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VOORHEESVILLE — The Voorheesville girls’ lacrosse team came out firing on all cylinders, relentless in a Section 2 Class D quarterfinal victory over Johnstown.
“This wasn’t just an individual effort,” said Voorheesville’s Allie Giglio. “We all relied on each other and everyone was able to contribute.”
Allie Giglio, a sophomore, led the way for Voorheesville with five goals and five assists, as the Blackbirds defeated the Lady Bills 22-4.
Erin Owens tacked on five more goals, while freshman Gwen Gyurovits had two goals and two assists.
Lauren Giglio, an eighth-grader, contributed three goals and an assist in the win.
Early on, Johnstown was able to string together some opportunities on offense, but couldn’t quite figure out Voorheesville goalie Allie Sapienza.
“That’s probably one of the toughest keepers we’ve faced all season,” Johnstown coach Tommy Horning said of Sapienza. “She was lights out and if we didn’t pick our spots well enough, she was going to make the save.”
“I just try to trust my defense and know that they’re there to help protect me,” said Sapienza, who tallied 13 saves in the game, including some on free-position attempts.
“She’s never let us down,” Giglio said. “We know that we can always count on her if we get beat on defense. She’s always there to back us up; she’s amazing.”
Johnstown senior Molly Sweeney was able to get the Lady Bills on the scoreboard, with three goals in the game, but the Blackbirds kept piling on.
Beginning toward the end of the first half, Voorheesville went on a 13-goal run. It lasted most of the second half, until Johnstown’s Amia Hall scored in the final seconds, as the quarterfinal contest came to a close.
“We wanted to get the girls into a section game, especially after a phenomenal season, from where we started to where we ended,” Horning said. “It’s unfortunate to lose in the first game, but you want to see progress year-to-year and I think we definitely saw that.”
The Lady Bills, seeded sixth in the Class D bracket, traveled to Voorheesville with just one substitute, as most players played the full game.
“Overall abilities, our aggression on offense and defense and working together,” Horning added on his group’s improvements over the season. “We’ve got some great senior leaders and it’s going to be tough losing them.”
Voorheesville, the three-seed, moves on to the Class D semifinals and will visit No. 2 Schuylerville on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
“We’ve grown so much as a program in the last few years and this is the first time we’ve done this well,” Sapienza said. “Last year we lost our first section game. I’m really close with everyone on the team, so it’s really exciting to get the win and to get to keep playing with them.”
Johnstown 3 1 – 4
Voorheesville 13 9 – 22
Johnstown scoring: Sweeny 3-0, Hall 1-0. Voorheesville scoring: Owens 5-1, A. Giglio 5-5, Kito 1-1, Ries 1-0, Sciandra 0-1, Curley 1-0, Gyurovits 4-2, Smith 2-0, L. Giglio 3-1. Goalie saves: Johnstown, Wendolski, 6 saves; Voorheesville, Sapienza, 13 saves.
Contact Kyle Adams at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @kasportsnews.
