B3

ALL-AREA GIRLS SOCCER

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2014

Bridget Alber

Kylee Babcock

Lauren Bausch

Ellery Bianco

Katie Benson

Meghan Cavanaugh

Kennedy Cocozzo

Meghan Malone

Julia McDonald

Lexi Potter

YaYa Van Ness

COMING THURSDAY

Schuylerville, senior defense

Honors:
1st team
Foothills
Council allstar, Section II Class
B all-star,
5th team
Class B All-state
Notable: Alber would
have been a standout in
whatever position she
played for the Black Horses but she was needed
most as a sweeper. The
senior captain led her
team to an 8-4 record in
its first Foothills Council
season.
Coachs quote: Bridget
is the glue in our backfield
and pops forward to help
in the midfield.

Saratoga Springs, senior

center back
Stats: 3
assists
Honors:
2nd team
Suburban
Council allstar
Notable: Cocozzo shined
as the Blue Streaks
became Suburban Council
co-champs and made the
Section II Class AA final
for the second straight
year. The senior captain combined the skill
and passing ability of a
central midfielder with the
athleticism and grit need
to shut down opposing
strikers. She was also the
free kick specialist for
Saratoga.

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake,

junior
midfielderdefender
Stats: 2
goals, 5
assists
Honors:
2nd team
Suburban Council all-star,
1st team Section II Class
A all-star
Notable: Babcock was
a jack of all trades for
the Spartans in their run
to the Section II Class A
final. Coach Brian Bold
could play the skilled
junior at any position and
she would find a way
to influence the game.
Scored the tying goal
to rally Burnt Hills past
Queensbury in 2-1 semifinal win.

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake,

senior
midfield
Stats: 5
goals, 4
assists
Honors:
1st team
Suburban
Council all-star, Section
II Class AA all-star, 4th
team Class A All-State
Notable: Malone finished
her stellar high school
career as the rock of the
Spartans midfield thanks
to her strong tackles and
intelligent passes. She
scored the most important of her five goals early
on in the Section II Class
A final. The senior captain
was a leader for coach
Brian Bold on the field
and off.

Shenendehowa, senior
center back
Stats: 4
goals, 2
assists
Honors:
1st team
Suburban
Council
all-star
Notable: Bausch anchored a Plainsmen
defense that was among
the most stingy in Section
II, including nine shutouts
in 18 games. The senior
was also a threat going
forward on free kicks and
corners. Bausch captained
Shenendehwoa to share
the Suburban Council
and a Section II Class AA
semifinal appearance.

Saratoga Springs, sophomore goalkeeper

Stats: 6
shutouts
Notable:
McDonald
allowed
six goals in
her varsity
debut against Niskayuna.
She recovered to give up
just nine more in the next
14 games she played as
Saratoga Springs went on
a 15-match win streak.
McDonalds maturity helped
Saratoga Springs to a
Suburban co-championship
and a run to the Section II
Class AA final. The sophomore was at her best in the
playoffs when she made key
saves in the semifinal and
quarterfinal matches.

Saratoga Springs, senior

forward
Stats: 17
goals, 9
assists
Honors:
1st team
Suburban
Council allstar, Section II Class AA
all-star, 3rd team Class
AA All-State
Notable: The fastest
player in Section II terrorized opposing defenses
for four varsity seasons.
As a senior captain,
Bianco scored a teamhigh 17 goals to lead the
Blue Streaks to a 15 game
win streak, the Suburban
Council co-championship
and the Section II Class
AA final.

South Glens Falls, junior

midfielderforward
Stats: 12
goals, 13
assists
Honors:
Section
II Class A
all-star, 1st team Foothills
Council all-star
Notable: Potter not only
posseses a unique combination of speed and skill,
she uses her gifts to put
defenses under real pressure. The junior was just
as comfortable slaloming
through defenders to look
for her own shot as she
was setting up Bulldogs
teammates for scoring
opportunities.

Shenendehowa, senior
forward
Stats: 11
goals, 5
assits
Honors:
1st team
Suburban
Council allstar, Section II Class AA
all-star, 5th team Class
AA All-State
Notable: Benson came
into the season as the top
returning threat up front
for the Plainsmen and, despite extra attention from
defenses, managed to
lead the team in scoring
with 11 goals. The senior
was critical to Shenendehowas co-Suburban
Council championship run.

Saratoga Springs,
sophomore
forward
Stats: 16
goals, 5
assists
Honors:
2nd team
Suburban
Council all-star
Notable: Its hard to
imagine a first year varsity
player making a bigger
impact than what Van
Ness did for the Blue
Streaks this season. The
sophomores showcased
her superior dribbling and
finishing abilities to score
16 goals, but none was
bigger than her semifinal finish in the second
overtime period to send
Saratoga to the Section II
Class AA final.

Shenendehowa, junior,
midfield
Stats: 4
goals, 2
assists
Honors:
1st team
Suburban
Council allstar, Section II Class AA
all-star, 3rd team Class
AA All-State
Notable: Even on a quality team like Shenendehowa, Cavanaughs skill
and passing stood out.
The junior shut down opposing midfielders then
got the ball to dangerous
positions for her teammates to attack from. She
also proved to be one of
the best in the air on set
pieces.

The Saratogian's
All-Area Football
team
Find out if your favorite
school or classmates
made the cut for the
Saratogian's Christmas
Day Tradition. The team
will feature Offensive, Defensive and Coach of the
Year features, play caps,
photos and video.
FULL STORY ON THURSDAY

SECOND TEAM
Pos.
Player Yr.
F
Sarah Covell
So.
F
Kendra Harbinger
So.
F
Alexis Lockrow
Sr.
F
Emily Vallee
Fr.
M
Theresa Starnes
Sr.
M
Elizabeth Spada
Jr.
M
Erica Nichols
Sr.
M
Sophia DiNinni
Sr.
D
Hannah Murphy
So.
D
Megan Robinson
Sr.
GK
Sara Baker
Sr.

School
Saratoga Springs
Shenendehowa
Stillwater
Schuylerville
Saratoga Springs
South Glens Falls
Stillwater
Shenendehowa
Saratoga Springs
Shenendehowa
Schuylerville

HONORABLE MENTION

MIKE MCMAHON
- MMCMAHON@
DIGITALFIRSTMEDIA.COM,

L-R Delaney Dyer,

Sarah Covell and
Ellery Bianco
celebrate Covells
goal in the first half
vs Shenendehowa
at Saratoga girls
soccer, Thursday
October 09, 2014.

Bianco
FROM PAGE 1

and nine assists made her

the leading scorer on a team
with attacking threats up
and down the roster.
Even an injury scare
couldnt stop her.
I had hyperextended my
knee during senior night,
she said. I could play no
problem but then if I took a
step just the right way it was
way too vulnerable. I didnt
want anything worse to happen.
Despite being hampered
by the knee brace, Bianco
was still able to make intelligent runs into space and
focus on setting up her very
capable teammates against
Shen.
Midway through the first
half, she latched onto a ball
then squared it across the
box for sophomore Sarah
Covell to drive into the net
for a 1-0 lead. It turned out to
be the only goal of the match
for the Blue Streaks and the
only goal needed to avenge a
6-1 loss earlier in the season.
That was just representative of my whole season,
Bianco said of the match. I
wasnt going to let anything
get in my way. It was my last

time playing Shen, I wasnt

about to let it slip away from
me.
Saratoga Springs ended
the regular season with wins
against Ballston Spa and
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake to
clinch a share of the league
title with their rivals.
Bianco scored or assisted
46 percent of her teams
goals, but even when her
name wasnt credited with
either, she was usually involved in the build up somehow.
If she wasnt scoring a
goal she was directly involved with scoring a goal,
Blue Streaks coach Adrienne Dannehy said of Biancos play.
Bianco was back up to
speed by the start of sectionals and was called upon to
rally her top-seeded squad
against No. 8 Colonie in
the quarterfinals. Saratoga
Springs trailed 1-0 in the
second half until Bianco finished a nice cross from fellow
senior Taylor Camoin. The
match was eventually settled in overtime on a goal by
Covell. It didnt show up on
the stat sheet, but Bianco ran
down a ball that was headed
out of bounds and dropped it
back to Sadie Ray, who then
set up Covell for the win.
The hustle play was evi-

dence of Biancos mix of determination and physicality. She had the will to get to
the ball and the strength to
knock a defender out of her
way to do so.
The passion I play with,
I will do anything for my
team, she said. I want the
ball. It came down to how
bad I wanted it and I wasnt
going to let anything get in
the way.
The win set up a semifinal
against Niskayuna, the team
that edged Saratoga Springs
in the 2013 final. The contest was physical from the
start as both teams played
one of their best matches of
the season. In the end, sophomore striker YaYa Van Ness
finished a perfect pass from
Theresa Starnes to give the
Blue Streaks another overtime victory.
The moment after the goal
went in was one of Biancos
favorite memories of her senior year.
That was such a fun
game, she said.
Biancos high school soccer career came to an end
in the Section II final when
Bethlehem scored twice on
free kicks to beat Saratoga
Springs 2-1. Bianco assisted
on Starnes second half goal
but the teams 15-match win
streak ended one short of the

girls soccer programs first

sectional championship.
I definitely wish it went
differently and we came out
on top, but I think its only
going to help them next
year, she said. Thats really
what I care about for the program, that theyre hopefully
going to make it back there
and have that motivation.
The success of the Saratoga girls soccer program the
past two seasons is a tribute
to all the seniors on the roster. At the center of the group
was three captains Bianco,
Starnes, and Kennedy Cocozzo who led the team
from their forward, midfield
and defensive positions respectively. Bianco and Cocozzo are four-year varsity
players whove played countless hours of soccer together
through the years.
Kennedy and I go way
back, I dont know soccer
without her, Bianco said.
Without a doubt shes made
me the athlete I am today. After every goal I scored I ran
straight for Kennedy.
In November, Bianco
signed a national letter of intent to run Division I track
at Cornell University. In the
meantime, she will try to add
to her already stellar indoor
and outdoor running career
with the Blue Streaks.

F
F
F
F
F
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
D
GK
GK
GK

Mackenzie Bowie
Gabrielle Kreppein
Sydney Wayand
Kelsie Moinzadeh
Maria Patane
Gabrielle Capobianco
Taylor Camoin
Sadie Ray
Natasha Capobianco
Madeline Nevins
Kali DeMarco
Sarah Erno
Madison Adams
Jill Shippee
Danika Svendsen
Elyse Green

Dannehy
FROM PAGE 1

ing the Blue Streaks from

a punching bag to a coleague champion and sectional finalist.
With many players returning from last seasons surprise run to the
Section II Class A A final, it was clear Saratoga Springs had talent.
What they didnt have at
the start of the year, was
a chemistry with a quality
group of incoming sophomores.
I definitely had a split,
Dannehy said. Half the
girls played together the
year before, the other kids
hadnt played with each
other. It took some time to
get to know each other. My
girls just wanted to come
back and work hard and
not make (the poor start)
define who they were.
The results were the
best in Saratoga Springs
history. Led by a potent
forward line of Ellery Bianco, YaYa Van Ness and
Sarah Covell and anchored
by center backs Kennedy
Cocozzo and Hannah
Murphy, the Blue Streaks
went on a 15-match win
streak that propelled them
to the best record in the
Suburban Council, a No. 1
playoff seed and, eventually, a return trip to the

Fr.
So.
8th
Sr.
Jr.
Sr.
Sr.
Sr.
Jr.
So.
Sr.
Sr.
Jr.
So.
So.
Jr.

Mechanicville
South Glens Falls
Stillwater
Shenendehowa
Greenwich
Schuylerville
Saratoga Springs
Saratoga Springs
Schuylerville
Schuylerville
Mechanicville
Mechanicville
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake
Shenendehowa
Stillwater
South Glens Falls

It was funny,
when we used
to coach against
each other
it was very
competitive,
But as soon as
we started it
was an absolute
fun time for
everyone.
- Dannehy

Section II Class AA final.

It may be no coincidence that both years former rivals Dannehy and
assistant Betsy Drambour have coached together, Saratoga Springs
has made it to the title
match.
It was funny, when we
used to coach against each
other it was very competitive, Dannehy said. To
put us together, a lot of
people were saying it
wasnt going to work because of our competitive
nature. But as soon as we
started it was an absolute
fun time for everyone.
Saratoga Springs will
graduate another strong
class of seniors in the
spring, but with the talent
returning and Dannehy at
the helm it wouldnt be a
surprise if another deep
playoff run was in store
no matter how the team
starts.