There are no stars on the Niskayuna boys soccer team – just a group of talented players looking to turn things around after a sub-.500 finish in 2011.
The mission has gone well so far. The Silver Warriors (6-2-1) are tied with Shaker for second place in the highly-competitive Suburban Council North Division with nine standings points and recently rattled off six consecutive wins.
“Last year, we couldn’t get the bounces or make the plays when we needed to,” said Niskayuna coach Joe Carosella. “This year … we’ve got a lot of smart guys who play as a team.”
The Silver Warriors don’t score a lot of goals, but they also don’t allow a lot of goals. They have five shutouts and outscored their opponents 13-6 in their first nine games. Nine players have scored goals, but only three – Brendan Griffiths, Christian Koudal and Scott Fishel – have multiple goals.
Alec Hay became the ninth Niskayuna player to score a goal when he tallied the game winner in last Thursday’s 1-0 overtime victory over Shaker (5-4-1) in Latham. The sophomore midfielder converted a Bobby Chapman cross less than four minutes into the first 10-minute overtime period.
“I was so excited,” said Hay. “I’m so happy I even got to play. The fact that the ball just popped out (to me), I was just happy to finish it.”
“That’s the reason he was in the game at the end,” said Carosella. “He may be a sophomore, but he has great composure out there.”
Niskayuna has stumbled since last Thursday’s victory over Shaker. Paulino Curto’s goal late in the second half helped Colonie (2-6-2) pull out a 1-1 tie against the Silver Warriors last Saturday, and Bethlehem (8-0-2) defated Niskayuna 2-0 Tuesday on first-half goals from Matt Henning and Ethan Gunty.
The Silver Warriors will try to start a new winning streak Thursday when they host Mohonasen (4-5-1) in a Schenectady County battle.
The Mighty Warriors enter Thursday’s game off a 2-1 overtime victory over Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Tuesday. Mike Korzun scored with less than one minute left in regulation to tie the score at 1, and Nick McBride tallied on a direct kick late in the first overtime period to give Mohonasen its third win in its last four games.
In other boys soccer action Tuesday, Scotia-Glenville (8-0-0 league, 12-0-0 overall) eased past Gloversville 7-2 in a Foothills Council game.
Eric Denny scored twice and added three assists for the first-place Tartans. Owen Fingar contributed a pair of goals, while Michael Fraoli, Dennis Turner and Country Moran each added a goal.
Scotia-Glenville is off until next Tuesday when it hosts South Glens Falls.
Schalmont (7-1-1, 8-2-1) defeated Lansingburgh 6-2 Tuesday in a Colonial Council game.
Leo Pavaldi and Chris Bubb each scored two goals for the Sabres.