Lake George’s Sarah Kohls was named the Player of the Year when the Adirondack League girls soccer coaches unveiled their all-star teams for the 2018 season Monday, Nov. 12.
Kohls scored 24 goals and added eight assists to lead Lake George to the league title and a Section 2 Class C semifinal appearance.
The rest of the Adirondack League all-stars are as follows: Continue reading “Adirondack League reveals girls soccer Player of the Year and all-star teams”
Three Section 2 football teams have regional playoff games this weekend, while two others await their semifinal opponents.
Class AA champion Shaker (10-0) received a bye into the state semifinals after defeating Saratoga Springs 28-14 in the championship game Friday, Nov. 2, at Casey Stadium on the University at Albany campus. This bye is rotated between Sections 2, 1 and 9 on an annual basis. Shaker meets either Section 1 champion New Rochelle or Section 9 champion Newburgh Free Academy Saturday, Nov. 17, at Middletown High School.
Class A champion Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (9-1) also received a bye into the semifinals after Section X decided not to play in the regional round. The Spartans face the winner of the John Jay (Section 1)-Cornwall (Section 9) regional in the state semifinals Friday, Nov. 16, in Middletown.
Glens Falls (Class B), Cambridge/Salem (Class C) and Warrensburg (Class D) all play in this weekend’s regional round. Glens Falls meets Section 7 champion Beekmantown Friday, Nov. 9, at Shenendehowa High School, while Cambridge/Salem travels to Potsdam High School to play Section 10 champ Ogdensburg Free Academy. Warrensburg faces Section 7 champion Moriah Saturday, Nov. 10, at Schuylerville High School. Continue reading “Section 2 football: A look back at the Super Bowls, and a look ahead to regionals (with photo gallery)”
Semifinal match-ups are set for all five classes in Section 2 football, as well as the final round of crossover games. Here is a look at who’s playing, and how they got there.
Class AA – All semifinal games Friday, Oct. 26
No. 1 Shaker (8-0) vs. No. 4 Guilderland (5-3)
How they got there: Shaker capped an undefeated regular season by defeating crosstown rival Colonie 31-7, while Guilderland clinched the No. 4 seed by pulling away for a 41-19 victory over Christian Brothers Academy (3-5) Friday, Oct. 19. Guilderland’s victory avoided a four-way tie for fourth place, as both Bethlehem (4-4) and Niskayuna (4-4) won their final regular season games
No. 2 Shenendehowa (7-1) vs. No. 3 Saratoga Springs (6-2)
How they got there: Shen wrapped up the No. 2 seed by defeating Saratoga 35-7 at home. Brendan Belott threw for one touchdown and ran for another to lead Shen to victory. The Plainsmen’s reward is to host the Blue Streaks for the second week in a row. Continue reading “Section 2 football playoffs: Semifinal match-ups set in all five classes”
Brackets for the Section 2 girls soccer playoffs were announced Monday, Oct. 15, and two Suburban Council teams were among the five No. 1 seeds.
Bethlehem received the No. 1 seed in Class AA after winning the Blue Division title, while Averill Park claimed the No. 1 seed in Class A after finishing first in the Gray Division. Colonial Council champion Academy of the Holy Names (Class B), Wasaren League champion Stillwater (Class C) and Adirondack League runner-up Fort Ann (Class D) were the other three No. 1 seeds.
Here are the match-ups for the first two rounds: Continue reading “Section 2 girls soccer playoffs: Bethlehem, Averill Park, Holy Names, Stillwater and Fort Ann are top seeds”
By ROB JONAS
Christian Brothers Academy (Class AA), Queensbury (A), Schalmont (B), Lake George (C) and Fort Ann (D) are the No. 1 seeds in this year’s Section 2 boys soccer playoffs.
CBA earned the No. 1 seed after posting the best record in the Suburban Council (12-1-1 league, 13-1-1 overall). The Brothers – along with No. 2 Albany (11-2-1, 12-2-1), No. 3 Bethlehem (10-3-1, 12-3-1) and No. 4 Shenendehowa (10-3-1, 10-3-1) – received byes through the first round.
Queensbury (15-1-0), No. 2 Albany Academy (11-5-0), No. 3 Averill Park (6-8-2), No. 4 South Glens Falls (10-6-0) and No. 5 Mohonasen (9-5-2) all received byes in Class A.
Here are all of the match-ups for the first two rounds of Sectionals: Continue reading “Section 2 boys soccer playoff seedings are set”
By ROB JONAS
The playoff seedings for the Section 2 Class A, C and D football playoffs are set, but Class AA and B match-ups are still in the air following Sunday’s seeding meeting.
Shaker (7-0) will be the No. 1 seed in Class AA when the four-team playoff begins Oct. 26, while Shenendehowa (6-1) and Saratoga Springs (6-1) will battle each other Friday, Oct. 19, for the No. 2 seed. The No. 4 seed is up for grabs between Guilderland (4-3), Bethlehem (3-4), Christian Brothers Academy (3-4) and Niskayuna (3-4). A Guilderland victory over CBA Friday guarantees the Dutchmen the No. 4 seed, while a CBA win plus Niskayuna and Bethlehem wins would create a four-way tie for fourth place. Continue reading “Section 2 football playoff brackets are partially set”
LAKE GEORGE – The Lake George girls soccer team punched its ticket to the Adirondack League championship game with an 11-0 victory over Salem Thursday, Oct. 11.
Katie O’Donnell scored the Warriors’ first two goals and finished with a hat trick. Sarah Kohls tallied twice in the first half, and Rachel Jaeger added a goal with less than nine minutes left to put Lake George ahead 6-0 at halftime.
Jaeger, Gabby Marchello, Ava Pushor, Nicole Kingsley and Kylie Mann tallied in the second half for Lake George, which advances to Saturday’s championship game against Fort Ann at Hudson Falls High School.
Goalkeeper Kathryn Sweenor stopped 11 shots for Salem, which travels to Bolton/Warrensburg for the third-place game Saturday.
Zoe Eggleston tallied with 43 seconds left in the final overtime period to give Whitehall a 3-2 victory over Salem in an Adirondack League girls soccer game Thursday, Sept. 27.
Whitehall endured a barrage of Salem shots in regulation to come out with a 1-1 tie after 80 minutes. Eggleston scored the Railroaders’ goal off an assist by Riley West, while Mikayah Rushiniski tallied for the Generals off a pass from Keenan Fronhofer.
Both teams notched a goal in the first 10-minute overtime period. Chloe Rehm collected a ball at the Salem goal line and kicked it into the net to put Whitehall ahead 2-1, but Emily Vandyk tallied to pull the Generals even again.
The two teams had chances to score in the second overtime before Eggleston gave Whitehall the lead for good with an individual effort.
Whitehall goalkeeper Dory Gosselin finished with 18 saves, while Salem netminder Kathryn Sweenor stopped seven shots.
Lake George remained undefeated with a 4-2 victory over Salem Tuesday, Sept. 18, in an Adirondack League girls soccer game.
The Warriors – ranked No. 5 in this week’s New York State Sportswriters Association girls soccer poll – launched 48 shots on goal against the Generals, but had difficulty getting them past Salem goalkeeper Kathryn Sweenor, who made 21 saves. On the other side, Salem capitalized on two of its four shots. Continue reading “Adirondack League girls soccer: Lake George pushes past Salem; Whitehall shuts out Hadley-Luzerne”
By ROB JONAS
The Section 2 football landscape has shifted significantly for the 2018 season.
New classification numbers produced by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) have pushed several schools into new classes this year. As a result, Class A and Class C have seen large growth in their ranks, while Class AA and Class D are down to one division each after having two divisions last year.
“This year has had probably the most movement, at least in Section 2,” said Section 2 football coordinator Bob Dorrance.
A total of eight schools moved into new leagues, including defending state champions Troy (Class AA) and Cambridge (Class D). Troy, LaSalle, Columbia and Ballston Spa moved down to Class A, while Cambridge, Greenwich, Granville and Canajoharie stepped up to Class C. Cambridge also picked up players from Salem, while Canajoharie has added players from Fort Plain. Additionally, Helderberg Valley – a combination of Berne-Knox-Westerlo and Duaneburg – will play against its Class C brethren after playing a Class D schedule last year.
As a result, Class A will have 13 teams playing in two divisions after having nine teams play in one division last year, while Class C will have 19 teams crowded into three divisions. Reciprocally, Class AA will be down to 10 teams playing in one division, and Class D will have six teams – one of which (Cohoes) is ineligible for the playoffs because it is playing down from its assigned level.
“This hurts us at the Class D level, but it works well for us at the other levels,” said Dorrance.
Dorrance said NYSPHSAA’s new classification numbers are meant to eliminate large discrepancies between schools in a classification. This was especially true at the Class AA level, where high schools with under 1,000 students were sometimes playing against schools with twice the student population.
Nonetheless, Dorrance said he didn’t support the plan because it pushed too many Section 2 schools into the middle classifications, which left the largest and smallest classifications with only a handful of teams.
“I was one of two [NYSPHSAA football committee members] who voted against it,” said Dorrance.
The biggest impact from realignment has been scheduling games, especially in Class D where there are only six teams. Each team has five games within Class D, with the rest of their eight-game regular season schedule pitting them against either Class C schools or out-of-area teams. Class A, Class B and Class C also had scheduling issues due to having an odd number of schools.
“It was a challenge to put together a schedule at the Class C and Class D levels,” said Dorrance. “The only way to make it work was to combine the two levels and create a schedule that way. Our Class C and Class D coordinators did a great job of working together to come up with a schedule.”
All Section 2 football teams begin formal practices Monday, Aug. 13. The first week of the regular season begins Friday, Aug. 31 and Saturday, Sept. 1.
2018 Section 2 football divisions
Class AA: Albany, Bethlehem, Christian Brothers Academy, Colonie, Guilderland, Niskayuna, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, Shaker, Shenendehowa
Class A
Capital Division: Amsterdam, Averill Park, Columbia*, Green Tech, LaSalle*, Troy*
Grasso Division: Ballston Spa*, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, Gloversville, Mohonasen, Queensbury, Scotia-Glenville, South Glens Falls
Class B
North Division: Broadalbin-Perth, Glens Falls, Hudson Falls, Johnstown, Schuylerville
Reinfurt Division: Cobleskill-Richmondville, Hudson, Ichabod Crane, Lansingburgh, Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk, Schalmont
Class C
North Division: Cambridge/Salem*, Corinth, Granville*, Greenwich*, Hoosick Falls, Lake George/Hadley-Luzerne
Central Division: Canajoharie/Fort Plain*, Fonda-Fultonville, Holy Trinity, Mechanicville, Stillwater, Tamarac
South Division: Cairo-Durham, Chatham, Coxsackie-Athens, Helderberg Valley+, Taconic Hills, Voorheesville, Watervliet
Class D: Cohoes (ineligible for playoffs), Fort Edward, Hoosic Valley, Rensselaer, Warrensburg, Whitehall
*- Denotes new team in class
+-Denotes team returning to play within its class
