BROADALBIN — After reaching the Section II Class B semifinals last season, the Broadalbin-Perth girls’ soccer team has focused all season on making another playoff run.
The third-seeded Patriots took their first step Thursday, posting a 4-0 victory over 14th-seeded Coxsackie-Athens in a first-round Class B contest at Patriot Field.
“We’ve been preparing to play in sectionals all season,” Broadalbin-Perth coach Rob Klug said. “We played to set ourselves up for the postseason. We put the work in during the regular season, and now it’s time to make the most of it in the postseason.”
Broadalbin-Perth got three goals from freshman Olivia Rogers, while Jillian Sassanella also scored. Macie Perry, Marcy Hotaling and Chase Tyler added assists for the Patriots, who outshot Coxsackie-Athens by a 39-0 margin.
The Patriots were playing for the first time since last Friday when they closed out the regular season with a 6-0 win at Hudson Falls.
“We have some experience, but we also have some young players,” Klug said. “The first sectional game is always tough because there’s some jitters and you’re usually coming off a layoff.”
Despite pitching a shutout on the defensive end, B-P needed almost 33 minutes in the first half to net the game’s first goal.
“Coxsackie-Athens did a good job defensively,” Klug said.
The Patriots outshot the Riverhawks by a 24-0 margin in the first half but failed to cash in until Rogers scored on an assist from Perry with 7:07 left to make it 1-0.
“We were creating a lot of chances. That’s a good thing,” Klug said. “We just had to get one to find the back of the net.”
After netting the only goal of the first half, Broadalbin-Perth picked up where it left off following the break.
The Patriots continued to control the action, outshooting Coxsackie-Athens 15-0 over the final 40 minutes.
“I thought we played well,” Klug said. “We did a good job possessing the ball and we passed well too.”
Sassanella gave B-P a 2-0 lead with 28:49 to play, blasting a shot into the back on the next from 20 yards out on an assist from Hotaling.
Rogers scored her second of the night with 17:16 to play on an assist from Tyler to push the Patriots’ lead to 3-0.
The game’s final goal came with 12:47 to play when Rogers followed up a blast from Sassanella that caromed off the underside of the crossbar and out. Rogers found the rebound at the right post, tucked it home and completed her hat trick.
“I’m proud of how we finished off the game in the second half,” Klug said. “We did a good job staying patient and creating good scoring chances. We were able to finish off a few of them in the second half.”
Mairead Marsden didn’t need to make a save to post the win in goal for the Patriots, who registered their eighth shutout of the season.
Jasa Cruz finished with 22 saves for Coxsackie-Athens, which finished the season with a 9-7-1 overall record.
Broadalbin-Perth (14-3 overall) will host sixth-seeded Holy Names on Saturday in the quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m. at Patriot Field. Holy Names posted a 1-0 victory over 11th-seeded Fonda-Fultonville in a first-round contest Thursday.
“It’s nice to have our first two games at home,” Klug said. “We’re looking forward to playing another game on our home turf.”
Categories: -Sports-, High School Sports, Sports
