There is an advantage to playing in a traditionally strong boys soccer league.
Voorheesville was able to weather Schoharie’s physical play to pull out a 1-0 victory in the Section II, Class CC quarterfinals last Thursday.
Schoharie is a physical and athletic team, and they put a lot of pressure on you, said Voorheesville coach Willie Sanchez. `That’s tough to play against.`
Fortunately for Voorheesville (14-4-1), it knew how to handle a tough opponent like Schoharie from playing in the Colonial Council against such top programs as Schalmont and Albany Academy. The Blackbirds weathered some early pressure from the Indians and controlled the action in the second half ` eventually getting the only goal of the game on Ryan Dimmitt’s tally.
`Although it took a half because we hadn’t seen that (physical play) out of Schoharie, I think playing in the Colonial Council helped us adjust to it because we’ve been involved in some physical games this year,` said Sanchez.
Voorheesville’s goal was created with a crisp pass. Haden Wood redirected the ball forward to Dimmitt, who launched a hard shot inside the Schoharie penalty box past goaltender Jake Baumann.
Dimmitt’s goal came after several Voorheesville shots went wide or were stopped by Baumann.
`We started to settle down a little bit (in the second half) and possess (the ball) more,` said Sanchez. `The first half was pretty physical on both sides.`
Baumann made nine saves for Schoharie, while goaltender Lee Fenner stopped six shots for Voorheesville, which advanced to Tuesday’s Class CC semifinal against undefeated Lake George in Glens Falls.
`It’ll be a tough game,` said Sanchez. `(Lake George is) the favorite being unbeaten and the No. 1 seed, but playing in the Colonial Council will help us in that game because we’ve faced some tough teams before.“
