“I felt that tonight we were able to make the necessary adjustments from yesterday’s game, settled down and most importantly worked as a team,” Ballston Spa coach Brian Retersdorf said. “Our girls are very selfless and the team getting a goal is more important to them than the individual who scores it.”
Earlier in the day, the Northville Lady Falcons turned back Western Athletic Conference rival Mayfield 4-2 to win the tournament consolation match.
Gloversville opened the championship match with an uptempo attack, moving the ball deep into the Ballston Spa defensive third of the field with Taylor Mee getting off a solid attempt on goal that was corralled by Scotties goalkeeper Shaylee Andress.
The Scotties settled into their passing game, spreading the Lady Dragons defense to open a shooting lane for Kaia Hemming to score her first goal of the season with 27-27 left in the opening half.
It didn’t take long for the Scotties to add a second goal as Rule beat her defender before slipping the ball past Gloversville goalkeeper Katie Hastings as she charged off her line to challenge the play.
Rule staked Ballston Spa to a 3-0 halftime advantage when she finished off a centering pass from Gillian Snyder with 10:39 left to the break.
Ballston Spa carried its momentum from the first half into the opening minutes of the second with Jordyn Ostrander connecting for a goal with 2:40 off the clock to build a 4-0 advantage.
Hastings and the Gloversville defense held the Scotties attack at Bay until Maddy Barnum sent a centering pass into the middle that Rule drilled into the back of the net for a 5-0 lead with 25 minutes left to play.
The Dragons pushed forward looking to breakup the shutout bid but were matched by the speedy backline of the Ballston Spa defense that kept the Gloversville shooters from getting off clean shots.
Mee and Sydney Loux managed to get shots off that were handled by Andrest to keep the Lady Dragons off the board.
The Scotties closed out their scoring with eight minutes left as Ostrander picked up her second goal of the match when she collected a loose ball off a corner kick restart and slipped it inside the post to put the final score at 6-0.
“It was great to see Sarah Rule get her second hat trick, Kaia Hemming her first goal and Jordyn Ostrander finishing two into the net tonight,” Coach Retersdorf said. “It was also equally exciting to see the plays that led up to the goals, which included assists by Maddy Barnum, Gillian Snyder, Maddy Wania and Rule. Katie Hastings had some phenomenal saves for Gloversville and made herself a presence on the field.”
Gloversville coach Mike Hallenbeck was not discouraged by his teams effort against the Suburban Council contender.
“They are just so skilled and play so well together. We were just outmatched tonight,” Gloversville coach Mike Hallenbeck said. “It was not for lack of effort. My girls played hard and gave it all they had for the full 80 minutes but they were the better team tonight.”
The Lady Dragons (1-1) will take a break to regroup before returning to the pitch Saturday.
“We talked after the game that we may not see a team better than this all year,” Hallenbeck said. “It was a good test to see where we are at and we know what we need to work on and what we need to improve. We will get back to work. We are off for a week before playing Fonda-Fultonville next Saturday then we jump into our Foothills season.”
Coach Retersdorf and assistant coach Jamie Retersdorf, who both played for Gloversville, thanked everyone involved in putting the tournament together in memory of their brother who died in February of 2000.
“My family and I would like to thank Mike Hallenbeck [a teammate of Scott’s] and the Gloversville soccer family for hosting the tournament in honor of my brother, Scott,” Brian Retersdorf said. “He loved playing for the Dragons and it means a lot to us to know he is remembered.”
Consolation match
Northville 4, Mayfield 2
GLOVERSVILLE — The Lady Falcons got a pair of first-half goals from Brytney Moore and one from Kaytelenn VanHeusen and held off Mayfield for the victory in the consolation match of the Scott Retersdorf Memorial Tournament Saturday at Gloversville High School.
The Lady Panthers cut the score to 3-1 at the half on a goal from Lyndsey Hampton.
Hampton scored just under two minutes into the second half to cut the Lady Falcons lead to 3-2 before Grace Forsey sent a pass from Talia Klippel into the back of the net for a 4-2 advantage.
The Northville defense, led by goalkeeper Emily Shepard held on to put their first win of the season in the book.
Jaycee Frasier picked up a pair of assists for Northville, while VanHeusen had a goal and an assist to go with two goals from Moore and an assist by Klippel.
Hampton finished with two goals in the match to bring her total to three in the tournament.
Shepard collected five saves in goal for Northville, while Kat Knecht made 12 stops in goal for Mayfield.
Northville will open its Western Athletic Conference season with a home match against Berne-Knox-Westerlo Wednesday at the Prospect Field, while Mayfield will open league play Wednesday at Galway.
