The Bethlehem boys soccer team’s Section II Class AA title defense officially began Monday with the first day of practice.
Head coach Phil Ridgway had approximately 70 players on the practice field. From that group, Ridgway said he will spend this week deciding which players will make the varsity level, who will be on junior varsity and who will be cut.
“It’s really difficult. You have to make some very tough decisions,” said Ridgway. “There are kids who have played all the way from the modified level through JV, and then as seniors you have to tell them that they didn’t make the team. It’s very hard to tell them that.”
Ridgway has 15 players returning from last year’s team, which defeated Niskayuna 2-0 in the Sectional final. Bethlehem was eliminated by Section III champion Utica Proctor on penalty kicks in the Class AA regional, which left the Eagles with a 17-0-3 record and a bitter feeling.
“It’s a game I felt we should have won. We just got unlucky at the end,” said Ridgway. “So, the sting is still there.”
“I still think about it a bit,” said midfielder Ethan Strauss, one of the veterans. “The fact that we won Sectionals, I’m still happy about that. But, we feel like we still have something to shoot for.”
The Eagles graduated several key players from last year’s team including goaltender Alex Kessler, leading goal scorer Liam Roohan and playmaking forward Ethan Gunty. But, the returning players feel confident in the team’s ability to overcome those losses.
“We’ve got guys who can step up and fill all the holes,” said Strauss.
“We’re definitely going to miss Kessler holding down the goal, so we’re going to have to focus on playing defense more,” added defender Michael Reverdatto. “We’re also losing Gunty, but we have guys to replace him.”
As Bethlehem’s boys soccer team started its preparations for defending its Sectional title, the school’s girls soccer team was busy preparing to take back the Class AA championship it lost to Guilderland last year.
“For a number of years, we’ve won the last game played in Section II,” said girls soccer coach Tom Rogan. “This is the first time in a long while where we’ve gone into a season coming off a loss in that final game.”
Like the boys team, the Bethlehem girls team faces the prospect of replacing several key players from last year’s team. Among the seniors who graduated last year are leading scorer Tara Teal and goaltender Katie Nickles.
“We lost our goal scorer and our goal stopper,” said Rogan.
“It’ll be a challenge, but we’ll spend each day trying to figure it out.”
Bethlehem will have an opportunity to avenge last year’s 2-1 loss to Guilderland in the Class AA finals right off the bat. The Lady Eagles visit the Lady Dutch in their season opener on Tuesday, Sept. 3.