B3FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2014ALL-AREA BOYS SOCCER

Miles BurbankShenendehowa, senior midfieldStats: 6 goals, 8 assistsHonors: 1st team Suburban Council all-star, 1st team All-StateNotable: The most creative player in a loaded Shenende-howa 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 con-tinue his soccer career at Division I Binghamton next fall.

Tyler MurraySaratoga Springs, senior goal-keeperStats: 5 shutoutsNotable: The Saratoga Springs senior captain posted five shutouts and dozens of fine saves to lead Saratoga Springs to a winning record and its first playoff victory since 2010. Murray was also the rare goalie who could be trusted to make the decision with the ball at his feet, whether it was passing to an open Blue Streaks player or clearing the ball out of harm’s way.

Liam Rice Saratoga Central Catholic, senior forwardStats: 22 goals, 6 assistsHonors: 5th team Class C All-State, 1st team Western Athletic Conference North all-starsNotable: As the most tal-ented player in the Western Athletic Conference, Rice was often double or triple teamed in matches. That didn’t stop him from scoring more than 20 goals and creating many quality scoring opportunities for team-mates. Rice will continue his career at Merrimack College.

Alec PotterSouth Glens Falls, senior midfielder-forwardStats: 23 goals, 8 assistsHonors: 1st team Foothills Council all-starNotable: After two years of falling short in the final, Potter led the Bulldogs to the Section II Class A championship his senior year. The senior caused head-aches for whichever defender was playing on the same side of the field he was. Whether it was cutting to the middle for a shot or dribbling to the byline and get-ting a cross off, Potter changed matches with his play.

Matt SaddlemireSchuylerville, senior midfieldStats: 16 goals, 8 assistsHonors: 1st team Foothills Coun-cil all-starNotable: Saddlemire ensured Schuylerville’s 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’ dra-matic Section II Class B quarterfinal win.

Tom OsborneShenendehowa, senior defenseStats: 3 goals, part of 400-plus minute playoff shutout streakNotable: Osborne was one half of the most reliable center back pairing in Section II along with James Homan. The senior also got up to score two goals against Averill Park and the winning goal in Shenende-howa’s Section II semifinal vs. Guilderland. The squad went on to win its first Section II Class AA title since 2011 and make a run to the state final four.

Connor DeFilippisBallston Spa, junior forwardStats: 12 goals, 6 assistsHonors: 1st team Suburban Council all-starNotable: An ideal striker for any coach, DeFilippis is big, strong, fast and highly skilled. The junior had a knack for re-ceiving 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 Spa’s 3-2 win over Shenendehowa and tallied two goals and an assist in a playoff win against CBA.

Ian CepielStillwater, senior forwardStats: 56 goals, 8 assistsHonors: 4th team Class C All-State, Wasaren League MVP, set Section II single season scoring record (56 goals) Notable: Cepiel was the key fig-ure 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 sea-son. Stillwater finished 17-1, won the Wasaren League title and ended the year as the No. 6 Class C team in the state.

Ethan DalySaratoga Springs, senior de-fenseStats: 6 goals, 4 assistsHonors: 1st team Suburban Council all-starNotable: Injuries forced Daly from midfield to defense but the senior captain showed his versatility by excelling at the position. He was also a threat going forward, scoring the win-ning goal against rival Ballston Spa in the Act With Respect Cup match. Daly’s passing vi-sion helped him pick out open teammates anywhere on the field.

James HomanShenendehowa, senior defenseStats: 4 goals, part of 400-plus minute playoff shutout streakHonors: 1st team Suburban Council all-starNotable: Of the four goals Homan scored his senior year, none was bigger than his header that gave Shenende-howa 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.

Tucker Marvin Shenendehowa, senior midfieldStats: 7 goals, 5 assistsHonors: 1st team Suburban Council all-star, 1st team All-StateNotable: Whether it was as a striker or a holding midfielder, Marvin did whatever coach Jon Bain asked of him well. The se-nior captain’s 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.

F Dante Cilento Sr. Shenendehowa F Anders Trestick Sr. Ballston SpaF Stephen Klimek Jr. Saratoga SpringsM Teddy Bruschini Jr. South Glens FallsM Cody Kostrzebski Sr. South Glens FallsM Garett Wysocki Sr. Schuylerville

M Mike Miner Sr. Shenendehwoa M Kyle Clemens Sr. Shenendehowa D Anthony Romeo Sr. Shenendehowa D Ryan Buser Jr. South Glens FallsGK Jerry Lewandowski Jr. Shenende-howa

SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS

F Nick Hitt Jr. Burnt Hills-Ballston LakeF Jose Mendoza Sr. SchuylervilleF Ryan Czarnecki Sr. Saratoga Central CatholicF Drew Lewis Sr. ShenendehowaF Levi Ahl So. South Glens FallsM Pat Kimmel Sr. South Glens FallsM Taylor Hartman Jr. GalwayM Griffen MacWaters Jr. Ballston SpaM Noah VanZandt Sr. Saratoga SpringsM Will Turner Sr. Saratoga SpringsM Aaron Sterngass Sr. Saratoga Springs M Ian Speck Sr. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake

M Colin Skiff Jr. GreenwichM Brahe Gazzelli Sr. StillwaterM Brody Cepiel So. StillwaterM Justin Flanagan Jr. StillwaterM Eric Krazuski Sr. MechanicvilleM Colby DeMarco Jr. MechanicvilleM Tyler Klingenberg Jr. Saratoga Central CatholicM Derek Moore Sr. South Glens FallsD Adel Cekic Sr. ShenendehowaD Mike Burkett Jr. SchuylervilleD Dom Taylor Jr. Schuylerville GK Alex Gigliotti So. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake GK Brendan Martin Jr. Stillwater

HONORABLE MENTION

First Team

By David M. Johnsondjohnson@digitalfirstmedia.com @davidmichael10 on Twitter

The best system for a Jon Bain-coached soccer team is one that wins.

To find that one, the third year varsity coach wasn’t afraid to move play-ers to different positions or shift formations to ensure Shenendehowa was the team in control of the ball, and the outcome.

As a result, the Plains-men won their first Section II Class AA title since 2011, made a run to the state fi-nal four and Bain is The Saratogian’s 2014 Coach of the Year.

“This group ... a good percentage of them have been with me since I took over the program (in 2012),” Bain said. “This year we played three different for-mations and many of them played different positions.”

Once Bain found the right formula, the Plains-men were nearly impossi-ble to break down.

The team had long stretches in many games in which it held possession of the ball to probe the de-fense for openings. When there was a turnover, no team worked harder to get the ball back.

And whether it was Tucker Marvin moving from an at-tacker to a defensive mid-field role or Anthony Romeo moving from outside back to midfield — then to out-

side back again — the senior-laden Plainsmen bought into Bain’s tactics.

“It was great because the first year they were sopho-mores just be happy to be on varsity team,” Bain said. “As seniors maturity took over and they realized this is what we need to do. Through much of our sectional run we played mistake-free.”

Shenendheowa’s 400-plus minute playoff shut-

out streak — and season — ended in overtime of the Class AA state semifinal to Commack. Despite the 1-0 defeat, however, Bain was pleased with the chances his team created that day.

“We came up a little bit short but the boys played re-ally, really well,” Bain said. “We just weren’t quite able to put one in the net. We represented Shen well in our style of play.”

COACH OF THE YEAR

Bain played role of chess master

SARATOGIAN FILE PHOTO

Shenendehowa varsity soccer coach Jonathan Bain spoke at a press conference announcing his selection in 2012. He led the Plainsmen to a sectional title and the state final four in 2014.

move in stride. “You’ve got to do what

the team needs you to do,” Marvin said. “Coach didn’t need me up top but he needed someone to play defensive (midfield) so I figured I’d step up and do it. It worked.”

Work is a good descrip-tion for the third year var-sity player’s approach to each game. Many teams play with dual defensive midfielders to cover more ground. Marvin patrolled that distance by himself, winning so many chal-lenges in the process that 50-50 balls were not as even as their name would suggest when he was in-volved.

“I think he was one of the biggest pieces to our sectional and state run,” Bain said of Marvin. “His ability to be a shutdown defender and distrib-ute the ball out of mid-field was key to our suc-cess. As soon as he went back there, the effect on team was immediate. It allowed to Miles Bur-bank to push forward and I knew Tucker would hold down the fort.”

Despite playing further from goal for the major-ity of the season, Marvin still managed to score seven times and provide five assists. He was sec-ond on the team in scor-ing behind Burbank’s six goals and eight assists.

Being as versatile as Marvin is on the field

didn’t come easy. As a youth he played differ-ent positions to improve different aspects of his game and trained with his weaker left foot until it became as useful as his right one. All of that work paid off his senior year.

Every match in the Suburban Council pro-vides its own challenges, however.

Shenendehowa suf-fered a low point in the season when it dropped a match to Ballston Spa 3-2. The loss ultimately cost the Plainsmen first place in the Suburban Council North and the No. 1 seed in the Class AA playoffs.

When sectionals began in late October, however, Shenendehowa avenged the loss with a 6-0 rout of Ballston Spa.

The win sparked a nearly f lawless playoff run in which the Plains-men scored eight goals and did not allow one in four matches.

James Homan, the other senior captain on the squad, scored on a header in the final to clinch Shenendehowa’s first Section II title since 2011.

The run continued in the state regional match when the Plainsmen took down previously unde-feated Fayetteville-Man-lius 1-0 on a brilliant Mi-chael Miner goal.

“Looking back on the season I think we did everything we needed to do,” Marvin said of the sectional title run. “You can’t argue with regional

championships.”In the state seminal,

Marvin sacrif iced his body over and over again to keep Commack’s top player from creating any scoring chances.

Despite creating a half dozen quality scoring chances, the Plainsmen failed to score. Shenen-dehowa’s season ended with a 1-0 overtime loss and Commack went on to win the Class AA state ti-tle.

Marvin was named a first team Suburban Counci l a l l- star and a first team All-State player as a senior but his favorite varsity goal oc-curred his sophomore year.

“It was against Shaker in double overtime at Shaker,” Marvin said. “I scored a left footed shot that curled into the bot-tom corner of the net from the top of the 18. I’ll always remember that moment.”

Marvin has verbally committed to continue his soccer career at Divi-sion I UMass next season, where he was recruited to play as a forward or at-tacking midfielder. Until then, the two sport ath-lete will shoot for another sectional title of the year with the Plainsmen ice hockey team.

No matter what hap-pens, however, it will be tough for anything to top his senior year of soccer.

“I’m going to miss it a lot,” Marvin said. “This is probably the best group of guys I’ve ever played with.”

MarvinFROM PAGE 1