Danes come up just short
Guilderland alum Gerety helps Vermont edge UAlbany for title
Kerry Gerety and Kadi Futia are close friends who won a Class A sectional title together at Guilderland High five years ago.
On Saturday at John Fallon Field, only one could leave as an America East champion. Gerety was the one celebrating after Vermont downed the University at Albany 12-11 in the final before 397 fans.
“I just saw her after her interview and I gave her a hug and she played her heart out,” Gerety said. “I’m really happy for her. We were high school teammates, so I know how much she wanted this and how much her team means to her and I have the same feelings. I really feel for her.”
Gerety, a fifth-year midfielder, had a goal and an assist for the Catamounts (14-4), who rallied from a 5-0 deficit and didn’t take their first lead until Grace Giancola’s winning goal with 2:12 to play. Vermont captured its first America East title.
The Great Danes (8-9) appeared to have tied the score when graduate midfielder Ally Alliegro beat Vermont goalie Sophie McLaughlin as time expired. But official John Trotta waved it off, saying that time had expired. Replay from the ESPN-Plus livestream showed there were still 0.6 seconds left on the clock.
The America East only has
official replay review in men’s and women’s basketball, a league spokesman said.
“It’s so hard. I didn’t hear like a horn buzz,” UAlbany coach Katie Thomson said. “But I’ll trust that the officials are seeing the clock and the shooter and it was a close call and we don’t have replay or anything. But that’s how it goes. Just really proud of our effort to get that shot off and to give us a shot (at) overtime.”
Futia, a senior midfielder, scored twice and came back from a pair of hard collisions that drew Vermont penalties.
“We’re best friends on and off the field,” Futia said of Gerety. “On the field today it was a little quieter. You know you’ve got to focus in for the championship game. But I’m super happy for her and if it was the other way around, she’d be the same for me.”
Futia said she plans on coming back next season for the extra year of eligibility allowed by the NCAA because of the COVID -19 pandemic.
Gerety thought she was done playing last season after her four years at Siena ended with a second straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game loss at Fairfield.
But she found a certificate program that interested her at Vermont and decided to play there. Now she’s headed to her first NCAA Tournament.
“It’s just an absolutely unreal feeling,” Gerety said. “I’m extremely happy with my decision to come back and be on the other side of winning the championship because I know how Albany feels. I’ve been in that spot twice before, so it feels amazing.”
It was a difficult loss for UAlbany in its first time hosting the tournament since 2011. The Great Danes lost in the final for the ninth consecutive season. The previous eight losses were against America East powerhouse Stony Brook, which wasn’t allowed to participate this year by an America East rule because the Seawolves are headed to the Colonial Athletic Association next season.
“You know, it’s always heartbreaking to finish a game like that, and then also just we have a lot of seniors and it’s always just tough when the season ends,” Rowan said. “It just always feels so abrupt. So really feel for this group, but just really proud of them and we’ll support each other and stick together as we always do.”
Sarah Falk led the Great Danes with a hat trick, while Allie Maloney, Bryar Hogg and Ava Poupard added two goals apiece.