VOORHEESVILLE — The team has a target on its back and coach Mike Young hopes that his players know that.

The Blackbirds came out slowly in Monday’s game against Ravena and only a good second half propelled them to a 3-1 win.

The win was the second for the Birds as they beat Chatham in the first round of the Mayfield Tournament on Saturday.
"We played a good Ravena team," Young said the day after Monday’s game. "They are a very tough team at home. They gave us all they could. We came out flat and they were prepared. We were down a goal yesterday."

Young was pleased that his team fought through the slow start and was able to come home with a win.
"One of the things a good team does is win ugly games," Young said. "We played well in the second half to pull out the victory."

Matt Miller evened the scoring on a penalty kick in the early minutes of the second half. Kevin VanDerWende gave the Birds the lead after a free kick by Dominic Venditti.

Venditti scored the final goal with a feed off a free kick by Joey Klembczyk.

Checking Chatham

The Blackbirds came out with fire in Saturday’s game against Chatham.

Voorheesville lost to the Panthers in last year’s Class B Section II final.
"Kids on the Voorheesville team last year were excited to play them again," Young said. "We scored in the first 24 seconds."

Miller scored after receiving a pass from Venditti. Venditti then assisted on the second goal. He dropped a pass back to Josh Handen who blasted a shot from the 18-yard line that beat the goalkeeper in the upper part of the goal for the final 2-0 margin.

It’s a good start for the Blackbirds.
"I’m happy to be winning games," Young said. "We’re still pretty young. We’re looking for the group to come together. We have all the potential in the world. There are high expectations for Voorheesville, but our team finally got together and performs on a consistent basis."

The Blackbirds hosted Cobleskill-Richmondville on Wednesday and travel to Mechanicville on Friday. Voorheesville will then play in the championship game of the Mayfield Tournament against the host school on Saturday night.

The Blackbirds will then host Cohoes on Tuesday.
"We have a few games in a row," Young said. "Our fitness is good, we have a rigorous fitness regimen. This group of guys really understands the importance of it. We will not have a lot of time to train"I’m not seeing a lot of fatigue."

But the best thing for the younger players is to get out on the field against tough competition.
"Luckily, the younger players have stepped up," Young said. "They have contributed right away. That is not a knock on the seniors, they have logged a lot of minutes to be successful."