GLOVERSVILLE – The Broadalbin-Perth Patriots outpaced the Gloversville Dragons in the second half en route to a 3-0 victory at Gloversville High School in a Foothills Council boys soccer contest Friday.
The first half of action saw both teams possess the ball with equal success, but only Broadalbin-Perth was able to find the back of the net.
Jake Crocetta put Gloversville’s first shot on goal five minutes into the game, the one of just three shots on goal for the Dragons in the half. Thomas Kirk unloaded the other two shots, including a header that went just wide of the goal midway through the half. Crocetta is a senior for Gloversville while Kirk is a junior, but several sophomores garnered minutes for Gloversville.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys starting, and I wanted to see where we were weak and what we had to work on,” said Gloversville coach Paul Ligon. “Overall I was pleased.”
Gloversville sophomore Matt Smrtic, along with Adam Sleezer and Brendon Jablonski, had success controlling the defensive end for most of the first.
“Jablonski, our center back, played an excellent game,” said Ligon.
The first goal of the game came with 16 minutes left in the half. Broadalbin-Perth’s Brandon Rafferty popped up a ball that bounced just out of the reach of Gloversville goal keeper Kyle Royal and in to give Broadalbin-Perth the early 1-0 advantage. Justin Marek put a shot on goal that sailed just over the crossbar with less than one minute left in the half.
Broadalbin-Perth outclassed Gloversville in the second, in part because of the contributions of striker Francesco Mastrocinque.
“Franny on the outside did a nice job of creating opportunities,” Broadalbin Perth head coach Brian Henry said after the win. “Ultimately we started to pick things up in the second half and we were able to score some nice goals.”
Four minutes into the half, Scott Everson directed a free kick high into the air that once again bounced just out of the reach of Royal and through for the Patriots’ second goal of the game. Vincent Scott got two early shots off for the Dragons, but Broadalbin-Perth goal keeper Devin Page wasn’t very busy in the second half. Page saved just three balls in the game, while Royal saved five for Gloversville.
Joe Zarecki scored for the Patriots with 17 minutes remaining to push Broadalbin-Perth’s lead to 3-0.
Kirk put two back-to-back desperation shots on goal for Gloversville with under 10 minutes left to play, the second of which glanced off the crossbar and out of play, leaving Kirk and the home crowd in disbelief.
“I thought our two center backs, Connor Monks and [Scotty] Everson, did a really nice job of controlling the back line as usual,” Henry said. “They contained some really good high pressure from Gloversville and slowed their attack down.”
The Patriots outshot the Dragons 14-7, including 9-4 in the second half.
“We’ve got to get better at possessing the ball,” cautioned Ligon. “We kicked it around too much without hitting our own players’ feet.”
Broadalbin-Perth will welcome Scotia-Glenville at 4:15 p.m. on Monday, while the Dragons will travel to Queensbury on Monday to take on the Spartans at 4:30.
