UTICA — The final result wasn’t what they had hoped for, but it’s difficult to imagine a much better inaugural season for the Adirondack United varsity girls’ hockey team.

United fell to Section III’s Clinton, 2-1, in the NYSPHSAA Regional Final on Saturday, coming up just short of a state championship. Head coach Jeff Willis said it was an “incredible accomplishment” to reach the final game of the year.

“We’ve really made a name for ourselves,” said Willis. “More importantly, looking at things long-term, I wanted to develop a culture. Not only a team culture, but an attitude, a winning culture. We successfully did that.”

United finished their first season with an overall record of 19-2-0. The team advanced to Saturday’s final after defeating Canton (Section X) 4-1 in the regional semifinals on Friday. 

United got out to a quick start in the semifinals, taking an early 2-0 lead on goals by Emily MacAuley and Lillian Willis. The Bears responded, with a 5-on-3 powerplay goal by Anna Hoose making it 2-1, but United answered with a goal by Bayley Duffy to take a 3-1 lead after the first period.

Neither team was able to score again until the final minute, when an empty-net goal by Duffy locked up a 4-1 final score and a spot in Saturday’s title game. 

Saturday saw United take on a familiar foe in Clinton. The two teams played twice during the regular season, splitting a pair of meetings on Jan. 2 and Jan. 20.

Similar to Friday’s win, United jumped out to a strong start, taking a 1-0 lead just over five minutes in after Lillian Willis danced around a defender and beat Clinton goaltender Casey Clausen.

“We were trying just to convince Lillian that she needs to walk in and shoot more,” said Willis of the game’s opening goal. “In the latter part of the season, especially the last two weeks, she’s done a lot more of that and been really successful.”

But the Warriors responded, tying the game just over a minute later. MacKinley Ronan threw a shot on goal that deflected off an Adirondack defender and past goalie Ava Reynolds.

Adirondack settled in and outshot Clinton 25-9 in the game but couldn’t crack Clausen for another goal. Willis referred to the Warriors’ netminder as “one of the best goaltenders in New York State.”

“We just didn’t move the puck fast enough or release the puck quick enough to beat her,” said Willis. “When you look at the 5-0 game that we had against Clinton (on Jan. 20), we did an excellent job of that. They took away our time and space and didn’t give us as many opportunities.”

With under two minutes remaining, an Adirondack shot was blocked and turned into a 2-on-1 rush for Clinton, with Drew Kopek beating Reynolds to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead. United threw several chances on net in the final minutes but were unable to even the score.

Despite the tough loss, Willis said “there were a ton of successes,” to take away from the season, and emphasized the future of the program.

“It’s not just about this season, it’s about what this turns into,” said Willis. “There was a whole 12U Northstars team that showed up because they were playing out in the area, and they stopped in to watch and support this team. That’s where I start to see the impact.”

And while the championship loss is still fresh, Willis said he and the rest of the team’s coaching staff have already begun looking to next year. Though the United team was mostly unknown around the state before the start of this season, they are likely to deal with some high expectations in the fall.

“Next year will be a little bit different, because there will be expectations,” Willis acknowledged. “It’ll be up to the kids as to how much they develop over the summer, as to where we start next season. But we have every intention of hopefully coming out just as strong next year.”

GLENVILLE — The Burnt Hills/Ballston Spa varsity hockey team honored its nine seniors with a senior night ceremony prior to the team’s regular-season finale on Saturday.

BH/BS has nine seniors: Parker Caswell, Will Mehling, Noah Pickard, Thomas Pustolka, Alex Shear, Joseph Spade, Bernie Townsend, Aidan Trask, and Jeffrey Tuccillo.

BH/BS fell to the GMSVS Storm by a 2-1 final score. A.J. LeBlanc scored for BH/BS, while Gavin Tribley and Jacob Boni had assists. 

Shane McKone stopped 52 shots in goal for GMSVS. Dylan Bzdell and Keegan McGovern scored goals in the win for the Storm.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Five local wrestlers earned Section 2 Division 1 Championships over the weekend, with eight wrestlers in total clinching their spots at the NYSPHSAA State Championships.

Ralph Keeney, Connor Gregory, and Darrien Insogna all captured Section 2 Division 1 Championships in their respective weight classes for Ballston Spa. Saratoga’s Taylor Beaury won the Section 2 Division 1 Championship at 126 pounds, while teammate Lorenzo Palleschi won the Section 2 Division 1 title at 189 pounds.

Saratoga’s Vito Spadafora and Patrick McKinley each finished as runner-ups in their weight classes, clinching a spot at the NYSPHSAA State Championships. Cameron Hinchcliff also finished as a runner-up for the Scotties and earned a spot at states.

Both Saratoga and Ballston Spa will send four wrestlers each to the NYSPHSAA State Championships, held Feb. 24 at MVP Arena.

Saratoga head coach Jake Zanetti had praise for his champions, saying Palleschi and Beaury both lead by example for the Blue Streak squad.

“It means a lot. These two have done everything right as far as setting themselves up to be successful on the mat,” said Zanetti. “This is not an easy sport, and those who’ve done it know that best, and for a young wrestler to be able to reap the benefits of their hard work, it’s a beautiful thing.”

Zanetti said he was “really proud” of Palleschi, a senior. He added that Beaury, a sophomore who also appeared at the state championships last season, has his sights set high this year.

“(Lorenzo is) an awesome young man, and he deserves all the recognition and respect his peers, teachers, and coaches give him,” Zanetti said. “Taylor getting to day two of states last year as a freshman was great, but he was not satisfied. He’s a sectional champ as a 10th grader, but again, he has much bigger goals in another week.”

Ballston Spa head coach Harvey Staulters said while it was great to see his wrestlers win section titles, all three have “much higher” goals this year. The trio of Keeney, Gregory, and Insogna also competed at the state championships last season.

“It’s a stepping stone now, for the next step,” said Staulters. “It was great to see that, but you could tell they have a little more to prove when they get to the next level.”

Beaury beat Shaker’s Alex Polsinello by technical fall in the quarterfinals, pinning Shen’s Brandon Deuel in the semifinals. Beaury earned a 6-4 decision over Ballston Spa’s Cameron Hinchcliff in the championship match.

Palleschi earned pins in each of his first two matches, defeating Schenectady’s Anthony Paradine and Burnt Hills’ Santino Mareno before earning a 3-2 decision over Quincy Bonville (Bethlehem) in the championship.

Spadafora beat Averill Park’s Elias Goosmann in the quarterfinals and Shaker’s Malachi Moore in a tiebreaker in the semifinals, falling to Shen’s Arman Hashimee in the championship match at 172 pounds.

At 215 pounds, McKinley defeated Shen’s Caleb Janikas in the quarterfinals and earned a sudden victory decision over Colonie’s Jaydon Aquirre-Hamlin in the semifinals. McKinley fell to Insogna in the championship match.

On the Scotties’ side, Keeney earned wins by fall in all three rounds, pinning Queensbury’s A.J. Spero, Schenectady’s Xavier Vargas, and Niskayuna’s Drew Schiavo to win the Section 2 Div. 1 title at 110 pounds. Gregory pinned Alwalid Bourkia (Scotia-Glenville/Galway) and Matthew Hoxie (Columbia) in his first two matches, winning the sectional title at 160 pounds after earning an 11-3 major decision over Queensbury’s Lucas Schell.

Wrestling at 215 pounds, Insogna pinned his first two opponents in a combined 1:02, defeating Shaker’s Nicholas Whyte and Guilderland’s Antonio Cipollo. Insogna pinned McKinley in the championship match.

Hinchcliff earned his spot at states after advancing to the championship at 126 pounds with wins over Shen’s Arcangelo Losee and Averill Park’s Jacob Hanlon. Hinchcliff fell to Beaury in the championship match.

The head coaches of both teams also received honors, as Zanetti was named Section 2 Class A Coach of the Year, and Staulters was awarded Section 2 Class B Coach of the Year.

“It is an honor, but I keep telling people it should be ‘Coaching Staff of the Year,’” Zanetti said of his award. “No programs get to the top-tier of the section or state with one solid coach. … We’ve still got a long way to go on where we want to be, but it has been a lot of fun to put in the work on our end as a coaching staff.”

Staulters said it was “a wonderful honor,” noting it was made even more special by the fact that Scotties’ JV coach Gene Staulters, Harvey’s brother, was awarded Class B JV Coach of the Year.

“That’s special,” said Staulters. “We’ve worked together for a long time. Just a great working relationship, and of course, being brothers, a friendship too. For him to get the award with me is fantastic.”

The Ballston Spa team was also awarded the Section 2 Division 1 Team Sportsmanship award, the second straight year the Scotties have received the honor. Staulters said this speaks to the character of his athletes, saying the team has “wonderful young men and women.”

Keeney, Gregory, Insogna, and Hinchcliff will be the Scotties’ representatives at states on Feb. 24. Staulters said that the team will “take advantage of every opportunity we have,” in the days leading up to state competition.

“We are going to spend the time wisely when we’re together,” Staulters said. “The three that we had last year, they understand the situation they’re in. So they know that there’s a little more expectation, but also, they have higher expectations for themselves.”

Beaury, Palleschi, Spadafora, and McKinley will head to state competition for Saratoga. Zanetti said he is emphasizing to his athletes “that they cannot be happy with just qualifying and being there.”

“The seed number next to their name is no longer relevant, and all that matters is the next match, and doing what it takes to survive and advance,” said Zanetti. “The work is never done for these high-level guys, and they’ve got to know that they belong amongst the best in the state.”

NEWBURGH — The Adirondack United varsity girls’ hockey team just continues to make history.

United earned an 11-0 win over East (Section I) in the NYSPHSAA Sub-Regionals on Monday, advancing to the state semifinals in Utica on Friday. The team had previously advanced to Monday’s game by winning the Section VII Championship over Franklin Academy on Feb. 10.

“This was a bit of a dream at the beginning of the season,” said head coach Jeff Willis. “We knew we could be good; it was a matter of putting things together on the ice. But not only have we put it together, we’re really executing at a high level right now.”

United is in its inaugural season as a team. As the only varsity girls hockey team in Section II, the team competed in Section VII this year, winning the regular-season league title as well as the sectional title.

The team is made up of players from Queensbury, Saratoga Springs, Glens Falls, South Glens Falls, Hudson Falls, and Corinth. Willis said United has been able to come together so quickly due to the character and leadership traits of the players, saying “almost a dozen” of the team’s players serve as team captains in other sports at their respective schools.

“There is a lot of individual talent, but part of what makes these girls great is their leadership characteristics,” Willis said. “To have that type of leadership and character among them, it shows that they value the team, they understand the sacrifices that you need to make. They’re willing to play for each other.”

United clinched a spot in the Sub-Regionals with a 5-1 victory over Franklin Academy in the Section VII Championship. The Huskies jumped out to a 1-0 lead after one period, but United came out strong in the second period and finished the game with five unanswered goals.

“We just weren’t doing some of the things that we were really good at,” said Willis of Friday’s first period. “We weren’t getting pucks to the front of the net; we weren’t shooting as much as we needed to. We just kind of tweaked that.”

United cracked the scoreboard just under six minutes into the second period, with a shot by Queensbury junior Bayley Duffy tying the game, 1-1. Duffy scored again later in the period, extending the lead to 2-1. 

Gianna Marcantonio, a freshman from Queensbury, finished off an assist by Duffy to extend the lead to 3-1, and the team received goals from Emerson Lochner-Fehl and Emily MacAuley to wrap up a 5-1 final score.

But United still had more steps to take, quickly preparing for Monday’s Sub-Regional contest against East. The teams had played twice during the regular season, both United victories.

Duffy scored off an assist from Marcantonio just under two and a half minutes into the game, giving United a 1-0 lead. United broke the game wide open in the second period, scoring six goals to take a commanding 7-0 lead, before adding four more in the third for an 11-0 final.

Emily MacAuley extended the lead to 2-0 less than a minute into the second, and Marcantonio followed up with a quick pair of goals to make it 4-0. Marcantonio completed the hat trick later in the period, scoring her third goal, while Duffy added two more goals for a hat trick of her own.

Tekla Fine-Lease, Amelia Laszewski, Jillian Willis, and Jessica Freebern scored goals in the third period for United. Ava Reynolds stopped all 10 shots she faced, playing the first two periods, while Regan Gecewicz played the third and stopped nine shots.

The next step for United is certainly a big one: the state semifinals. United (18-1-0) will face Section X’s Canton at the Nexus Center in Utica at 6 p.m. Friday. 

Ultimately, the trip to states is another chance for United to continue to do what they’ve done all season: make history.

“Sometimes we talk about this being like a Disney story,” said Willis. “Your first year ever, and all of a sudden you’re on this magical run. You couldn’t really write a story script better than this.”

Saratoga’s Bryant Savage (#20) goes up to the rim as Colonie’s Matt Salvi (#12) defends during the Blue Streaks’ 58-56 win on Jan. 31. Saratoga will host Guilderland in the first round of the Section 2
Class AA Tournament on Wednesday, while Colonie will host Albany.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Live harness racing has returned to Saratoga Casino Hotel for its 82nd season beginning Saturday, Feb. 4. The 2023 schedule will consist of 150 racing programs running through mid-December.

“We’re expecting some great racing this year,” said Race Secretary Peter Iovino. “We have over $18 million in purses, averaging $120K in purses per program.”

In addition, the track will be hosting NY Sire Stakes races starting in June, featuring the best New York bred horses in the state who will race for over $1 million in purses. The premier event of the season will be the 14th Annual Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial Pace with a $250,000 purse on Saturday, July 22.

“As in the past, we’re confident this race will attract a field of top pacers looking to break the track record of 1:48:4 set by Dancin Yankee in the 2014 Gerrity,” Iovino said.

The winter, spring and fall schedule will include matinee racing on Sunday, Monday and select Tuesdays, post time 12 p.m. and Saturdays, post time 5 p.m.  The summer live racing schedule will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings with a post time of 6:45 p.m. 

For a complete live racing schedule, go to www.saratogacasino.com.