by Julie Luciano
The Hoosick Falls Girls soccer team beat Ravena in the first round of Sectionals on Wednesday, October 27, by a score of 6-2.
Moving into Sectionals, Head Coach Tom Husser didn’t want to risk not having enough players due to injuries so he brought up four well skilled Junior Varsity players – Dana O’Malley, Hannah Fricke, Alyssa Houghton and Hannah Lilac. Fricke played goal for the second half and only allowed one goal. O’Malley, Houghton and Lilac all got playing time as well.
The team stepped up its game because during sectionals it’s single elimination. Within the first few minutes Maritza Gonzalez fed a ball to Alice Hayden who scored from outside of the 18 yard box to put the Panthers up.
Not long after that the Panthers scored again with a cross from Meaghan McKee right to Deanna Dubois to finish the play. The Panthers were up 2-0 which gave them a little bit of room to settle down. Ravena still kept battling even though they were down by two, and they scored a goal to put them one behind. Hoosick Falls answered Ravena’s goal with a goal from McKee, with an assist from Gonzalez. McKee was on a roll and fed Jordyn Haynes for a goal as well. The teams ended the half with a score of 4-1.
Ravena came out strong and rested, and it paid off. Their efforts got them another goal about 15 minutes into the second half, but it wasn’t long after that that Gonzalez scored again with an assist from Mackenzie Hinchliffe. By this point the Panthers had a commanding lead of 5-2 with only 10 minutes left. The Panthers weren’t done scoring though. Hinchliffe dribbled and cut around several people before releasing the ball into the top right corner of Ravena’s goal.
Senior Captain Deanna Dubois, who could have been playing in her last high school soccer game, said, “We came out really pumped up. We learned from our mistake last year, and we did not want it to end the same way. We knew we had to score early and often, so we played to feet and possessed the ball. In the end we got it done.” The final score was 6-2 and the Panthers advance to the next Sectional game which will be played on their home pitch at the George Helft Soccer Complex on Saturday, October 30.