by Steve Bradley
After the game Hoosick Falls head coach Denise Campbell said “The defense came prepared.” It was a good thing they did.
The Lady Panthers scored in the opening minutes of the game and their defense kept the undefeated, high scoring Johnstown Sir Bills from scoring a single goal, bringing home a championship on Sunday afternoon.
Eighth grader Emma McCart headed to the opposite side of the goal that the ball was on and redirected a pass from Emily Schnoop into goal. McCart was falling sideways to the ground as she took the shot.
For the remainder of the game, the Panther defense rose to the occasion, although the Sir Bills offense kept the Panther defense hopping. Primarily in the second half Johnstown was constantly at the Panther goal, and using a combination of skill and a little luck, the Sir Bills were turned away. Panther goalie Zoe Gress played a great game, turning away 14 shots. Johnstown goalie Ally Van Allenenburg had four saves.
The lucky part came into play on a second half Johnstown shot that bounced off the goal pipe back into play.
The final eight nail-biting minutes had the Hoosick Falls crowd silently begging the Panthers to get the ball away from their goal to the other end of the field while at the same time cheering them on. Johnstown had corner after corner and it just seemed likely that one shot was going to slip through and tie the score.
But that never happened. Nothing slipped by the Panther defenders and time mercifully ran out.
The Panthers moved to 19-0 while Johnstown’s season came to an 18-1 end.
The team returned to a winners’ welcome with the Hoosick and Hoosick Falls fire trucks escorting the team around the village.
Next Saturday the Ladies travel to Lakeland High School to play the winner of Tuesday’s game between Section I Pawling and Section IX Taconic Hills at Dietz Stadium in Kingston.
Lakeland High School is located in Scrub Oak, NY. Scrub Oak is six miles east of Peekskill, NY. According to Google maps it is a two and one-half hour drive.