JULIA DIMENNA’S HAT TRICK PUTS STREAKS IN SEMIS
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> Good things come to those who wait – and having a stellar defensive unit as doesn’t hurt either as the Saratoga Springs girls soccer squad proved Friday afternoon versus Shaker.
Down early to the Blue Bison the Blue Streaks rallied on three incredible goals by Suburban Council first-team allstar Julia DiMenna for the 3-1 Class AA quarterfinal win in their final home game of the year.
“We were controlling the game and we had one slip-up and one mistake, my keeper went one way and then slipped to go back and then it went it,” Saratoga Springs coach Adrienne Dannehy said. “It was unfortunate, but I think Shaker played great, they were getting in on us, but we were pretty organized I thought.”
From there Saratoga continued to control the contest, limiting Shaker to just four shots on the afternoon with help from what was one of Dannehy’s best kept secrets.
“Norah (Dempsey) is my secret weapon this year, my 10th grader; the kid doesn’t know the word ‘quit,’” Dannehy said. “She’s so fast. If she gets beat, she chases you down and I can’t say enough great things about her. We’re super happy to have her this year; she’s a little defensive secret weapon for us.”
It was Dempsey’s job to keep tabs and her feet near Shaker freshman Mayah Kahn.
“Today my main goal was just to keep people in front of me and not let them get by,” Norah Dempsey said. “(Mayah Kahn) was really fast, she got
by me, it was really hard to catch up, so my main goal was to just keep the ball in front of me.”
Despite the early deficit, the Saratoga sophomore was confident in her team’s ability to rally.
“The goal kind of motivated us as a team to pick it up a little and it gave us the momentum we needed,” Dempsey said. “I have a lot of faith in the team and it’s the best team I’ve ever been on. As long as I do my thing, I know that they can finish the rest.”
That’s where senior captain Julia DiMenna again delivered for the Blue Streaks.
She tied the contest with less than three minutes left in the first half, beating two Shaker defenders and going in one-on-one with the Blue Bison goalkeeper.
She then opened the second half with the go-ahead goal, beating another defender one-on-one and then crossing the ball into the goal, wide left of the goalie for the 2-1 lead.
“It’s very similar to the goal that I scored on them last week where they just sent it up and I take one or two people on and just take on the field and shoot,” Julia DiMenna said.
Her third goal was even a surprise to her, ripping it from 25 yards out into the upper left corner of the goal for the hat trick Friday.
“I wasn’t going to shoot,” DiMenna said. “I heard someone say ‘shoot’ and I was like ‘You know, you’re crazy, that’s so far.’ But then I took it and it went in.”
Unlike Dempsey, DiMenna is a known threat each time on the pitch for the Blue Streaks.
“If Julia has the ball and Julia is driving down, nine times out of 10 she’s going to beat that last defender and she’s going to cross the ball so we better be getting into the box,” Dannehy said. “If Julia gets the ball and starts going to goal we better be running because she’s probably going to go to goal. She’s just very dominating.”
The hat trick was a fitting send-off for the William Smith-bound senior.
“It’s really exciting to finish this last home game this strong and it gets me even more excited to play next year in college to play with such a great team now and see what I can do next year,” DiMenna said.
Next up for Saratoga is the Class AA No. 1 seed, Bethlehem, Wednesday night under the lights at Stillwater High School, the second semifinal on tap.
“Our whole goal of the whole season was to keep doing things better every single game and we’re going to peak sectional-time,” Dannehy said. “Right now we’re the fourth seed going against a No. 1 seed and we’ve beaten them before and we’ve got nothing to lose right now.
“We’re going to go as far as we can go and this team has the talent, this team has the tenacity, they have the heart and the desire and they want to win. The sky is the limit for us right now.”
Shaker 1 0 – 1 Saratoga 1 2 – 3 Scoring: Shaker – Megan Piser. Saratoga – Julia DiMenna 3 goals. Assists: Abby Ray. Shots: Shaker – 4, Saratoga 9. Saves: Shaker – Joslin 1. Saratoga – Jullson 2.