of course, would be Tyler Rouse, all-everything RB at Baldwinsville. Every team they’ve played has known exactly where the ball is going to go at least 80% of the time, but they haven’t been able to stop him – coming into this week, he was leading the nation in TDs – but let’s talk about this week. Dude went crazier than Chappelle once he got his money. I had him with 35 carries and 274 yards with 4 TDs in a 38-36 thriller over Fayetteville-Manlius. It wasn’t the amount of yardage he had that got to me, or even the amount of TDs. It was the times and situations that he broke those free, what his big plays did for his team on the sidelines, and what they did to the opposing sidelines (spent time on both sidelines, got a pretty nice sample set). His first touch was the first score of the game. He got to the left, juked the jock srap off an F-M defender, and proceeded to blow 75 yards into the end zone, which we call the Rouse House because he lives there. On the first play from scrimmage in the 2nd half, he took one 54 yards to the house to extend the Bees lead to 28-9. Right after F-M scored to bring it back down to 2 possessions a few minutes later, Tyler made the play of the day. It looked like he was going to be stood up for a short gain at one point, but he somehow broke free from that, got through/around someone else, and before you know it, he’s running back home with no one stopping him, that one a 51 yarder. That was his 4th TD of the game, 3rd of 50 yards or longer. When The Roadrunner ran in the 54 yarder, words could not describe the lull that hit the F-M sideline. Granted, they came back and made it more than just interesting, but with the 54 and 51 yard runs within 7 minutes of each other, it seemed to take the wind right out of people’s sails for a little while. The Baldwinsville bench, on the other hand, was the most animated sideline I’ve been on all year… without the Rouse runs. Very emotional group that tends to wear their hearts on their sleeves, which means it’s a hell of a rollercoaster ride over there when things are going both good and bad. Through the game, Tyler was the one kid who I really thought remained level-headed. His emotions never got too high or too low when he was on the side (which was rare, only kickoffs – one of their few 2-way guys). He had an almost eerie calm about him, almost like he didn’t care what was thrown at him & the team, he’d be able to throw a stronger counter. Between the 274 on the ground and a couple bigtime breakthroughs in the backfield, it looks like he always could throw that counter. Looking forward to the AA final at the Carrier Dome Saturday, pitting Rouse, his insane numbers, and his Baldwinsville squad against CBA and their insane defense. Should be worth the price of admission!!

Small School Football – Full credit to Rob Drumm for swaying  this one, because there were multiple candidates. Zack Green from Westmoreland had a big night, running for 2 TDs and kicking 3 FGs as their squad relished in the rare underdog role, smacking the #1 seed West Canada Valley, previously ranked #5 in the state. Conor Herr had his usual big night for Skaneateles, throwing 3 TD passes and running for 2 TDs as they beat Bishop Ludden 38-19 in the C1 final. However, a kid closer to home for us had some kind of a night this weekend, and condsidering the circumstances, we feel he is deserving of an Athlete of the Week. This one goes to Herkimer QB Austin Mills. Mills has been fighting off an ankle injury the past few weeks, but he showed no ill-effects from it Saturday night. And when feature RB Matt Borek went down for the game after he took a helmet to the knee well after the whistle blew (who already had 51 yds and a TD off 5 carries by mid-2nd), Mills took over. I had him finishing the game with 284 total yards, throwing 9/12 with 159 yards and 2 TDs, and rushing for 125 yards on 25 carries and a TD. On the 2nd play of a Herkimer drive right after Lowville tied the game up at 7, Mills threw a bomb to a wide open WR Zach Steele while rolling out to his right. It was a 58 yard TD, and the ball carried about that far in the air. His other TD was another one to Steele on a 4th and 8, where he rolled right again and threw it across his body to the left, falling into Steele’s hands in the end zone. He made big plays when they needed to be made, and was a big reason why Herkimer held the ball for nearly 30 of the 48 minutes, and were able to run off 20 more plays than the opposition. With this year being his first at the QB spot, he’s had to learn and grow constantly. He’s continued to get stronger as the season went on, culminating in what we feel was his strongest performance of the season in a game to bring the 2nd straight banner to Herkimer. Another one worth the price of admission directly before the AA game on Saturday, can’t wait to see Herkimer back at the Dome playing the game that was supposed to be played last year against Skaneateles! Should be a lot of fireworks in that one.

Boys Soccer – This kid has been the man all year, and he’s led his boys, seeded #6 in Class C sectionals, to the C semifinals. Our boys soccer athlete of the week goes to Mt. Markham striker Tyler Plows. Plows has been a dominant force throughout the season, and this week was no different. He scored both goals in their 2-1 W over #11 seed WCV, who came in as a formidable enough #11, since they actually won the CSC II title. They turned around, went up to #3 Lowville, and won another extra time game 3-2. Plows scored 2 of their 3 goals in this one too. It’s tough enough to score a pair in sectionals when everyone knows you’re the man – it’s even tougher to do it when you’re in a game with a different board of officials. Utica and Watertown board refs really like to screw teams from the other side over. Plows was able to break Mt. Markham’s single-season scoring record this week, and he’s still going. They have a formidable opponent next in #2 Fabius-Pompey, but they already beat the #3. And when you have Plows, who knows?

Read more about Tyler Plows HERE

Girls Soccer – We went against the mold on this one. For this week, a kid who was on a team with a lower seed that led their team to 2 wins over the week took precedence over a higher seeded team with 1 win. The only girls soccer team in Section III who took home 2 wins this week was Westhill, a hell of a #5 seed at 14-3-1. They won in a 1-0 game in OT, and a 0-0 draw that was won via penalty shootout. Westhill GK Samantha Peebles and the entire Westhill defense put up a stiff fight here, so we’ll give them all honorable mention. However, we need to choose just one athlete of the week, and this week’s one (Drumm helped sway this one as well) belongs to WCV striker Alexis Fauvelle. WCV came into sectionals 14-2 and the #2 seed in C2. They started off with a hell of a challenge, playing an Onondaga team that was much better than their #7 seed indicated, coming from an OHSL league much stronger than what CSC II has to offer. Alexis had 2 goals and was the reason for the opportunity given on the other one. With Onondaga holding a 1-0 lead very early in the 2nd half, Fauvelle tied the game up off an Andrea Christensen groundball cross. She actually kinda whiffed on the first attempt but kept running through and finally was able to bury it home when an Onondaga defender tried to clear it and went back to her. With Onondaga holding a 2-1 lead at around the 13 minute mark, Fauvelle outran everyone for a cross that wasn’t connected on, including the ‘Daga GK Sam Annable, who left the goal. Lex cut it back to get a better angle, and Annable went down to try and pounce on the ball, putting a nice shoulder into Fauvelle’s back in the process. WCV was awarded a penalty kick due to Fauvelle’s work and taking the hit, and Kalli Warmingham put it through to tie it up with 12:55 left. Warmingham put a cross through that took a high bounce a few minutes later, and Fauvelle put through goal #2 with a header, and that proved to be the game-winner at the 8:13 mark. It wasn’t just the 2 goals. It was in the situations that the 2 goals were scored (getting the 1st equalizer and then the game-winner), and it was the goal-scoring opportunities she provided, including the aforementioned PK. They’ve got a fun one in the C2 semifinals whenever Sandy goes back to Bikini Bottom against MPH, a team I’ve watched once and they’re… good. Best of luck to Alexis Fauvelle and WCV!

Field Hockey – There were also a number of people that could be given this. Hell, there were multiple people we could give this to on the same team. Lots of theatrics in sectionals this week, between penalty stroke shootouts, sudden-death OT goals, late drama, you name it, we had it. There were a few teams though that won 2 games this week. 2 of them didn’t allow a goal in either game. However, 1 of those teams had a less dramatic 4-0 W, while the other team took home a pair of 1-0 wins. I could give it to Carly Dziekan, do-it-all Marauder who I saw bang home the winner against Mt. Markham last week after taking what looked like a nasty spill, and she put home the lone goal again this week against Mohawk. However, I feel like this is a very underrated team on the defensive end. Watched them with their backs pinned against the wall in Mt. Markham for 16-17 straight minutes without giving up a goal – testament to the D and who they have between the pipes. She made some big-time saves in that game, and she made a couple big-time saves against Mohawk when a Mohican had room and slapped a solid one on goal, including when they were preserving that 1-0 lead late. Therefore, our athlete of the week goes to New York Mills GK Amanda Maciol. Getting shutouts in sectionals isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do. Doing it twice in a row, including against Weedsport, and getting to the D final by not allowing a goal is clutch. Maciol was credited with 5 saves against Mohawk and 4 against Weedsport. She does a good job of stopping shots, and she does a good job of getting the ball the hell out of a dangerous area when she stops them. I watched NYM get a couple opportunities in open space off a Maciol kick away from goal. They have a formidable, well-rounded team. However, to have that successful team, you need a rock protecting the metal, and they have their Rock of Gibraltar in Maciol. Da Mills gets Morrisville in the D final (the other team that hasn’t allowed a goal!) Saturday at C-NS. All bets are off in that one. Best of luck to Maciol, all of the MVT followers in the Mills (best support out of any single team period), and NYM as a whole!

Section 2 Girls Soccer Sectional Games & Breakdowns

Girls Soccer

AA – Shaker/Guilderland, Bethlehem/Nisky – Saturday @ Schuylerville. Shaker comes in as the 6 seed at 9-8, but sneaking in at #24 in the state in AA. They’ve been a fan of low-scoring games this year, barely scoring 20 goals all year, but barely allowing 20 goals as well. They made it here with a 1-0 W over Saratoga, the 3 seed. Guilderland comes in as the #2 seed, ranked #19 in the state at 13-3-1. They’re a bit more offense-friendly, topping the 50 goal mark on the season with their 4-2 quarterfinal W over Columbia. Jessica Capone & Laurie Knapp lead the way for them offensively, Capone with 17 goals and Knapp with 11. These teams played each other at Guilderland back on September 19 – the home team came away with a 4-1 victory. In our other semi, Bethlehem comes in at the #5 seed, 11-4-2, and the only unranked AA semifinal team. Bethlehem got here with a 1-0 quarterfinal W @ #4 Shen. Against the norm, the goal was not scored by Tara Teal, leading their team scoring 23 of their 36 goals. They take on Nisky, the #1 seed and ranked #4 in AA. They’re 16-1 on the season, a 2-1 upset from Saratoga a couple weeks ago being the only blemish. They spread out the scoring assault between a couple main girls, Meghan Doyle (21) and Anka Parzych (20). Parzych scored 2 goals in their 4-0 quarterfinal W over Colonie – and they boast 2 1-goal wins over Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, the #2 team in the state in A. Bethlehem and Niskayuna played each other back on October 2 – Parzych also scored 2 goals in that game, a 3-1 W for Nisky.

A – Scotia/South Glens Falls, Mohon/BH-BL – Wednesday @ Stillwater. Possibly the most conventional bracket in Section 2, with the only “upset” being a 5 over a 4 – 1-3 all in semis along with the 5. We’ll start with the 2/3 game. Scotia-Glenville comes in with the #3 seed, 13-3-1, and ranked #25 in the state in A. They shook off a 4-3 loss to Queensbury in the last game of the regular season by beating Lansingburgh 3-0 in sectional quarterfinals. Scotia also likes to put them goals on the board – 93 on the season, good for 2nd in Section 2. Sophie Constantino (23) and Max Culhane (16) lead the way, and there’s a very balanced attack behind that. South Glens Falls comes in as the #2 seed, 14-3 overall record, and #22 in the state. They boast Sam Blizzard, who’s tied for the lead in Section 2 in goals scored with 42. They got by Averill Park in the quarterfinals with a 1-0 W – goal was not scored by Sam. That was also their 8th shutout of the season. These teams played each other twice in the regular season, each winning on their home field – SGF with a 3-1 W on September 27, Scotia with a 1-0 W to end the regular season on October 20. In our other semifinal, Mohon comes in as the 5 seed, yet below .500. They knocked off the #4 seed Queensbury, featuring exciting freshman Brittany LaPlant, 3-2 in quarterfinals. They take on the far-and-away favorite to win the section, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake. They’re the #1 seed, 13-4, and ranked #2 in the state. They play a schedule full of AA opponents. 2 of their losses were to #4 in the state in AA Nisky, as mentioned before. They’re 3-0 against the other 2 ranked teams in Section 2 AA (Shaker and Guilderland). They’re outscoring opponents 70-16, but 11 of those goals were given up in their first 4 games. Since then? 62-5. They come into semifinals after totally demolishing Glens Falls… like stealing their lunch money and giving them a swirlie while they were at it. 13-1. I’ll say it again. 13-1. Skye Kaler had 5 goals in the game, and she’s the 3rd leading scorer on the team. They have a balanced attack, with Morgan Burchhardt (17), Meghan Malone (16), and Kaler (13) doing the majority of the scoring. Burchhardt is also Section 2’s leader in dimes, dropping 25 of them. They played back on October 2 at BH-BL – the home team scored 4 in the 2nd half in a 5-0 W.

B – Broadalbin/CCHS, Coxsackie-Athens/Schalmont – Thursday @ Stillwater. Broadalbin-Perth (again, what up Mike Carney!) comes in as our 3 seed, 16-3 record, and #22 in the state in B. They’ve made it to this point with a 1-0 W over Ravena and a 5-0 W over Schuylerville. Katie Herba had the lone goal in the 1st game, a hat trick in the 2nd, and the junior leads her team in both goals (31) and assists (14). Those marks are good for 7th and 5th in Section 2, respectively. They’ve put 65 through the pipes this season, which works out to an average of around 3.5 per game. They have CCHS out of Troy (Troy Catholic on the state ranking sheet), who are the #2 seed in B, 16-0-2 on the season, and #11 in the state. They have 3 players with double-digit goals on the season, led by Madison Purcell (16). The other 2 are Alexis Riffelbach (12) and Lauren Drake (10). They got here with a 5-0 1st round win over Cohoes and a 5-3 W over Greenville in the quarterfinals. The goal-scoring was proportional with the season – Purcell had 4 over the 2 games, Riffelbach 3, and Drake 2. Our other semifinal: Coxsackie-Athens comes in the 5 seed, 15-2-1, but the only unranked B semifinal team. They have a top 10 goal scorer in Brianna Blunck (25) and Karyna Davy (16) has proven to be a viable option. They picked up a 4-0 1st round W over Catskill (2 goals out of Davy) and a 2-1 quarterfinal W over Ichabod Crane (Blunck put one through). They haven’t lost a game in October, going 10-0 while outscoring opponents 44-9. Schalmont, on the other side, is a force. They’re the undisputed 1 seed, far-and-away favorite, and tied for #1 in the state in B with Oneonta. They have 5 players that have scored double digits, and they lead Section 2 in team scoring by 38 goals. They have 131 goals – 2nd place has 93. WOW. Their double-digit scorers are Diana DiCocco (34 – leads team, 5th in Section 2), Rachael Gac (25 – tied for 10th in Section 2), Allie Gallo (16), Alexandra Cardinal (14), and Ciara Vitallo (10). Cardinal, Vitallo, and Madeline Saccocio also have double-digit dimes. Yes, they’ve scored 131 goals – but they’ve only given up 3. That’s insane. They beat Holy Names 10-1 in the 1st round, with 8 different players scoring, and then 8-0 over Cobleskill, Diana DiCocco putting 3 through in that one. Taylor Gould does the majority of the goalkeeping duties, and she’s a sophomore. Good luck to anyone that has to go up against that juggernaut… maybe one of these 3 teams will have something to say about that!

C – We’re still stuck at quarterfinals in this one. The 8 seed Galway takes on #1 seed Hoosick Falls, ranked #4 in the state. Junior Erica Chase leads the way for the Golden Eagles of Galway (another with 25), and she scored 2 and assisted on an Abby Spagnola goal in their 3-2 1st round victory over Berlin. Hoosick Falls is the 3rd highest scoring team in Section 2, 91 goals on the season. 5 in double digits – Grace Delurey (24), Jordyn Haynes (23), Alice Hayden (11), Rachel Pine (11), and Allie Martin (10). Delurey also has 17 assists – Mackenzie Hinchcliffe is a dime machine. While only scoring twice, she’s handed out 21 assists. Rachel Pine scored 4 times on Saturday in their 8-0 1st round W over Waterford. The winner of that game takes on the winner of Schoharie/Albany Academy. Schoharie pulled off an upset to get here with a 1-0 1st round W over #4 seed Canajoharie behind a goal by Hannah Bowersox, and Albany Academy beat Maple Hill 3-0 in the 1st round behind 2 Talia Rockmore goals. On the other half of the bracket, the #6 seed Middleburgh takes on #3 Mechanicville, ranked #18 in the state. Middleburgh comes in with a record of 13-3 and boasting the 6th leading goal-scorer in Section 2, Amanda Roney (sounds like a pasta) with 33. They haven’t lost a game since September 19 (according to the TU) which makes 9 Ws in a row, and their 1st round game was a 2-0 W over Voorheesville… I think you can guess who scored both goals. Mechanicville comes in at 13-3-1. Mikayla Gowett is their most threatening offensive player, scoring 21 goals on the season. They also have not lost a game in the month of October, reeling off 9 straight Ws by a combined score of 27-8 with 5 shutouts. Their 1st round game was a 2-1 W over Stillwater, finished by a Samie Hayner OT goal. The winner of this game plays the winner of Greenwich/Hoosic Valley. Greenwich is the #10 seed, and they’re coming off of a win over the #7 seed Berne-Knox-Westerlo, which no information has been provided about. Hoosic Valley is the #2 seed, at 11-3-3, and ranked #16 in this week’s Class C polls. They have 3 girls scoring double-digits on the season – Sydney Fitzpatrick (18), Cassidy Chapko (14), and Lauren Madigan (10). They’re coming off a 3-0 1st round victory over Lake George, where all 3 of the aforementioned players put one through. Hoosic Valley is 6-0-2 in the month of October – they played the Witches of Greenwich twice this season. At HV, the home team won 4-1, and at Greenwich, they played to a scoreless draw.

The winners of these quarterfinal games will play in the semifinals on Friday at Schuylerville.

D – St. Johnsville/Loudonville Christian, Northville/Fort Ann – Friday at Broadalbin-Perth. St. Johnsville is sitting as the #6 seed, and they apparently knocked off the #3 Mekeel in quarterfinals. However, no information has been provided. Loudonville Christian will try to get revenge for the loss their boys team just took to St. Johnsville in sectionals a few days ago. They’re the 2 seed, 12-3-1, and tied for #20 in the state in D. They also boast a strong scorer in the section – Fiona Fittro (30, 8th in the section). They’ve only lost one game since September 12, and they’re coming off a 5-0 quarterfinal victory over Heatly, where Fittro banged home a pair. In our other semi, Northville sits at the #4 seed. They don’t score too much, but they don’t give up too much either. Staying true to form, they made it to the semifinals with a 1-0 W in quarters over Bolton. That was their 7th shutout of the season. Fort Ann is absolutely atrocious at sending information into the Times Union, and I don’t feel like looking at Saratoga’s paper or anything, but I’ll say this. They are the 1 seed, ranked #2 in the state in D, and they’ve been in the top 3 basically all year. They beat Salem to make it to the semifinals.

Best of luck everyone! Follow us @Section3MVT on Twitter. If you’d like my own non-MVT thoughts, I love more followers on my own Twitter: @jmlinar21. MVT also boasts the politician, @Rob_Drumm. Hope to catch one of your games soon!

– Jeff Mlinar

Section 2 Updated Boys Soccer Brackets & Breakdown

Boys Soccer

AA – Semifinal time, as it is for everyone except for the C girls. Niskayuna will be taking on Shen, and Bethlehem will play Albany, both Thursday at Colonie. Nisky is coming off a 1-0 W over Shaker in quarters, a 1st half goal from Brenden Griffiths being the difference. Shen had a 3-0 W over Colonie in quarterfinals – 2 goals came off the boot of Drew Lewis. They’ve split their 2 meetings this year, each winning on the road. Shen took home a 3-1 W against Nisky on the 1st game of the season, September 4. Nisky evened it with a 1-0 W on October 9. In the other semifinal, Bethlehem will be taking on Albany. Bethlehem is coming in with a record of 15-0-2 and a 3-0 quarterfinal win over Ballston Spa. 3 Eagles scored a goal apiece, and it was their 11th shutout of the year – 6th in a row. The last time Bethlehem allowed a goal was on October 4! Albany has won a pair of sectional games leading up to this semifinal, 2-1 over Saratoga and a 1-1 tie with Guilderland that they took in PKs. They were down 1-0 in both games. They come in with a record of 10-2-4 and most importantly, they sport a kid on their roster named Hot Chu.

A – Mohon/Troy, Averill Park/South Glens Falls, both at Johnstown Thursday. Mohonasen comes in appearing to be a particularly deceiving #10 seed. Looking at their schedule, it looks like they’re an A playing mainly AAs all year. Their season record is far from stellar, but they come in sporting a pair of 1-0 sectional victories already, one against Lansingburgh and the other against Scotia-Glenville. Troy comes in the #3 seed, with a 13-2-1 record. They beat Queensbury 3-0 in quarters, 2 goals from Akrum Mezza. According to the Times Union rundown, they haven’t allowed a goal in more than a month – last one was September 22 in a 2-1 W over SGF. That’s 9 shutouts in a row! Our other semifinal: Averill Park comes in as an upstart 8 seed, playing in the same conference as the #10 Mohon. The TU has them at a record of 7-9, but they have a pair of 2-1 victories in sectionals so far. First against Amsterdam, then Saturday against the #1 Albany Academy. Actually, they have 3 2-1 wins in a row – they beat the aforementioned Mohon by that score in the last game of the regular season.

B – Broadalbin-Perth/Ichabod Crane, Coxsackie-Athens/Greenville – Thursday @ Queensbury. This should be interesting. Broadalbin (what up Mike Carney!) comes in with a record of 14-2-1, winning 2 previous sectional games by the scores of 8-0 and 5-0. They’ve outscored opponents 25-0 in the last 4 games, and their only 2 losses are to Scotia, the #2 seed in A that was upset over the weekend. This is a team that can put goals on the board in bunches – 80 goals on the season, 24 for Tucker Wilcox, 16 for Ben Bellandi, and 10 from Joe Zarecki. They’re ranked #8 in the state in B. And they’re the 4 seed. Ichabod Crane comes in as the #1 seed, ranked #3 in the state. So yes, this B semifinal is a battle between two teams ranked in the top 10 in the state. IC is 16-0-1, an early season tie to Schalmont being the only “blemish”. They have a pair of 4-0 wins to their sectional record, one against Johnstown (a team that Broadalbin just beat 7-0 a week prior) and the other against Tamarac. They’ve had 5 straight shutouts and only allowed one goal in the last month, and unlike any team I’ve mentioned yet, they do have a stud who leads them in scoring by a long shot. That would be Seth Scarano, leading the team and all of Section 2 with 38 goals. They’re outscoring opponents 108-4, and they’ve yet to give up multiple goals in a game. Over to our other semi: Coxsackie-Athens takes on Greenville, an in-season opponent. They were supposed to play each other twice – the only one documented on the TU was a 1-0 Coxsackie win early in the season. Coxsackie is the 7 seed, and they have a 2-0 1st round sectional win over Cairo-Durham, along with a PK quarterfinal win over #2 seed Schuylerville. Greenville comes in as the #3 seed, ranked #20 in the state, and they have a 3-0 W over Fonda along with a 2-1 W over Schalmont (the team that tied Ichabod Crane) so far in sectionals. Greenville is particularly bad at sending stuff into the Times Union – only half of their games in, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see they have a strong player in Marcel Dupuis. According to the state ranking paper, they’re 14-1-1!

C – Stillwater/Hoosick Falls, Maple Hill/Lake George – Wednesday @ Johnstown. Stillwater/Hoosick Falls appears to be the battle of the underdogs, at least according to seeding. Stillwater comes in as the 14 seed, at least according to what I’ve received. They seem to have won a good amount of games for that seeding though, so who knows. They beat Berlin 3-0 in the 1st round, and they followed it up with a 3-2 W over Greenwich in the quarters. They’re playing another in-season opponent, #7 seed Hoosick Falls. The only TU-documented result is a 2-0 Hoosick Falls victory in late September. They have won a pair of 2-1 games to get to this point, over #10 Voorheesville and #2 Galway, currently ranked #13 in the state. In our other semifinal, upset-minded #5 Maple Hill comes in winning a sectional game at both extremes – one blowout, and one shootout. They beat #12 BKW 4-0, then followed it up with a PK win over #4 Mekeel. They get to play the Warriors of Lake George, coming in with the #1 seed and ranked #5 in the state, a place they’ve grown accustomed to. They’re undefeated, sitting at 17-0. They beat Mechanicville 4-0 and Fort Plain 3-0 in a rare sectional back-to-back. Craig Keenan is a big scorer among other scorers on a formidable squad.

D – St. Johnsville/Northville, New Lebanon/Fort Ann – Wednesday @ Queensbury. St. Johnsville, the closest Section 2 school to my house! About a 20 minute drive for me, gotta love Ripepi’s and Cumby’s runs. Oh wait, we’re talking about soccer. They’re coming in with an 11-6 record and the #8 seed. They beat the #9 seed North Warren 4-3, then followed it off by knocking off #1 Loudonville Christian 3-2. Both of those games were won in OT. Expect a game with goals – St. J games average around 5 goals per game between the 2 teams. They played Northville once back on October 3 – didn’t end well for them. Northville beat them 6-0. Speaking of Northville, they’re the 4 seed, coming in with a record of 9-6-2 and ranked #16 in the state in D (the only state-ranked team in D, and one of 6 overall, to not have 10 wins). They’re coming into the semifinals off a 1-0 quarterfinal W over #5 Argyle. Kalob Russell put one through the pipes on a corner in the 1st OT, and that was just their 2nd 1-goal victory this year, now 2-5 on the season in 1 goal games. However, if the other time they played this year holds true, we can throw that stat out the window. In our other semi, New Lebanon comes in an unranked #3 seed and also 9-6-2. 12 of their 17 games have been shutouts – either way. They’ve shut out opponents 9 times, and they’ve been shut out 4 times. Yes, I know that equals 13 and I said 12 – played to a scoreless draw in their quarterfinal game against Bolton, and they won in PKs 4-2. Fort Ann comes in with a state ranking nearly as high as their sectional seeding. They’re quite a formidable 2 seed, ranked #3 in the state with a record of 13-3-1. Their quarterfinal win was a 4-1 decision over Hartford.

Best of luck to everybody – keep us updated with results!