Shen claims 1st AA title in 10 years
through Ali Greco who is a very talented player, all of their players are good, but most of their distribution comes through her so we had to shut her down and I think our midfield did a great job of that,” Shenendehowa coach Holli Nirsberger said. “We talked a lot about either playing to their strengths or playing to our strengths and it took a lot of thought on my part, but I knew what we had, the weapons that we had and we decided to take it to them in the first half, but they’re a quality team. It came late in the second half, but it came and we’re happy for that.”
Shenendehowa (18-1-0) and the No. 1 seed heading into the post-season was all too familiar with the Class AA championship game. The team lost to Bethlehem on four previous occasions since its last title in 2007 and potentially its most painful was the 2015 loss to Niskayuna 3-2 in overtime.
“That was a little bit tougher obviously because when you work so hard and then you go into overtime to that extent and you don’t win,” O’Brien said. “It really sucks, but this season we’ve worked so hard and we’ve had a feeling that coming into this if we were our best selves we were going to come out on top.”
During the pre-season the Plainsmen had mentioned Niskayuna as the top team in Section II and the team to beat for a Section II title. The two squads met early in the regular season and saw Shenendehowa earn a storm-shortened single half of play 1-0 win over the Silver Warriors on the road. As the season continued Nirsberger saw that the Big Green Train was on the right track and could pull into the Section II championship station with a car full of ecstatic players and its top local prize, but she kept it to herself.
“This is a special group,” Nirsberger said. “I haven’t said that yet, but I’ve been kind of keeping that under wraps, but this is a special group.
“They play well together, they work for each other. They’re a special group for sure; hopefully we can continue this streak here. I’m just happy for them because they’ve worked really hard.”
Next up for the Plainsmen will be Section III champion Baldwinsville (16-2) Saturday at Stillwater High School in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association regional.
“If we continue to do the things we’re doing well, I haven’t seen film and I try not to look ahead, so I’m not even sure who’s coming out of the section we’ll play in regionals,” Nirsberger said. “I’m thinking (correctly) that it’s Baldwinsville, but I like our chances. I like our chances a lot.”