SPARTANS STATEMENT WIN
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake upends Albany, 2-0, in Suburban Council clash
The Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake boys soccer squad plays up throughout the regular season hoping for a post-season payoff in ability and seeding in Class A.
On Saturday afternoon the Spartans proved they are worthy of consideration with a 2-0 win over visiting Albany High on goals from Jeagur DeRose and Jacob Scott.
“We’ve finally been stepping into the roles that they’ve been defined into,” Burnt Hills Coach Adam Cohen said. “It took us a little while to get to the point where everybody kind of knew where they fit and were held accountable for what they were doing on the field.
“It was nice to see a whistle-to-whistle game where we played most of the game the way we’ve been training to play.
We’ve been in a lot of matches; we’ve gone into OT with too many teams at this point and not come away with enough victories.”
Spartan Jaegur DeRose broke the ice with a 35-foot salvo that sailed just above
the outstretched fingertips of Albany High goalkeeper Caesar Bermejo with 3:30 left in the first half for the early 1-0 lead.
“I just thought, might as well go for it, had to try something,” Jaegur DeRose said. “Sometimes you just got to hit it as hard as you can, hope that it goes on target. Luckily mine went on target and it was a good shot, good goal.”
The late first half goal also provided a topic during halftime about finishing off the Falcons versus finding a way to break through.
“I think it really pushed us to get the momentum into getting our second goal and then we stuck through, pushed it out and got the ‘W’,” DeRose said.
Teammate Jacob Scott provided the hammer in the win with his goal from inside the goal box at the 67th minute of the contest.
“It was on an indirect kick, Jaguer crossed the ball in and Owen (Muller) went up for it with the goalie and headed it straight up,” Jacob Scott said. “I was just in the right place at the right time and just headed it down into the goal.”
Burnt Hills (3-3-2 overall) then needed to continue to withstand the Falcons at the other end.
“Ultimately our defense played amazing, they’ve been solid all season and they have a real potent offense and we did a great job of stopping them, clearly, didn’t let a single goal in,” Scott said. “We knew on offense too that we were going to have to get guys up, that’s been one of our main problems this season is getting guys up on offense and I thought we did great today.”
The Spartans are playing with confidence and trust in the upper third now.
“That pressure and the cover is finally coming along now,” Cohen said. “The thing we were missing for a little while, we would press a ball and then we would get torched on a counter attack.
“Now we know if I’m going to press up I’ve got somebody on my back, so if I get beat it’s not the end of the world. I get beat, now I cover that guy, it’s that trust and some of the off the field stuff among these players.”
In the opposite third, Spartan goalkeeper Sean Speck, hurt but not injured and playing with diagnosed shin splints turned back all five shots he faced from Albany for the shutout victory.
“They have a lot of tricky guys up front out wide, they had some speed, they got to the end line, they could play a few balls in,” goalie Sean Speck said. “They got some combos; they could pass to each other, just a lot of threats that we had to be ready for whatever they threw at us.”
The win could be a potent point in the Class A seeding meetings next month for Burnt Hills.
“Our goal is to win sectional championship and everyone thinks that Burnt Hills is a small school,” Scott said. “I think this proves that we’re not as small as people think that we are and we’re able of beating the big teams like Albany.”