Glanton comes up big to help Warriors earn tie
Goalie makes 16 saves to deny Blue Streaks
Saratoga Springs Megan Glanton wanted more. Her teammates did as well.
After 100 minutes of action Saturday, the Averill Park girls’ soccer team were heavily outshot by a determined Saratoga squad but the Warriors were not outscored.
Averill Park and Saratoga finished up with a scoreless tie in Suburban Council action. Glanton, Averill Park’s senior goalie, summed up her feelings best by saying, “It’s better than a loss.”
From the perspective of the visiting Warriors, a tie felt more substantial.
Saratoga nearly scored twice in the first five minutes on quality chances from senior standouts Julia Dimenna and Helena Bartlett that both went wide left.
“I thought we played well, I thought we moved the ball and I thought we controlled 90 percent of the game,” Saratoga coach Adrienne Dannehy said. “We had tons and tons and tons of chances.”
Glanton finished with 16 saves, including two shots where she deftly punched the ball over the bar. The second such effort came late in the second overtime when Glanton denied Saratoga junior midfielder Leah Radovic.
“That could have been the end of that game,” Glanton said.
“The keeper made good plays and their defense blocked a lot of our shots,” Dannehy said. “I’m happy with the way we played. I am not happy with the outcome. It is what it is and we move forward.”
The Warriors (7-1-2 overall, 7-1-2 Suburban Council) continue to excel as the leaders of the Gray Division. Averill Park, ranked No. 19 in the Class A state poll, registered the program’s
first-ever win against Shenendehowa Tuesday with a 2-0 triumph.
“I think we are playing very well, better than past years,” Glanton said. “We still have a lot we need to work on, but we’re sticking with the bigger schools, we’re sticking in games and not letting in easy goals.”
Saratoga (4-1-3, 3-1-3) entered its third Suburban Council Saturday contest on the strength of a 2-0 victory Thursday against Bethlehem — ranked No. 2 in the Class A A state poll.
“They are a really good team,” Averill Park coach Nate Luskin said of the
Blue Streaks. “They possess the ball very well, they anticipated passes and knew where the ball was going.”
It took Averill Park the bulk of the first half to raise its level up to match the one being offered by the Blue Streaks.
The Warriors, playing in a 4-5-1 formation, rarely got the ball up to its lone forward during regulation play. The only corner kick in regulation for the Warriors proved dangerous as junior midfielder Syd Haskin lofted a ball into the box that teammate Micayla Slattery directed on goal. Saratoga’s Natalie Jillson grabbed it with 5:05 left in the second half.
Averill Park’s defense, led by junior star Jess Haskin, withstood severe pressure from the Blue Streaks throughout.
“Sometimes, we don’t notice how good she is back there,” Luskin said of Haskin. “She settled things.”
“They are tenacious, a very tenacious team,” Dannehy said of the Warriors. “Their defense was ‘no giveup.’ It was hard to get in.”