By Doug La Rocque
There are a couple of old phrases about losing. “Don’t get mad, get even and Revenge is Sweet.” Both apply to the Lady Mountaineers Soccer Team this past week. [private]They only had one game, but it was against the Lee, MA, Wildcats who handed Berlin one of its few defeats this season.
Coach Fleda Berschwinger tells The Eastwick Press it was one of best efforts of the year. “We dominated the time of possession and field position, and Haley Maxon was outstanding once again in goal.”
The defense continued to rise to the occasion, and leading scorer Jewel Pietrzak once again had a multi-goal game, placing two behind the Lee keeper. Berlin’s third goal of the game came off a crossing pass by Pietrzak that was headed in by Gabby Mazzeo. Berschwinger said it was one of the prettiest goals of her coaching career. The Girls have two more league games in the coming week before heading into sectionals, hoping their record in Class D will again be good enough to host a first-round game.
A Championship Match is in the Offing Boys’ Soccer had a rough outing against Western Athletic Conference foe Notre Dame – Bishop Gibbons. The Mountaineers were beaten by the Class C Golden Knights 6-1. The Mountaineers have a busy week coming up, stepping up in class once again at home against Chatham. They also play at Heatly before what should be the Central Hudson Valley League Championship game at home Friday against the Loudonville Christian Eagles. Game time 4 pm.
More Personal Bests For Mountaineer Runners Berlin’s Cross Country teams had a busy week, and continue to improve on their times as they too look toward a successful sectional run. The Boys team continued undefeated in league play, outpacing both Hoosic Valley and Waldorf last Tuesday.
The Mountaineer’s Nick Styer broke the 16-minute mark in a time of 15:38. Ryan Gosse and Alex Flowers also set personal bests with times of 16:16 and 16:35 respectively. The Girls also showed huge improvements, with Cayla Hungerford finishing third in a time of 19:41. Gigi French finished 4 minutes faster than her last time out crossing the finish lines in 22:40.
Last Saturday the teams competed in the Maple Hill (Schodack) Invitational. Both teams finished third, with Class D rival Maple Hill winning its own meet. Nick Styer again led Berlin finishing 6th, but Coach Josh Santarcangelo singled out Nolan Jones and Malachi Ritter, who both broke the 22-minute barrier. Joe Canam was also impressive with a time of 23:46, a full three minutes faster than his previous best. Cayla Hungerford was third overall for the Girls. Kudos to Haley Chaykowski-Jewitt who is returning to form with a strong first half of the race.
Both teams compete at Tamarac this week before taking part Saturday in the Burnt Hills invitational, a prelude to the sectionals.[/private]