Bethlehem and Guilderland are the last two girls soccer teams standing in the Section II Class AA playoffs.
No. 5 Bethlehem advanced past No. 1 Niskayuna on penalty kicks in one Sectional semifinal game Saturday at Schuylerville High School, while No. 2 Guilderland edged No. 6 Shaker 1-0 in the other semifinal.
The Albany County and Suburban Council South Division rivals are slated to meet each other Wednesday at Stillwater High School for the Class AA championship.
`I imagine it will be a very good game,` said Bethlehem coach Tom Rogan. `Guilderland is a very talented team.`
Guilderland (14-3-1) won the South Division title for the second consecutive year, but it split its two regular season games against Bethlehem (11-4-3). The Lady Eagles edged the Lady Dutch 1-0 in their first meeting Sept. 6, but Guilderland turned the tables on Bethlehem with a 1-0 victory in the rematch Oct. 13.
`It’s the South Division, it’s neighboring schools and we may be seeded higher, but we feel we’re the underdog,` said Guilderland coach Curtis Snyder. `We feel like we’re going up against a (Bethlehem) team that knows what the pressure of playing in a Sectional final is like.`
Bethlehem goaltender Katie Nickles propelled her team into its fifth consecutive Class AA championship game almost by herself. The senior stopped 15 Niskayuna shots in regulation and four overtime periods to help the Lady Eagles forge a scoreless tie. Then, Nickles stopped Anka Parzych’s shot in the first round of sudden victory penalty kicks to help Bethlehem prevail 5-4.
`She was the player of the game, no doubt about it,` said Niskayuna coach Bryce Colby. `We missed a bunch of chances, but she also stopped a penalty kick in overtime. She was the difference in the game.`
`She was great, and our whole defense was excellent,` said Rogan. `We spent the week preparing to handle (leading scorers) Meghan Doyle and Anka Parzych, and our defense was up to the challenge.`
Bethlehem thought it had won the penalty kick round when Nickles stopped Jenny Cascino’s attempt, but the referee ruled Nickles had stepped off the goal line before Cascino’s shot reached her. Cascino was granted another shot, and she delivered with a goal to tie the penalty kick round at 4-4 and force a sudden victory round.
`That’s a really tough thing. You take your shot, you miss and you hear the announcer say, ‘Bethlehem has won the game and advances to the Sectional finals,’` said Colby. `Then it gets called back, and you have to line up the shot again. To Jenny’s credit, she did a great job of composing herself. She decided where she was going to shoot it, and she made it.`
Sam Taillon put Bethlehem ahead 5-4 on her penalty kick, and Nickles made a diving stop on Parzych’s attempt to send the Lady Eagles back to the Sectional final.
`That was an incredibly unique situation,` said Rogan. `The ability to refocus on what they needed to do (following Cascino’s penalty kick) was incredible.`
Earlier in the day, Guilderland played Shaker (9-9-0) in a game dominated by defense. Both teams had trouble getting shots on goal as scoring chance after scoring chance was wiped away by aggressive defensive play.
The Lady Dutch got their break late in the second half. Angela Luizzi took a hard shot that went off Shaker goaltender Gabby Cotugno’s hands and into the net to give Guilderland the goal it needed to advance.
`We felt it was only a matter of time (before we scored),` said Snyder.
Guilderland goaltender Jenna Cubello made two saves to pick up the shutout.