“The difference for me is that we had the same opportunities, but when they hit the crossbar, we were hitting them over,” said Niskayuna coach Terrance Sloan. “We would have had 12 points on the day, if we were playing football. If you put the ball on the frame, or near the frame, I can live with that.
But through the [uprights], we all know that’s a field goal.” The non-league matchup ended up as a 1-1 draw, as the Wasaren League powerhouse Mechanicville visited Niskayuna on its home turf. “I saw [Terrance] at Afrims this winter and said, ‘You want to play,’ and he said, 'Sure,” Mechanicville coach Mike Ciulla said of scheduling the game.
Mechanicville, which has won two straight Section 2 Class B titles, played up against the runner up in the Class AA tournament last season. For Sloan, he wanted to challenge his team, putting them up against a Mechanicville squad known for its speed and physicality. “To be honest, you’d think that the Suburban games are very physical, but sometimes they’re very technical,” Sloan said.
“I knew [Mechanicville] is very physical because I’ve watched a lot of their games. Most of their kids are bigger than our kids, and they run a lot harder.” Mechanicville opened up the scoring in the first half.
On a long throw-in taken by Tom Pitts, into the box, Scotty Lynch was able to get his head on the ball, putting it into the back of the net. Niskayuna evened things up in the second half, as Soren Borger finished off a cross from Ryan Torres, making the score 1-1. “It was a beautiful finish,” Sloan said.
“We actually had a play just like that the other day against Shaker, and we had a ball just like that we didn’t finish, which could have put us up. That’s a point of emphasis, to attack the end line, get the drawn ball back and hopefully our midfielders are coming through.” To start the season, Niskayuna is 3-1-2 overall.
It opened the year with a 3-0 loss to Colonie, and then won three straight games against Queensbury, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake and Ballston Spa. On Thursday, the Silver Warriors tied Shaker 1-1, the defending Section 2 Class AAA champions, before tying Mechanicville on Saturday. “We typically don’t play a lot of non-league games, but I felt like this team has something special,” Sloan said of facing Mechanicville.
“Over the course of eight years, this is probably the most technical team I’ve had here. Now it’s just about getting them to believe in each other.” Mechanicville, which has gone to the NYSPHSAA semifinals each of the past two seasons, remained undefeated to start the year at 5-0-1.
“It’s how the guys respond,” Ciulla said. “We grabbed the lead, and then we came out and hit the post a few times, we hit the crossbar twice early in the second half. We played them well, that’s a very good team.
“This is a special senior class, and they’re rallying all the other guys together. Mechanicville 1 0 — 1 Niskayuna 0 1 — 1 Mechanicville scoring: Lynch 1-0; Pitts 0-1. Niskayuna scoring: Borger 1-0; Torres 0-1.
Goalies: Mechanicville, Pingelski, 7 saves. Niskayuna, Thurn, 5 saves..
