TIE AS GOOD AS A WIN
Averill Park defense stymies Saratoga on the road
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » It was the longest bus ride that the Averill Park girls soccer team will take this season, traveling to face Saratoga Springs for a Saturday morning game, but the ride home might seem a little bit shorter as the Warriors came up big once again against a Class AA opponent.
The Averill Park defense and goalkeeper Megan Glanton fought to a scoreless tie after 100 minutes of play Saturday, considered a positive outcome for the second time this week against a Suburban Council powerhouse on the road.
The Warriors upended Shenendehowa for the first time in school history early in the week, 2- 0, on the road and Saturday’s outcome had to feel like a win for the Class A squad.
Glanton turned back all 14 shots that fell within the frame as Saratoga put 26 shots on the Averill Park defense with the visiting goalie coming up huge with tips in front of the crossbar up and over for two crucial saves in overtime.
“I think we started getting tired, so they cracked down a little, but it wasn’t too much
that I couldn’t handle,” Glanton said.
Utilizing a 4- 5-1 formation, Averill Park limited the Blue Streaks scoring chances and continued to force them to move the ball from sideline to sideline more than normal.
“It’s a good tactic, he puts a ton in the box and we can pass, pass, pass all around the outside, it’s that last one through and they’re tenacious,” Saratoga Springs coach Adrienne Dannehy said. “They are a tenacious team; their defense was no give up. It was hard to get in.
“They contained us to keep shooting from outside the box and their keeper is good. Their keeper made great plays; the defense blocked a lot of our shots too.”
The Warriors defense had to stay strong to withstand the pressure from Saratoga.
“I thought we played well, I thought we moved the ball, I thought we controlled 90 percent of the game,” Dannehy said.
That took its toll on the Warriors offense, limiting their offensive chances.
“This isn’t the first one we haven’t generated a lot of offense,” Averill Park coach Nathan Luskin said. “As far as team speed on the field and stuff we didn’t generate a lot of offense, they’re a good team. They really possess the ball really, really well, they anticipated passes, knew where the ball was going.
“We got tired, got exhausted, put too much ball pressure on not having possessions, stepped out and they knew where the next one was going, took it from us and right back at us again.”
The Blue Streaks were also coming off a high, defeating Bethlehem, 2- 0 on Thursday, forcing a quick turnaround to prepare for Averill Park.
“I had to figure out we need to be intense for our practice, however, they’re beat up from Thursday’s game,” Dannehy said. “Practice wasn’t the high intensity that we normally would bring just because I wasn’t able to do so much with them because they were sore and I didn’t want them sore for today.”
Both teams saved their best moves, shots and passes for the final 20 minutes, a pair of 10 minute full overtime sessions.
“We came here on a Saturday morning, which is always rough for teams and its away, it’s far and we just got into a lull,” Glanton said. “As the game went on we were like ‘ We came here for a reason. We have to play; we have to play our heart out.’
“We played the 80 minutes and its still 0- 0 and we’re like ‘Last 20 we need to push through.’ We tried to get the energy up and tried to get down there.”