The Schalmont soccer team won its first Section II title in 22 years last Saturday night when it defeated seed Tamarac 2-1 in the class B final at Colonie Central High School.
This feels awesome. It was definitely worth the wait, said Schalmont coach Chris Bailey.
Jordan Flores scored both of his team’s goals to lift the top-seeded Sabres into Tuesday’s regional playoff game against Section III champion Westhill in Chittenango.
`Jordan Flores had one of the best games of his career, and it came at a perfect time. He played well defensively and was the spark on offense,` said Bailey.
Schalmont opened the scoring with 21:30 left in the first half on a miscue by Tamarac keeper David Dormandy. Flores took a 35-yard free kick that was initially saved by Dormandy with his right hand before the ball trickled over the keeper’s shoulder and into the goal.
`I saw the keeper way out of position, and I decided to step up and take the shot. I caught him off guard, and it slipped past him,` Flores said.
Flores added the eventual game-winning goal with 12:38 left in the second half. Josh Correra found Flores open and connected with him on a crossing pass. Flores shot the ball past Dormandy to make the score 2-0.
`That was a great cross by Josh Correra. I give credit to him, that was a brilliant cross,` Flores said.
The Bengals got on the scoreboard late in the second half. Tyler Shaw kicked the ball into the legs of a defender, regained control of it and kicked it high over Schalmont keeper Mike Falcone’s hand and into the net.
`We got the second goal and sure enough Tamarac came right at us,` Bailey said. `We had to make an adjustment to put six in the back, one in the middle, and one at forward. That seemed to hold them down. I give Tamarac a lot of credit ` they did not quit.`
Falcone made a couple of challenging saves to preserve the one goal lead.
Nisky loses in semifinals
Bethlehem senior midfielder Gary Bedrosian had a tough time describing his game winning goal in double overtime after last Thursday night’s Section II, Class AA semifinal game at Colonie High School.
Bedrosian tallied the goal early in the second 10-minute overtime period to lift the Eagles past Niskayuna 2-1.
The goal came on an odd play where Niskayuna keeper Luke Citriniti came far out of his net to block a Bethlehem shot. With the keeper scrambling to get back in net, Bedrosian lofted a soft kick that went over the arms of several Silver Warrior defenders and into the upper right corner of the goal.
While Citriniti lay face down in front of his net in apparent disbelief, Bedrosian tore off his shirt and ran into a host of Eagles’ fans and teammates at midfield.
`I was surprised to see the goalie come out of his net. I was playing mid(field) all game just waiting for that chance, and it came in overtime and that was it,` Bedrosian said. `I just did what I needed to do to get the goal and the win.`
`We pushed forward and changed our system of play to a 4-4-2 and made Darko (Knezevic) and Bryan White work hard up top. They made the opportunities, and Gary (Bedrosian) was there for the second ball and made a lovely chip for the goal. It was fantastic,` said head coach Phil Ridgeway.
Bethlehem scored first when Bryan White, who recently returned from injury, found the back of the net in the first half. Niskayuna tied the game on Jacob Claridge’s goal with less than one minute left in the first half.
Niskayuna (15-4-2) controlled much of the play late in the second half and the first overtime period with a series of shots on Bethlehem keeper Jason Daniels. The Silver Warriors had three quality scoring chances in the second half, but were denied by Daniels. “