The girls soccer team will face a familiar foe in the opening round of the year’s Section II Class D tournament. For the third time this year – and the second year in a row – the #9 seeded girls soccer team will play #8 Heatley. The game will be played Thursday, October 19 at 3:00 PM at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium on Green Island.
Doane Stuart ended the regular season with a 3-5 (5-5-1 overall) record in the CHVL (Central Hudson Valley League). Heatley finished their regular season at 3-4-1, a half game higher than Doane Stuart. DS split the regular season games 1-1 with Heatley: a 3-2 loss at Heatley earlier in the year and then a 2-1 OT victory at last week’s Pink Game.
First-year Coach Jim Wheaton was impressed with the team’s growth this year: “It was a good season with a great finish. We finished on a 4-1-1 stretch with the only loss coming to league champions New Lebanon. Everyone worked really hard and I am I am really proud of the way the team came together.”
This will be the second year in a row that DS plays Heatley in the opening round of sectionals. Last year saw the higher seeded Thunder Chickens win their first ever opening round matchup in a thrilling 2-0 overtime victory at Emma Willard’s field.
When asked about the upcoming rubber match versus Heatley, the sixth in the past two years, Coach Wheaton offered the following assessment: “It is going to be a physical and very close game. Both teams scored three goals in the previous two games, so there is a zero goal differential.”
Waiting for the winner of DS-Heatley is Northville, the #1 overall seed for the Section II Class D bracket. Should DS advance, they would play Northville on Monday, October 23 at 3:00 PM.
Congratulations and good luck to our student-athletes tomorrow, especially our seniors (pictured L-R): Anna Murdock of Stephentown, Claire Bender of Albany, Yichen Liu of China, Yue Fang of China, Antonia DiPreta of Clifton Park, Hannah Nye of Rotterdam and Erin Hanna of Averill Park. Not pictured is Jenna Keute of West Coxsackie, who served as team stat keeper (the best in the league, according to Coach Wheaton).
Go Thunder Chickens!!