VOOREESVILLE — It’s been a stormy early season for the Voorheesville soccer team. And last Thursday, the Blackbirds were forced to seek some shelter from the storm.

Voorheesville lost a 1-0 contest to Albany Academy in a game that featured some of Mother Nature’s best pyrotechnics and forced a delay in the game.

The game symbolized the early season for the Blackbirds, as they were probably playing their best game of the year before the delay came early in the second half.

Thursday’s game, against probably the most talented team in the Colonial Council, was being played to a scoreless draw, though both teams had some chances to put the ball in the back of the net.
"They came out better than we did," said first year Voorheesville Coach Willie Sanchez. "It happens sometimes with a delay like that. It’s part of playing sports. You’ve got to be able to step up. It’s a process and we’ve got to learn from it."

The Blackbirds had a 3-3-2 record entering last Thursday’s match and have since gone 2-1. Voorheesville beat Lansingburgh, 12-0, on Saturday and then picked up an impressive 2-0 win over Schalmont on Monday.

The Blackbirds are 5-4-2 overall and are 3-3-2 in the Colonial Council.

"The kids played hard"

Last Thursday, Albany Academy and Voorheesville played to a scoreless first half, but Voorheesville had the best chance to score.

A corner kick by Voorheesville was placed well into the air. Blackbird Ryan Dimmit got his head on the ball in front of the Albany Academy goal and headed the ball on goal.

However, a diving stop by Academy goalie Brian Lajeneusse knocked the ball away from the goal.

The Cadets put some pressure on the Voorheesville defense and goalie Lee Fenner but shot a lot of balls wide or over the top of the goal.

Blackbird senior defenders Noah Gorka, Josh Glover, and Kevin Klembczyk, and juniors Mark Pelersi and Gavin George did a good job in the back against tough and talented Academy offensive players.

The teams took the halftime break, but played just a minute-and-a-half of the second half before the officials called a lightning delay, a rare occurrence for late September.

About eight minutes after the game resumed after the half-hour delay, Albany Academy scored when Matt Dudek got a shot past Fenner.

Voorheesville tried to come back during the remainder of the game, but could not get a great scoring chance against a packed-in Academy defense.

Fenner finished the contest with seven saves. Lajeneusse also made seven stops for the Cadets.

Academy had eight shots on goal and Voorheesville had seven.
"Their guy got loose in the box," Sanchez said of Dudek’s goal. "We had a couple of chances that we couldn’t put away. That was the difference. The kids played hard. We took a step today. We played well and hard."

Albany Academy was playing without its best player — and one of the best in Section II — Denzel Ogunyase. Ogunyase is a Division I college prospect and was resting after having some tendinitis in his Achilles’ tendon.

This was also one of the first games in which Voorheesville has had a full squad. The team had missed some players including Dimmit and senior Kevin Vanderwende due to sickness and small injuries.

"It’s a process"

But the Blackbirds are starting to come together as a team, Sanchez said.
"It’s frustrating when we don’t get results in the standings," Sanchez said. "But we have to understand that it is high school soccer and it’s a process."

Sanchez also sees that his team will be a factor later in the season when the games are of a more heighten importance. And Monday’s win over Schalmont might be a big boost. Schalmont beat Voorheesville, 3-1, earlier in the season.
"They played hard and they should be proud of that," Sanchez said. "Our goal is to be there in October and November.
"It’s early," Sanchez added, "and our goal for right now is to get better."

Sanchez sees a competitive spirit in his team that is going to make them improve.
"I’m glad the guys are upset after a loss like this," Sanchez said last Thursday. "We have to go to work and improve. We’ll take one day off, and get right back to it."