B4

ALL-AREA BOYS SOCCER

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2014

Large school
Tucker Marvin

Greg Milnarik

Shenendehowa, senior
midfield
Stats: 7
goals, 5
assists
Honors:
1st team
Suburban
Council allstar, 1st team All-State
Notable: Whether it was
as a striker or a holding
midfielder, Marvin did
whatever coach Jon Bain
asked of him well. The
senior captains physicality gave opponents no
chance on 50-50 balls
for the Section II Class
AA champion Plainsmen.
Marvin will continue his
soccer career at Division I
UMass next fall.

David Riccio

Shaker, senior, defender

Stats: one
goal, four
assists
Honors:
Class AA
Suburban
Council
first team
all-star
Notable: The Blue Bison
won the Suburban Council
and earned the top seed
in the Class AA sectional
tournament, in part, because of their astounding
defense led by Milnarik
and David Riccio. Milnarik
was a Suburban Council
first team all-star for a
squad that allowed only
13 goals all season.

Connor DeFilippis

Ballston Spa, junior forward

Stats: 12
goals, 6
assists
Honors:
1st team
Suburban
Council
all-star
Notable: An ideal striker,
DeFilippis is big, strong,
fast and highly skilled.
The junior had a knack for
receiving the ball in the
space in front of defenses,
then looking to turn and
shoot or dribble at the goal.
DeFilippis scored a goal in a
Ballston Spas 3-2 win over
Shenendehowa and tallied
two goals and an assist in a
playoff win against CBA.

Miles Burbank

Shenendehowa, senior
midfield
Stats: 6
goals, 8
assists
Honors:
1st team
Suburban
Council allstar, 1st team All-State
Notable: The most creative
player in a loaded Shenendehowa midfield was
tasked with both scoring
goals and setting them up
for others. The senior took
most of the Plainsmen free
kicks and had the assist
from the corner kick goal
in the Section II Class AA
final. Burbank will continue
his soccer career at Division
I Binghamton next fall.

Sean Connolly

CBA, senior, goalkeeper

Stats: 74
saves, 85
percent
save percentage
Notable:
CBA head
coach
Steve Freeman called
Connelly the best goalkeeper in the entire section and the numbers can
back that up. The senior
made 74 saves at an 85
percent clip in 2014 and
the Brothers went 14-4-1.

Alec Potter

Justin Brehm

James Homan

Matt Crisafulli

Matt Saddlemire

Nick Lewis

Jared Whitford

Jared Morello

Max Jenkins

Justin Flanagan

Liam Rice

Tom Miller

Ian Cepiel

Justin Akin

Shaker, senior, defender

Stats: five
goals, four
assists
Honors:
2014
NSCAA
Fall High
School
All-American, Suburban
Council Player of the Year
Notable: The best player
on a Shaker team that
went 15-2-1, won the
Suburban Council and
earned the top seed in
the Class AA sectional
tournament. Riccio was
the only Section II soccer
player to earn All-America
honors and will attend
Boston University next
season on a full athletic
scholarship.

South Glens Falls, senior,

forward
Stats: 22
goals, five
assists
Honors:
Class A
Foothills
Council
first team all-star
Notable: South Glens
Falls won the Class A
sectional title in 2014 and
they couldnt have done it
without the high-scoring
Potter. The Bulldogs
finished 16-4 and beat
Scotia-Glenville in the
sectional title game, 2-1,
with the senior leading
the team in goals (22) and
second in points (27).

Shaker, senior, Midfielder

Stats: 10
goals, three
assists
Honors:
Suburban
Council
first team
all-star
Notable: Brehm led the
Suburban Council champion Blue Bison in goals
(10) in 2014 and was a
Suburban Council first
team all-star in the midfield. The senior scored
the Suburban Council
championship deciding
goal in the regular finale
under the lights against
Shenendehowa.

Shenendehowa, senior
defense
Stats: 4
goals, part
of 400plus minute
playoff
shutout
streak
Honors: 1st team Suburban Council all-star
Notable: Of the four goals
Homan scored his senior
year, none was bigger
than his header that gave
Shenendehowa a 1-0
win over Niskayuna in the
Section II Class AA final.
The senior captain was
a rare three-year varsity
starter for the Plainsmen
and a leader on and off the
field for coach Jon Bain.

CBA, junior, forward

Stats: 35
goals, 10
assists
Notable: In
their first
season
outside
the Big 10,
Crisafulli led the Brothers in both goals and
assists at the forward
position. There were only
three games in which
the junior did not tally a
goal or an assist as CBA
finished an impressive 10
games above .500 at 144-1. Against St. Peters
High School for boys in
September, the junior had
his best statistical game
of the season, scoring
four goals and adding two
more assists.

Small school
Schuylerville, senior midfield
Stats: 16
goals, 8
assists
Honors: 1st
team Foothills Council
all-star
Notable: Saddlemire
ensured Schuylervilles
first season in the Foothills
Council was a winning one.
The senior captain could
find space for a shot when
it appeared there was
none or slide an pass to an
open teammate. Above all,
Saddlemire played harder
for longer than anyone else
on the pitch. He scored
twice in the Black Horses
dramatic Section II Class B
quarterfinal win.

Stillwater, senior, midfield

Stats: 12
goals, 15
assists
Honors:
Wasaren
League
first team
all-star
Notable: Flanagan nd
teammate Ian Cepal comprised the highest scoring
duo, on the highest scoring offense, in the section.
Some coaches actually
said that, despite Cepal
being the sections top
scorer, it was Flanagan
they feared most because
he could make their teams
pay when their attention
was on Cepal. The senior
was a first team Wasaren
League all-star.

Hoosic Valley, senior,

defense
Stats: one
goal
Honors:
Wasaren
League
first team
all-star
Notable: Lewis was a
key cog in a defense that
allowed only six goals all
season. The senior played
in front of fellow all-star
Jared Morello, who tallied
nine shutouts, as the
Indians finished second
in the Wasaren League
behind Stillwater. Lewis
was a first team Wasaren
League all-star.

Saratoga Central Catholic, senior

forward
Stats: 22
goals, 6
assists
Honors:
5th team
Class C AllState, 1st team Western
Athletic Conference North
all-stars
Notable: As the most talented player in the Western Athletic Conference,
Rice was often double or
triple teamed in matches.
That didnt stop him from
scoring more than 20
goals and creating many
quality scoring opportunities for teammates. Rice
will continue his career at
Merrimack College.

Hoosic Valley, senior,

Midfield
Stats: 13
goals, 20
assists
Honors:
Wasaren
League
first team
all-star
Notable: Whitford was
the second-highest scorer
on an Indians team that
finished second in the
Wasaren League. The
senior midfielder racked
up 20 assists (most on
the team) and was a first
team Wasaren League
all-star.

Maple Hill, senior, goalkeeper

Stats: 86
percent
save
percentage, nine
shutouts,
75 saves
Honors: Patroon Conference Keeper of the Year,
Class C Keeper of the Year
Notable: Miller earned a
lot of hardware in 2014,
winning Patroon Conference Keeper of the Year
and Class C Keeper of the
Year. He tallied 75 saves
and nine shutouts on his
way to an impeccable 86
percent save percentage.

Hoosic Valley, senior, goalkeeper

Stats: 94
percent
save
percentage, 103
saves, nine
shutouts,
six goals
allowed
Honors: Wasaren League
first team all-star
Notable: Morello had the
Capital Districts top save
percentage (94 precent)
to go along with his nine
shutouts and 103 saves
for the Indians. The senior
allowed only six goals all
season and was a nodoubt first team Wasaren
League all-star.

Stillwater, senior forward

Stats: 56
goals, 8
assists
Honors:
4th team
Class C
All-State,
Wasaren
League MVP, set Section
II single season scoring
record (56 goals)
Notable: Cepiel was the
key figure for the Warriors
in their most success year
in program history. The
captain used his outlandish
speed and shot to create
scoring opportunities for
himself all season. Stillwater finished 17-1, won the
Wasaren League title and
ended the year as the No. 6
Class C team in the state.

SECOND TEAM LARGE SCHOOL

Maple Hill, senior, defense

Stats: 1
goal, 1 assist
Honors:
Wasaren
League
first team
all-star
Notable: The Wildcats
finished 14-4 and second
in the Patroon Conference
in 2014, in part, because
of their stifling defense,
of which Jenkins played a
key role. In his senior season, Jenkins was named a
Patroon Conference first
team all-star. The Wildcat
defense allowed only 13
goals all season and produced 10 shutouts.

Hoosic Valley, senior,

forward
Stats:
35 goals,
seven assists
Honors:
Wasaren
League
first team all-star
Notable: Akin cracked
the top-3 in scoring in the
Capital District leading
the Indians with 35 goals.
He was named a first
team Wasaren League allstar and led Hoosic Valley
to a 13-2-1 record and
second place in the league
behind Stillwater.

Riccio

Forward: Billy Melchionni, Albany Academy

Midfield: Carter Haydock, Shaker

Forward: Stephen Klimek. Saratoga Springs

Defense: Ethan Daly, Saratoga Springs

FROM PAGE 1

Forward: Andres Trestick, Ballston Spa

Defense: Tom Osborne, Shenendehowa

Midfield: Nick Redmond, Bethlehem

Defense: Aaron Muia, Colonie

Midfield: Pat Mahoney, Shaker

Goalkeeper: Tyler Murray, Saratoga Springs

Shaker ended up
winning, 1-0, its eighth
shutout of the season
and a victory Fountain almost solely contributes to Riccio.
Obviously soccer is
a team game, and our
whole team was playing hard and playing
great, but it was one
where we wouldnt
have been able to keep
Shen off the scoreboard without David in
that game, he added.

SECOND TEAM SMALL SCHOOL

Forward: Noah Chani, Hoosick Falls

Midfield: Garrett Wysocki, Schuylerville

Forward: Jack Bogann, Cambridge

Defense: Justin Gaines, Hoosick Falls

Forward: Garrett Axtmann, Maple Hill

Defense: Pat Michel, Hoosic Valley

Midfield: Brody Cepiel, Stillwater

Defense: Seth Schreifels, Stillwater

Midfield: Tyler Gaines, Hoosick Falls

Goalkeeper: Brendan Wright, Stillwater

COACH
OF THE YEAR

Banner
year for
Shakers
Fountain
James Costanzo
jcostanzo@digitalfirstmedia.com
@JamesCostanzo on Twitter

Before the start

of every season, Shaker
head coach Dan Fountain
takes his team for a stroll
around the gymnasium -a Banner Walk they call
it.
Every single year in
the preseason we would
do this thing called a
Banner Walk where wed
go to the gym and inside
our gym we have banners
hanging up, said Blue Bison defender David Riccio. On the Shaker soccer
banner, theres two Suburban Council wins and zero
sectional titles and coach
would always talk about
how weve never done that
but this is the year to do it.
Every season, all but one
team goes home unsatisfied, its just the nature of
sports. Rarely, or at least
less frequently, do teams
get to accomplish their primary goals, which in the
case of the 2014 Blue Bison
was to add to the banner
in the gym. In fact, that became their rallying cry.
It actually was the
year do it, said Riccio.
We came up with a saying that was, Banner in
the gym or B.I.T.G. and
that was the motto for the
team this year.
Fountain is The Record
Coach of the Year, at least
in part, because the Blue
Bison accomplished one of
their primary goals. They
added to the banner in the
gym.
Shaker finished 2014
with a 15-1-1 record and the
top seed heading into the
Class AA sectional tournament. Although they were
knocked out in the semifinals by runner-up Niskayuna, the Blue Bison did
get to add one long-coveted piece of hardware -a Suburban Council championship.
In my sophomore year
of high school we had an
average team, we were
about .500. That bothered
me a lot. As the year went
on, my junior year, we had
a really good year but we
missed out on a Suburban
title by one win and that,
again, really bother me,
said Riccio. Then again
this year, my senior year,
we finally won the Suburban Council so that was
a great accomplishment.
We actually really fulfilled
what we wanted to do that
season.
The Blue Bison beat
Shenendehowa, 1-0, on the
road and under the lights
on the regular seasons final day, accomplishing the
goal Fountain laid out for
his squad before the season ever started.
I was there when coach
Fountain actually got the
job. I was a sophomore on
varsity his first year, said
Riccio. Hes a laid-back
coach but he knows when
to get on you and he knows
how to get the best out of
you, which is very good for
this team.
LATHAM >>

Riccio looks back

on that game fondly,
remembering the rush
of energy every time a
ball went up in the air
in his direction.
The adrenaline was
definitely f lowing,
said Riccio. Every single time theres a ball
in the air youre thinking, Its my ball, Im
going to win it. Theres
no other thought besides that.
Riccio will attend
Boston University next
fall on a full Division
I athletic scholarship,
joining a school with
a great medical pro-

gram -- which he liked

-- and a team that was
ranked 23rd in the nation a year ago -- something he also liked.
David is one of
those kids that players very intense but
you can tell hes having fun when hes playing. He appreciates
that its a game. Even
though he gives it his
all and he really invests
in it, he enjoys it, said
Fountain. Hes a great
kid, all around. On the
field, off the field. You
wish you had a team
of players just like him
every year.