South Glens Falls blanks Gloversville, 2-0
By JAMES A. ELLIS, The Leader-HeraldArticle Photos
GLOVERSVILLE - In the opening game of the Foothills Council girls soccer campaign, South Glens Falls and Gloversville played to a scoreless draw.
So both teams knew it was essential to establish early control in the rematch.
Lindsey Farr gave South Glens Falls that edge in the opening minute of Monday's game to help the Lady Bulldogs build the momentum necessary to turn back the Lady Dragons, 2-0.
"I was really pleased with our play in the first half," Gloversville coach Aaron Grady said. "We just had a stretch of 36 seconds at the beginning of the half that resulted in a goal. And that is something you can't do against a quality team like South Glens Falls."
The Lady Bulldogs (8-2-2 overall, 5-1-2 Foothills Council) immediately tested the Gloversville (6-5-1 overall, 3-4-1 Foothills Council) defense. Erin Fish drove into the penalty area before touching a pass off to Farr on the left side of the area. Farr fired a 12-yard shot into the upper left corner of the goal for a 1-0 advantage with 36-seconds off the clock.
South Glens Falls kept the pressure on, but the Gloversville defenders did not allow the Lady Bulldogs' attack time to get off high percentage shots, allowing goalkeeper Abbie Carey to snag the few that were directed her way.
Gloversville's offense found success moving the ball in the midfield in the opening half, but could not penetrate the South Glens Falls back line.
The Lady Dragons found success moving the ball against the South High defense early in the second half. Thirty seconds into the half, Gianna DeLilli struck a centering pass from Jackie McCloskey that sailed over the crossbar.
Gloversville kept the ball in its offensive zone and a minute later was awarded a corner kick.
Erica Alikhan put the ball in front of the goalmouth where Jessica Benton got a head on it to send the ball on net. South High goalkeeper Amanda Perry reacted to punch the ball away for the initial save.
Gloversville kept the play alive and Alikhan came out of a scramble in front of the net to put a shot on goal that Perry gathered in to keep her team up 1-0.
The Lady Bulldogs got a little breathing room, connecting for their second goal of the game with 23:12 remaining.
Maddy Wheeler put a 30-yard direct kick on net that Carey knocked down. However, South High striker Chelsea Carruthers raced in to finish the play for a 2-0 edge.
"I don't know if the quick goal was important, but the first goal was very important," South Glens Falls coach Stephen Philo said. "More important than that first goal was the second one. It gave us a little breathing room and set us up to play defensive soccer like we wanted to in the second half. The first time we played, we dominated but just couldn't finish any chances. Today we did a little better."
Gloversville went back on the attack, often finding success putting together passing combination on the wings but were met in the middle by a swarming South High defense that kept the Lady Dragons from getting strong attempts on goal in the closing minutes of the match.
"We are finally healthy. I have not had a healthy squad since Aug. 29 was the last time I had a full team together," Philo said. "This is actually our second game that we are all healthy and we are finding the net now. We have scored eight goals and given up one in the last two games. We are coming together and peaking at the right time. I have a quality bench so I am not afraid to put anybody in at anytime. That has really helped us this season especially with all the injuries."
For the match, South High put 14 shots on net, while Gloversville had five, all in the second half. Carey came up with eight saves for the Lady Dragons and Perry recorded three for South Glens Falls.
"I thought we played a much more complete game today," Grady said. "We gave ourselves a lot more chances. I am proud of the girls, they worked extremely hard today and it is going to pay off for us. We are struggling to score goals right now, but I know it is going to pay off."
Gloversville will host Scotia-Glenville (9-1-2 overall, 7-0-1 Foothills Council) Thursday with game time slated for 6:30 p.m.
