The odds are good that a Schenectady County boys soccer team will reach the Section II Class A finals this year.
The trouble is, they have to go through each other to get there.
Scotia-Glenville, Schalmont and defending champion Mohonasen are all on one side of the playoff bracket announced Tuesday. So, at least two of those teams will be eliminated before the finals Nov. 6 at Colonie Central High School.
Scotia-Glenville coach Chris Bailey said he doesn’t mind having to potentially go through Mohonasen and Schalmont to get to the championship game.
As I told the kids, it’s a single-elimination tournament, so you have to go into every game like it’s the championship game, said Bailey. `It doesn’t matter if you play them first or last, you still have to play them.`
As the top two seeds, Scotia-Glenville (12-2-2) and Schalmont (11-3-1) have the luxury of avoiding a first-round game this week. Top-seeded Scotia-Glenville plays the winner or Thursday’s Mohonasen-Glens Falls game, while No. 2 Schalmont plays either South Glens Falls or Lansingburgh Saturday.
If Mohonasen (7-6-3) beats Glens Falls Thursday, it will set up a third consecutive playoff meeting with Scotia-Glenville. The Mighty Warriors have beaten the Tartans the past two years, with both games played at Scotia.
Mohonasen is coached by Corey Gregg ` a former player for Bailey when Bailey was coaching at Schalmont.
`I admire Corey Gregg,` said Bailey. `He’s a great coach who’s well versed in the game.`
Bailey said a potential Mohonasen-Scotia game would feature two teams with differing styles.
`Mohonasen is more methodical, while we just go forward,` said Bailey. `We’re all about scoring goals. We don’t care how we score them. We just want to score more goals than our opponent.`
The winners of Saturday’s quarterfinal games meet in next Tuesday’s semifinal game at Johnstown High School.
In other boys soccer playoff news, Niskayuna (8-6-2) picked up the No. 5 seed out of the Suburban Council for the Class AA playoffs. The Silver Warriors won’t have to travel too far for their opening round game, though, as they visit Schenectady Thursday.
Niskayuna nipped Ballston Spa 2-1 in overtime Monday to finish in a three-way tie for third place with Shaker and Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake in the Suburban Council North Division standings. Joe Repicky scored the game winner late into the first 10-minute overtime period to give the Silver Warriors the victory.
Monil Patel tallied 15 minutes into the first half to put Niskayuna ahead 1-0 before Dan Bortoloni evened the score for Ballston Spa (7-5-4) on a corner kick.
The winner of Thursday’s Niskayuna-Schenectady Sectional game plays either Amsterdam or Colonie in Monday’s quarterfinal round.
Schenectady Christian School (7-6-3) was one of the first Section II teams to play an opening round playoff game. The No. 12 Falcons met No. 5 Duanesburg in Wednesday’s Class C contest.
Schenectady Christian was looking to end a six-game winless streak that included four consecutive losses. One of those losses came at the hands of Duanesburg ` a 1-0 setback Nov. 15.
The winner of Wednesday’s battle between Western Athletic Conference rivals will play either No. 13 Berlin or No. 4 Greenwich Friday at the home of the higher remaining seed.“
