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Fact Box

Sectional Scoreboard

FIELD?HOCKEY

Section II?

Class B Championship

Glens Falls 1, Johnstown 0 (2 OT)

Class A Championship

Niskayuna 2, Saratoga Springs 1

Class C-CC Playoff

Hoosick?Falls 3, Greenwich 2

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CLIFTON PARK - The Johnstown and Glens Falls field hockey teams have been on a collision course all season.

First they split the two games they played this season and shared the Foothills Council championship, Then were seeded first and second in the Section II Class B tournament.

Neither team encountered major challenges in the playoff bracket and squared off in the championship game Friday night at Shenendehowa High School.

Regulation and an overtime period were not enough to determine a victor, but with 2:22 remaining in the second overtime, the Lady Indians found success.

Playing 7-on-7 in overtime, Glens Falls moved the ball quickly upfield with Emily White gaining control and getting off a shot that Johnstown goalkeeper Courtney Ponte blocked. The lady Indians' Kate Gillespie was in the right place at the right time to collect the rebound and push the ball into the back of the goal for sudden victory.

"It is definitely not the way we wanted it to end, but when you get into double overtime it is anybody's ball game," Johnstown assistant coach Christine Krempa said. "It was a lucky break."

Johnstown (15-2-0) put early pressure on the Glens Falls defense and appeared to find early success.

Kendra Cooper struck a shot on goal with 1:03 off the clock that Glens Falls goalkeeper Brittany Daniels got a pad on. The ball deflected and rolled along the goal line. The Lady Bills began a celebration but it was short lived as the referee determined the ball did not cross the line and awarded Johnstown a long hit.

"I wasn't quite sure why the first goal did not count," Johnstown coach Tracy Ringer said. "I asked, but did not get an answer. It didn't matter. My girls came out hard and I really think they carried the intensity through."

Johnstown controlled the pace of the game through the first half and were awarded seven penalty corners but put only three shots on goal. The Lady Bills' control of the ball was evident as Glens Falls recorded only two shots and received three penalty corners late in the half.

The Lady Indians came off the break strong with Shauna Rankin-Byrne moving the ball quickly on a long run along the left sideline before putting a shot on goal that Ponte rejected and the Lady Bills' defense cleared.

Glens Falls picked up its intensity midway through the half and challenged the Johnstown defenders. The Lady Bills defense of Katherine Bant, Viv Panetta, Gabby D'Antonino and Carly Brunco held their ground, allowing four penalty corners but only one clear shot on goal that Ponte turned away.

With neither team able to break the scoreless deadlock in regulation, the teams lined up for 10 minute, 7-on-7 overtime periods.

The Lady Bills again controlled the pace of play in the first overtime session and in the final minute narrowly missed a potential game-winner when a hard hit by Cooper went just wide of the left post.

The Lady Indians opened the second overtime period with a long run by Rankin-Byrne that Ponte met head-on, charging off her line and blocking the ball, sending Ranking-Byrne sprawling.

Glens Falls kept the pressure on and got the break it was looking for when White's attempt was bounced off Ponte's pad and Gillespie finished for the game winner.

"I am extremely proud of my girls," Ringer said. "They came out strong and the intensity level through the whole game was more than I could have asked for. Mary Jane Carville, Kayla Satterlee, Kendra Cooper, Katherine Bant played the game of their lives. I could not have asked any more from these girls."

For the game, Johnstown outshot Glens Falls 9-7 and held an 11-8 edge in penalty corners. Ponte finished six saves and Daniels had seven.

"This loss is not going to define our season," Ringer said. "We lose four starters and eight from the team. It just wasn't our day and it wasn't our time."