Each of the previous three times the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake girls soccer team met up with Jamesville-DeWitt in the Class A regional playoffs, the result was a happy one.
But on Tuesday night, smiles were replaced by stunned looks and tears as the Lady Spartans fell to the Section III champion Red Rams 1-0 in the regional playoffs at Fulton High School.
BH-BL dominated long stretches of the game, especially in the first half when it took 14 shots. But none of those shots found the net, and four of them hit the goalpost or crossbar.
“We played well enough to win,” said head coach Brian Bold.
Freshman Paige Sherling took a pass from Alex Fontana and struck a low shot past BH-BL goalkeeper Florie Comley to give J-D a 1-0 lead less than nine minutes into the game.
The Lady Spartans continued to apply heavy offensive pressure, but they couldn’t get the equalizer.
“Our ultimate goal is (the state final four in) Cortland,” said Bold.“To not get there is disappointing.”