Scholastic women's soccer team denied a gold

No repeat gold for the Adirondack Region scholastic women’s soccer team.

No shame, either.

“When Western scored their third goal, I thought the wind had gone out of our sails,” Adirondack coach Meghan Pastiglione said Sunday afternoon. “They proved to me they were going to fight to the end. I’m proud of their character, and the way they played.”

Whitney Frary and Kylie Watt scored quick back-to-back goals to make a contest out of a potential rout, yet Adirondack could not connect for the equalizer in a thrilling 3-2 Empire State Games loss to Western at Binghamton University.

With its second-place showing, Adirondack (2-2) medaled for the sixth year in a row, and for the 19th time in the 20 years.

“This team definitely has that spirit,” said Watt, who’ll be

entering her senior year at Ichabod Crane.”When we get down, we don’t give up. We keep fighting until the end.”

In the end of Sunday’s game, Western was in kill-the-clock mode, fiercly battling to hold off the local all-star cast that had roughed up New York City Saturday with a 10-goal barrage.

“We definitely played our hearts out,” said Watt, whose goal in the 54th minute made it a 3-2 affair. “They were a tough team, and we gave them a good fight. It was no walk in the park for them.”

“Just like in the Central game, we had to pick it up,” said Frary, a senior-to-be at Niskayuna High School. “We needed to leave it all on the field, and that’s what we did.

“Every one of us wanted to win the gold. Everyone’s heart was in the entire game.”

Adirondack outshot Western

(3-1), 11-4 in the first half and 11-5 in the second. Adirondack applied great pressure early on, sailing several shots wide, and in the 30th minute, Watt banged a hard drive off the crossbar.

“It’s disappointing, but we had opportunities,” Pastiglione said. “We had to finish them.”

Frary did so in the 53rd minute after taking a feed from Caitlin Cahalan, directing a shot into the upper right corner of the cage. Watt scored soon after on a drive to the upper left corner, with Frary setting up that goal.

Alyssa Hurd made a bid for the equalizer in the 67th minute when she ripped liner toward Western netminder Adele Jackson-Gibson, who leapt high and got a hand on the ball, which then deflected off the crossbar. That was the best of 12 saves by Jackson-Gibson, while Adirondack’s Renae Cairns made five stops.

“We were getting chances,” said Frary, who, along with Watt, Megan Rozumalski, Taylor Teal and Ashley Wilson, were the only returnees from last year’s 4-0 team. “Unfortunately, we weren’t finishing.”

Veronica Santiago finished first, putting Western on top in the 44th minute, and the forward from

Aquinas High School scored again just 35 seconds into the second half. Jenna Rickan gave Western a 3-0 advantage in the 52nd minute, assisted by Santiago, before

Adirondack responded in what ESG women’s soccer chairman Bruce Theobald called the “best played game in the entire tournament.”.

“There’s a sense of disappointment not getting the gold, but we have great players, and it was definitely a game,” said Frary. “I was completely impressed with everybody.”

“We really put them under a lot of pressure right from the get-go and didn’t take advantage of our opportunities,” Watt said. “It’s frustrating, but the next time you’re out there, you’ve got to try to do better and try not make the same mistakes.”

Western won its fifth gold medal in the last six years and its ninth in all. Adirondack won its fourth gold medal last summer, and after Sunday’s performance, has nine silver medals.

MOORE CONNECTS AGAIN

Ashley Moore scored three goals, giving the University of North Carolina star eight this week, and the Adirondack open women salvaged a bronze medal with a 3-1 victory over Hudson Valley (2-2).

Adirondack (3-1) was denied an opportunity to play for a 10th gold medal when it lost to New York City, 1-0, Saturday.

“It was tough, not playing for the gold, but we wanted to come home with something,” said Moore, a first-time ESG participant and Shenendehowa graduate. “We played to win.”

“Our mentality was to forget yesterday’s game, and come out and play our game,” said Jen

Mihok, a defender from Guilderland and the University of Buffalo who has medaled in all six of her ESG appearances. “We wanted to work it from the back, go out wide and serve it in. Once we got in a rhythm, we played our game.”

Moore broke a 1-1 tie in the 88th minute before adding an insurance goal in the closing seconds.

“Ashleigh Barone hit me with a nice ball, and I got a toe on it,” Moore said of her tiebreaker. “That took the wind right out of them.”

BASKETBALL

Siena College star Melissa Manzer (Waterford) surpassed 20 points for the fourth time this week, finishing with 27, and Adirondack captured its first open women’s gold medal since 2001 with a 70-57 victory over Western (3-2).

Adirondack (4-1) extended a three-point halftime lead in giving the region its third team gold of these Games, following championship performances in softball and, for the first time, in open women’s fencing.

Shondaya Burrell (Colonie) had 14 points and Sarah Lombard (Saratoga) netted nine for Adirondack. Manzer previously had 21-, 22- and 25-point outings, and scored 10 in a 39-31 mini-game win over New York City Saturday night which propelled Adirondack into the title game, which it lost in 2007.

Adirondack (1-3) lost to Western (3-1) in Sunday’s scholastic women’s bronze-medal game,

79-47. Alexis Osborne (Watervliet) scored 13 points for Adirondack, which won bronze the previous three years.

ICE HOCKEY

Ryan Farnan (Clifton Park) had three goals and an assist, and the Adirondack scholastic men (2-3) closed out with a 6-0 win over New York City. Jordan Babrow (Clifton Park) and Drew Foster (Clifton Park) also had goals for Adirondack, and Niall Cahill (Troy) had two assists.

Scholastic women’s gold medalist Long Island completed a five-game sweep with a 2-0 shutout of Adirondack (2-2-1), the bronze medalist. Adirondack has medaled in eight of the 10 years of scholastic women’s play.

CYCLING

Adirondack’s two entrants won gold and bronze in the men’s team trial, and its women’s contingent placed second behind Long Island. Adirondack was the mixed team champion.

HERE AND THERE

u Heavyweight boxer Shawn Miller (Troy) won gold with a 3-2 decision against Long Island’s Fred Samuels, after scoring 5-0 decisions against Ronnell McFadden of Hudson Valley in the semifinals and Jay Rodriguez of New York City in the quarterfinals.

u Zeke Jackson (Watervliet) won gold on the floor and vault, and silver on the parallel bars and rings at the open men’s individual event gymnastics finals. Molly Quirk (Glenmont) won gold on the open women’s uneven bars, and Eliza Barach (Delmar) won scholastic women’s gold on the floor, silver on the bars and bronze on the vault.

u Both Adirondack scholastic tennis teams were denied medals, with the men going 2-3 and the women going 1-4. Both teams beat New York City, and the men also topped Western.