Burnt Hills defeats Shen in a shootout
BURNTHILLS, NY » Prior to Burnt Hills facing off against Shenendehowa under the lights on Monday night, Spartans coach Kelly Vrooman noted how senior captain Paige Thowe doesn’t always get the credit she deserves, for the work that she puts in.
The Spartan’s ‘ workhorse’ didn’t only just do her part in helping to defeat Shen, she scored the clinching goal in a shootout after all of the regulation and overtime periods went scoreless between the two undefeated teams.
“I love my team a lot and we have a lot of good players,” Thowe said. “It’s an amazing feeling to have the coaches and everyone trusting me, to have to opportunity to score that goal and to do my part in the win for the team.”
As the game progressed and each defense kept putting up zeros, Spartan senior goalkeeper Senja Matson had a feeling the game was going to have a special ending.
“As the game went on, I thought that we were matched up and skilled pretty evenly with them and I definitely assumed that there was going to be something special at the end,” Matson said. “There was definitely a big
push to pick up our intensity level on the defense, just to make sure we were matching zeroes. We didn’t want to allow them to get ahead of us.”
In the first quarter, Burnt Hills controlled a majority of the offensive opportunities. After then, the Shen offense came alive, creating a much more back-and-forth contest.
Even with the offenses running the field, Shen goalie Payton Kisling was a bit busier on her end, as she blocked 13 shots from the Spartans during regulation and overtime. Matson completed the 4 save opportunities she got, preserving the scoreless tie.
Burnt Hills received a corner opportunity near the end of the overtime period. After allowing the clock to run to zero and not being to score on the last-chance play, the game went to a shootout in a scoreless tie.
“Normally at the end of practice I try to get a few shots inon the ten-seconds, so I’m ready for a shootout,” Matson said. “I think it’s a super fundamental part of practice, because if you leave it out then you’re risking not being prepared for a game like this.”
Matson was able to block each of Shen’s first three shootout attempts, which start from the 25yard line. Kisling blocked Burnt Hills first attempt, but Jocelyn Hild put the Spartans up 1- 0 on their second attempt. Amelia Landry added on a second score for the Spartans on their third attempt.
Shengot on the board on their fourth try, when Hannah Merritt got one past Matson, keeping Shen in the game.
Thowe got the next chance for the Spartans, with the opportunity to win the game and she came up in the clutch.
“Honestly it feels so good, just because thatwas a really hard battle for us. Shen went back and forth with us and brought us into double- overtime. Scoring that goal at the end, it felt really good,” Thowe said. “I think we all knew it would be a close game, but I definitely didn’t think it was going to go to double overtime. I think the toughness we showed as a team today really sets the tone for the rest of the season.”
Thowe, who was having some trouble with her hand, wasn’t able to do her typical scoring move that she usually attempts on shootouts.
“All of us have a set skill that we try to do when we go into those one- on- ones, so the goalies get different looks every time,” she explained. “Tonight I was having some trouble with my hand, so I couldn’t shoot it how I usually do.”
“I ended up just winging it, so I tried to pull the goalie in and I was able to get the shot off.”
FINAL SHOOTOUT - BURNT HILLS 0 (3), SHENENDEHOWA 0 (1) Burnt Hills- Ballston Lake High School Burnt Hills, NY Burnt Hills 0- 0- 0- 0- 0 - 0 (3) Shenendehowa 0- 0- 0- 0- 0 - 0 (1) Scoring 1st Quarter: N/A 2nd Quarter: N/A 3rd Quarter: N/A 4th Quarter: N/A Overtime: N/A Shootout: BHBL - Jocelyn Hild (1- 0), BHBL - Amelia Landry (2- 0), SHEN - Hannah Merritt (2-1), BHBL - Paige Thowe (3-1) Saves: SHEN - Payton Kisling 13 saves, BHBL - Senja Matson 4 saves