Saratoga’s Donnelly on Suburban Council firstteam, commits to Clarkson
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY » Four Blue Streaks were named as Suburban Council all- stars. Senior captains Jack Donnelly and Zach Colangelo were named to the first team.
“I was very happy. I knew some of us deserved to be on there because we had a very good season,” Donnelly said of his reaction to the news. “We got to the semis and had a good record and I was happy to see that four of us got rewarded for it.”
The other two Blue Streaks named all- stars were some of their “super- sophomores.” Evan Hallett and Nick Varghese, each in their first season on varsity made the league’s third team.
Donnelly wasn’t surprised that
his young teammates were rewarded for their effort. It was indicative of the effort they put in as a team this season.
“I think it’s awesome. I love to see it, that out program is going to be in safe hands when we leave. To have these sophomores step up as much as they did and to get recognized on the team selections is great,” he said. “All summer we didn’t know if we were going to be playing. We got the season, but didn’t know how long it was going to be. We weren’t supposed to have a tournament at the end, then we did. We’re very fortunate and our hard work paid off.”
The Saratoga senior isn’t going to take away any accomplishments from anybody in the league, but with only two goalkeepers named to the three teams, he thought the Blue Streaks keeper may have been snubbed. Tyler Munter’s season highlight was early on, blocking a penalty kick in the second half of a 1- 0 game against Albany.
While Donnelly and Hallett were named to different teams, they had similar stats. Each compiling ten points, Donnelly scored four goals, with six assists. Hallett scored six goals, with four assists.
With coronavirus cases rising and winter sports now in jeopardy, Donnelly reflected on actually being able to get in a full season, complete with playoffs, senior night and a all- star team.
“I think with cases starting to rise again and all the rumors of not knowing what’s going to happen, I’m definitely more grateful that we got to play. With sports up in the air now, we feel so lucky to have been given a season and opportunity to play. Our eleven games, with the tournament and our senior night, we’re grateful to have had a season.”
On the first day of practice on September 21, Jeff Geller, the Saratoga coach, told his seniors that senior night was a go. It was something they’d been worried about since the pandemic began.
“We had been worrying about whether it was actually going to happen. We’re grateful that we did get to have had it on the new field too. We didn’t have a great field to start the season on. We were in the back and it was really lumpy and muddy so it was a big upgrade.”
Whether it was during an official game or not, the Saratoga seniors were going to find a way to play on their new turf. That much was never in question.
“One way or another, we were going to play on it. Even if it was a pick-up game with my friends and I on the field, I don’t think there was any doubt we were going to play on it, but it’s good that we got to play games on it, especially on senior night.”
DONNELLY THE GOLDEN KNIGHT
Donnelly had been communicating with the coaches at Clarkson for some time. After completing his senior season, it was just a matter of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.
“I’ve always wanted to keep playing soccer. I wanted to play college soccer for as long as I can remember - it’s the sport that I love to play. To continue playing it at a high level in college is always what I’ve wanted to do,” Donnelly said
The Saratoga senior recently committed after receiving his acceptance letter from the university on December 10.
Donnelly spoke about what the recruiting process was like.
“I got recruited from my club team, Black Watch. We were lucky to go to a tournament before the pandemic. I got in touch with the Clarkson coach at a showcase where I gave them my schedule so they could see me play. Then COVID hit and it screwed everything up,” he said. “I was luckily able to play in front of the coaches a few times and able to go on a tour of the school. I loved the coach and I loved the campus and it seemed like a great team to be a part of.”
Donnelly will be majoring in business when he gets to campus next summer. While he’s interested in studying business ownership and entrepreneurship, he knows that he wants to stay involved in sports.
“I’ve always wanted to be involved in sports for as long as I can. I can use business to get into sports management and sports marketing, not only for soccer, but for others that I’m interested in as well.
For now, he’s looking forward to taking advantage the athletic facilities at the school.
“They recently put in a new workout facility that looked really nice. They had several of them across campus since sports is a big part of their program. They had and indoor and outdoor soccer field, both turf, so I’m really excited.”