Great Keeper Work Keeps The Game Close
by Steve Bradley
They did everything they could. They hustled. They got to the ball first. They gave it their all. They never gave up. But against a superior opponent, they fell just a bit short.
In Class B action Saturday, the number six seeded Panthers traveled out to Broadalbin-Perth High School, located 10 miles north of Amsterdam, to take on the number three seeded (15 – 3) Broadalbin-Perth Patriots. For most of the first half, the game was even. The teams attacked up and down the field, neither team able to find a chink in the other’s armor. Late in the half, the Patriots were able to get the ball past Panther goaltender Noah Chani and take a 1 – 0 lead. The score would hold for the rest of the half.
In the second half, the Patriots controlled the ball much of the time but were unable to get the ball past Chani. It seemed the entire second half was played in the Panthers’ end of the field. But all the Panthers hustled and cleared and kept making the Patriots regroup and start over. Chani was jumping and diving at power shots, and he stopped everything that was within his reach. They just couldn’t get the one shot they needed to tie it up.
In the end, the Panthers played a great game. They did lose the game, but they gave it their best. They were defeated by one goal by a very good team.