VOORHEESVILLE — The Blackbirds are healing and getting ready for the upcoming Class B Section II soccer playoffs.

However, an all-too-familiar foe could be waiting for them.

The Blackbirds wrapped up the regular season last Wednesday against Colonial Council champion Schalmont, 2-0, and could face the Sabers again in the semifinals if both teams win their early playoff games.
"It was a tough loss to take in our last regular season game," said Voorheesville Coach Mike Young. "But getting out of that game, I felt we did better than the last time we played them. I felt we played with them."

The loss dropped the Blackbirds’ record to 10-3-1 in the league and 13-3-1 overall.

The Blackbirds were given the number-five seed for the upcoming Class B tournament and will open with a home match against Cohoes on Thursday.
"Our league record is a big factor," Young said. "And Class B is very competitive. There are a few teams that are within a win or loss of each other in the top of Class B. It’s pretty much where we should be. When we won sectionals a couple of years ago, we were the number-four seed. We had to beat everybody we played."
A semifinal match with Schalmont could be on the horizon. Schalmont is number-one in Class B.
"We were hoping to get a sixth seed," Young said. "But some pending results in another league put us here. We were hoping to avoid them until the final," he said of Schalmont. "But first we have Cohoes. And we know they are tough. And then we have to play the winner of Greenville and Johnstown to even face Schalmont and they have a tough opponent as well.
"I would love to play them a third time," Young added. "We’re going to try and beat them, but we have tough games before we get to that."

The Blackbirds have most of their players back. They have two players that will be out for the rest of the season — Rob DiBlasi and Kevin Van De Wende — but the rest of the team will be ready for sectionals.
"All the other injured players are back," Young said. "We’re healthy and we should have a full squad and a better squad. The younger players have stepped up. They are stronger than some younger players in other seasons. We went 3-0 at the time we were missing all those players."

The Blackbirds beat Lansingburgh, Albany Academy, and Ichabod Crane, before most of the players returned for the final regular season game against Schalmont.
"There was not a weak opponent in that group," Young said. "We were pretty fortunate with the injuries to get by unscathed. The younger players got valuable experience."

The team has had a few days of training in practice and Young is impressed with the way the team looks at this point of the season.
"The team has looked the best it has all year," Young said. "The kids are really looking forward to sectionals. We have done some bonding outside of practice, going out to dinner and stuff like that. We are focused. And the younger players are more focused than they tend to be in other years. They are motivated and they have some experience. It means more to them because they have been a big part of the success. We are very confident and we are looking forward to having a good run in sectionals."