Displaying items by tag: Amy Moreau

[Photos by Ruthann Thivierge]

SCHUYLERVILLE - The Schuylerville girls varsity soccer team, coached by Michael Kopp, have had an amazing season so far. They are currently 10-2 in their league and in first place in Foothills North Division. In their senior game last Tuesday, they won against Amsterdam.

Pre-season started for them on Aug. 14, however, during the summer they had informal gatherings for eighth through twelfth grade to utilize the soccer field for an hour and a half a few nights a week in June.

Kopp has 10 seniors on his team, which he has been coaching for three years now, which he describes as a “blessing as a coach.”

So next season will be a new learning experience for him. Players from JV will be brought up and the familiarity of the practices, plays, and teamwork will be starting fresh.

“It’s the familiarity and the reality that all of that is coming to an abrupt halt. We are only guaranteed two more games. We take it one game at a time,” he said.

Schuylerville is a Class B school, which is based on student enrollment, but the conference that they play in is primarily Class A teams.

“Theoretically,” Kopp explained, “we play tougher teams and opponents.”

On Tuesday, Oct. 10, Schuylerville lost to Mechanicville, and it was the first home game they have lost since 2015. The other two losses this season were to Scotia and South Glens Falls, which were both away games, with both schools ranked very high in New York State.

“They handled [the home game loss] well. I think they knew the mistakes that we had made, which were few but against a top-level team. They all nodded their heads. They knew what happened. This is a very seasoned group,” he explained.

Schuylerville has one more league game left on Friday, Oct. 13 against Queensbury and then the sectional seeding meeting on Monday where it will be determined which seed Schuylerville will have, they will be in the top four. This meeting will also determine who they are playing against and when the game will be. Sectionals are at the end of next week and if they win, it will be the first sectional win for Schuylerville girls’ soccer.

If Schuylerville defeats Queensbury on the 13^th, they will be the Foothills North champions.

“I think our mental attitude is where it needs to be at the start of every game and virtually for every minute of the game,” Kopp said proudly.

“These kids have been in battles against tough teams starting out as sophomores. They’ve tasted success; there is not a lot they haven’t seen. They take everything in stride and they don’t get down on themselves. When we lost earlier this year there were tears of shock. They weren’t down about it, they were shocked. Some teams get accustomed to a defeated mentality but we literally intend to win every game we go out there for,” he said.

Emily Vallee, a senior, is the reigning Foothill Offensive Player of the Year, which she won as a junior by being voted on by all of the coaches.

“Our main objection is to win a sectional title, which Schuylerville has never won so that has been an objective of the program since well before I got here. We’re on the precipice to do this year,” Kopp explained.

“The fundamentals and the tactics of the game have not really changed in the three years we’ve been playing together, but the skill level has,” he said.

“I always tell them, every time you touch the ball, it makes you a better player,” Kopp said.

[Photos Provided.]

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Sierra Delaney is in her junior year at Ballston Spa High School and she is the only female varsity football player in the history of the school. Delaney plays on the defensive end and as a wide receiver. She started playing football at four years old when she and her cousin began on pop warner.

Delaney says there is definitely a difference between varsity and pop warner, “the guys get bigger,” she laughed.

Delaney says that the guys on the team are accepting of her but the ones who haven’t seen her before wonder why she’s there at first.

“We’re a giant family, especially as the year goes on we just get closer and closer. Coach always says, ‘brothers and sister,” Delaney explained.

“Most of my friends are pretty accepting, they’re always in line to wear my jersey on game days and are excited to watch me on Friday nights,” Delaney said.

Delaney is 5’11” and while she loves to play football, she plans to play basketball seriously in college and is already being scouted for that sport.

Jessie House, a 17-year-old senior at Saratoga Springs High School, is an offensive player on the field hockey team. House plans to continue playing field hockey at RPI next year. Starting in seventh grade, Coach Hostig was House’s PE coach in elementary school and she encouraged House to pursue field hockey.

“As soon as I could try out for a team I did and I’m glad I continued it,” House said of field hockey.

House will be attending RPI next year for Biomedical Engineering while also participating in D3 field hockey.

“I hope to be successful in both areas,” she said, “Academics are a big part of my life and I know I have to take them more seriously, but as a player, being on that field and playing the game I love takes that stress and thought of academics away and allows me to thrive in the sport.”

House had nothing but praise for her teammates and said that the proudest moment of her life thus far has been this season of varsity field hockey.

“I don’t think I’ve ever played better field hockey than I am right now. There is always room for improvement but I take pride in my accomplishments so far this season. The team this year is one of the best teams I’ve ever been on for field hockey. Everyone is so close and the rookies are a huge asset to the team and everyone is included as much as possible. We work hard as a team on and off the field,” House explained.

House is also a tennis player.

Grace Fornabia is a 17-year-old senior volleyball player from Saratoga Central Catholic High School. Fornabia’s main sport is volleyball, where she plays middle hitter and blocker, but she also successfully runs track and field. She intends to continue playing volleyball in college, either D2 or D3, and is still talking to coaches about which school is best for her.

“The first time I ever played volleyball was going into seventh grade at a Skidmore volleyball camp for beginners. I tried the sport because seventh grade was the year that middle schoolers could begin being a part of a sports team and volleyball was the first fall girls sport at Spa Catholic so I tried it out and fell in love with it and haven’t stopped playing since,” Fornabia explained.

Fornabia also plays volleyball over the summer with a program called IREVA, which stands for Iroquois Empire Volleyball Association, and is coached by college players and coaches.

“The main goal is to make everyone better by the end of the camp than when they first got there,” Fornabia explained.

“A very proud moment of mine was when I was going into freshmen year and I tried out for this camp and found out I made it. I was so excited when my mom showed me the email of me making the camp because I was so young and didn’t really know how to play volleyball correctly. I knew that going to this camp would make me better. All the coaches and players there motivate me by showing how passionate they are for the sport and I have always wanted to play at a high level just like they are at. Even today, the coaches and players motivate me to always work hard and play hard because it does pay off for sure,” she said.

Amy Moreau is a 17-year-old senior varsity midfielder on the Schuylerville soccer team. After playing recreational soccer from pre-school through elementary school, Amy joined the indoor team with Dan Gale in third grade and that is when she became serious about the sport. While she does not plan to pursue soccer after high school, she is committed to play D1 lacrosse at UMass Amherst next fall, where she plans to play lacrosse all four years and study sports medicine.

“Our team is probably the closest we have ever been, on and off the field, in all of the years I have been on a team, which is going to make saying goodbye to this sport that much harder,” Moreau said.

“Amy is a three-year captain and quite possibly the most exciting and hard-working player in all of section two. She’s extremely fast, equally skilled with both feet, and leads with 80 minutes of non-stop hustle. In addition, she’s one heck of a good kid, who’s well liked and respected by all. She’s been a dream player for me,” said coach Michael Kopp.

“My most proud moment so far in sports, has been two years ago losing in the sectional semi-finals one to zero to Schalmont, who ended up having an undefeated season winning states. This has been motivating for our team to work hard to get back to that game, and this year I think we definitely think we have a shot,” Moreau said.