Schalmont girls' soccer tops Mechanicville for Class A title

Troy

An offsides penalty negated what fans thought could be a goal in the first 30 seconds by Schalmont against Mechanicville, but that almost-goal set the tone for the rest of the game, as the Sabres wore down the Red Raiders' defense to win the Class B sectional championship 3-1.

After keeping the ball on the Red Raiders' side of the field for much of the first half, Schalmont finally scored with just less than five minutes to go. Michaela McCrum knocked a pass from midfielder Gabriela Amoroso away from Mechanicville goalie Savannah Bowie, and Sofia Cassano shot it past Bowie for the first goal.

Bowie was hard-pressed to hold the Sabres at bay, fending off frequent attacks from Cassano and the rest of the Sabres' offense.

Schalmont came out firing again after halftime and scored quickly, this time after Cassano set up Gianna Viscusi with a through ball for a 2-0 advantage.

Jada Brown, who has been an offensive threat for Mechanicville all season, threatened throughout the game but was shut out, her only contribution a pass to Neveah D'Aloia that the sophomore netted for only Red Raiders' goal of the game.

"We try to always know where she is," Schalmont first-year head coach Ryan Fries said of Brown. "We tried to give her no space to turn, to make plays."

"It wasn't the first time we had been in that situation, so we just kind of wanted to take them back and emphasize that the game's not over and this is still doable," Mechanicville co-coach Val D'Aloia.

"I really don't have a complaint about the girls. The effort was there," said her co-coach Karl Gerstenberger.

Schalmont put away the game when a corner kick by Teghan Older was knocked in by Ashley Cirilla over Bowie's head.

With the win, Schalmont (17-2-1) advances to the state tournament for the fourth time in...