By ROB JONAS and PHIL BLACKWELL
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake rules the soccer pitch again.
For the second year in a row, the boys and girls soccer teams swept the Section II, Class A titles. The boys team edged Glens Falls 1-0 in Monday’s championship game, while the girls team beat Ichabod Crane 2-1 in last Friday’s final.
Monday’s game could have easily finished with a higher score. BH-BL and Glens Falls each had several quality scoring chances before Steven Childs finally got the Spartans on the scoreboard with less than 10 minutes left in the second half.
There were a lot of close calls, said BH-BL goaltender Jared Schreiner, who made eight saves to pick up the win. `I just did my best to keep them out of the net. The defense in front of me did a great job.`
Glens Falls created most of its scoring chances with its speed. Midfielder John Rossell and forward A.J. Ramirez got past BH-BL defenders several times, but couldn’t quite finish their shots.
The Spartans created most of their scoring chances by flying down the sidelines and crossing the ball into the penalty box for shots. BH-BL had trouble finishing its shots as well, but Childs was able to head a long pass from Matthew Brewster past Tyler Turner with 9:31 left to break the scoreless tie.
`We tried to get the ball into the corners and get it into the middle (of the box),` said BH-BL coach Kevin Fitzpatrick. `They did a good job of double-teaming us in the corners, but we finally put one in.`
For Childs, it was sweet redemption for heading two shots over the goal in the first half.
`I just thought the third time’s the charm. I had to put it in,` said Childs.
Glens Falls had a chance to tie the game late in the second half. The ball came across the goal mouth to Ramirez at the right post, but the senior forward’s tap in bounced off the post.
The Spartans advanced to Wednesday’s regional playoff game against Section III champion Christian Brothers Academy of Syracuse ` the No. 1 ranked class A team in the state.
`We’re not going to celebrate tonight,` said Fitzpatrick, who came out of retirement in the middle of the season to coach the team after George Dudek’s mother fell ill. `We know about CBA and how good they are.`
`It’s definitely going to be a challenge. It’s going to test our strength and our resolve,` said Childs.
Lady Spartans advance in regional tournament
Eighty minutes of regulation had passed by. So had 10 minutes of overtime.
And the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake girls soccer team was still positioned where it had started the night ` locked in a scoreless tie with Homer, seeing who would survive Tuesday night’s class A regional qualifier at Chittenango High School, near Syracuse.
But the Lady Spartans’ patience and big-game experience made the difference, as they scored in the second overtime to beat the Trojans 1-0.
When it came to a winning tradition, the two sides did not stack up evenly. BH-BL won one state class A championship in 2003 and made it back to the state finals last year.
By contrast, Homer had never even won a Section III title until this year, and needed a late rally, plus overtime, to beat Cortland 2-1 and get that crown.
However, Homer was familiar with Field Turf, the surface at Chittenango being similar to the Trojans’ own home field. And it was not intimidated, in any way, by BH-BL’s winning legacy.
Playing with a 25 mile-per-hour wind at its back in the first half, BH-BL could not take full advantage ` sporadically attacking, but watching Homer make its fair share of runs to keep the Lady Spartans’ defense active.
The Lady Spartans got a scare early in the second half when Emily Swisher’s free kick banged off the left post. It was Homer’s best scoring chance in regulation.
BH-BL regained the wind advantage for the first overtime. Twice, that edge nearly led to a tie-breaking goal. Amanda DiSorbo’s hard shot just clipped over the net, and Lindsay Schumacher saw her shot hit the same left post Swisher had brushed earlier.
With rain adding to the wind, BH-BL faced a double challenge in the second overtime, but 1:20 into the period, freshman Monica Wolf fired a hard shot from the middle that curved past Homer goalie Hilary Simon and found the right side of the net.
Three minutes later, it was nearly tied again. Kelly Teegan made a diving stop on a free kick, then watched the rebound get away ` but just as the tying shot was going in, Kara Eaker kicked it out.
BH-BL plays Section X champion Massena Saturday at Plattsburgh.“