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Sectional Scoreboard

GIRLS SOCCER

Section II?

Class D Semifinals

Northville 2, Sharon Springs 0

Whitehall 1, New Lebanon 0

Class A Semifinals

Burnt Hills 1,?Scotia-Glenville 0

S.?Glens Falls 3, Holy Names 1

Class B Semifinals

Stillwater 1, Schalmont 1, (Stillwater advances on PKs)

Mechanicville 2, Schuylerville 0

Section VII

Class D Semifinals

Lake Placid 4, Wells 0

Chazy 5, Keene 1

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BROADALBIN - Neither wind nor Spartans could keep the Northville Lady Falcons from earning an opportunity to defend their Section II Class D championship.

Top-seeded Northville tallied a goal in each half on its way to a 2-0 victory in Tuesday's sectional semifinal at Patriot Field.

"They played pretty well," Northville coach Shelley Murphy said. "The wind was a factor definitely in the first half for us and for Sharon Springs in the second half. They were going against the wind."

Still, the Lady Falcons were able to put their first goal on the board on a roller off the foot of Francesca Robinson. Negating the wind in her face by keeping the ball on the turf, Robinson wove through the Sharon Springs defense and pushed her shot, just out of the reach of Sharon Springs goalkeeper Samantha Eueler, who only got enough of a hand on the ball to slow it down.

"Then Mary [Ryan] was there to make sure that it got in," Murphy said.

Robinson's kick came from the left post and Ryan didn't leave anything to chance as she followed the play and waited to see if the ball would bounce out of the goalmouth. It didn't and the Lady Falcons had a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute.

"We kind of started off slow again, but once we got the goal, we got our hopes up and everybody started getting back into the game," Robinson said.

Robinson's goal came about three minutes after Katelyn Eckert sent a slow arcing shot into the teeth of the wind and Eueler got a hand on it to push it out of bounds, resulting in a corner kick.

"Sharon Springs' defense did a good job today keeping our shots down," Murphy said. "I give them credit for that, but we did have lot of opportunities.

Northville got some opportunities to double its score early in the second half.

In the 42nd minute, Allison Wadsworth's corner kick from the right side bounced off Sharon Springs defender Stephanie Tessier. The ball bounced back to Wadsworth, who lofted a shot that landed on top of the net.

Sharon Springs had one golden opportunity to tie the game in the 47th minute when Christina Lockinwitz corralled the ball in the penalty box. However, Northville keeper Alex Sheils blocked the shot, sending it out of bounds.

Then about nine minutes later, the Lady Falcons got some insurance, thanks to a Sharon Springs miscue.

A penalty gave Madalyn Ryan a direct kick about five yards outside the penalty box. With the wind at her back this time, Ryan sent a line drive kick through the defense and just inside the far post giving the Lady Falcons (7-11-0 overall), a 2-0 lead.

"It didn't really seal it for us, but we knew that we were just that much closer to winning the game," Robinson said.

The defense held the rest of the way preserving Northville's shutout.

"Our defense has been really good this year," Robinson said. "We have our bad times, but we pulled it off. They were good today."

The win gives Northville a return trip to Patriot Field on Friday for a 4:30 p.m. game against No. 3 seed Whitehall, a 1-0 double-overtime winner over No. 2 New Lebanon in Wednesday's other semifinal.