SOUTH GLENS FALLS -- Two years ago in the Section II Boys Soccer Tournament, Burnt Hills beat South Glens Falls 1-0 in the Class A final.
This year, the South High Bulldogs tossed the crushing shutout back, beating Burnt Hills 5-0 in a Class A quarterfinal on Saturday night.
The fourth-seeded Suburban Council team set the aggressive tone of the match from the kickoff. A near scoring opportunity for the Spartans in the first minute of the game gave the South High defense, and the rest of the team, all the awakening it needed.
Three minutes later, Aaron Batkay drove a hard shot at Burnt Hills keeper Matt Horan, which deflected as it knocked the goalie to the ground. Jesse Lane followed up with the finish. Horan remained on his back for several minutes before regaining his wind and playing the rest of the game.
South High gave him little breathing space after that, as Jeff Hajek broke out of the Bulldogs' defensive third and led the counterattack with Batkay 13 minutes later. Batkay ran through the last defender and the ball bounced toward Hajek, who put it past Horan to give South High a 2-0 lead at halftime.
"Coming into it, we really thought this would be a battle," said South High head coach Travis Birkholz. Three of his seniors, Batkay, Hajek and Jack Bouchard experienced the 2007 sectional loss to Burnt Hills. "I had a few guys exposed to that kind of aggressive play. I told them we wanted to play our game and stay composed."
The Bulldogs channeled the back-and-fourth physicality into productiveness, particularly in the form of goals.
About three minutes into the second half, Bouchard scored off an indirect kick from outside the box, and Zach Horvath connected on Ryan Hanahan's cross with a header into the net. With 30 minutes left to play, South High led 4-0.
Sophomore Ben Firlit capped the scoring after collecting a long ball from Ray Hoag and sending it past Horan, who closed in from outside the box.
"This is ... a great team we've got this year," Batkay said, "and we've had a little taste of the Suburban physcial-ness so now we're prepared, and we'll keep our cool."
He added that the win gives the Bulldogs confidence and momentum as they head to the semifinal against Foothills rival Glens Falls on Thursday at 2 p.m. at Queensbury.
"It's going to get a lot of people's attention," he said, "but we won't let it get to our heads. We're good about that."
Burnt Hills 0 0 - 0
South High (15-2) 2 3 - 5
Goals-Assists
South High - Lane 1-0; Batkay 0-2; Hajek 1-1; Bouchard 1-0; Horvath 1-0; Hanahan 0-1; Firlit 1-0; Hoag 0-1.
Shots - South High, 14-5. Corner kicks - Burnt Hills, 3-2. Goalies-saves - Horan (BH) 9; Brooks (SH) 5.
Posted in Boys on Sunday, November 1, 2009 12:00 am Updated: 12:00 am.
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