Sandstoners hang on

MASSENA — It's on to the state tournament for the Potsdam boys and girls soccer teams who both won Section 10 Class B championships on Thursday night on Mike Nicholas Field in Massena.

The Sandstoners' boys team tied Ogdensburg Free Academy 1-1 through regulation and two overtimes before advancing to the state tournament by winning the shootout, 2-1.

The Potsdam girls also advanced, scoring with just three minutes left in regulation for a 2-1 win over Canton.

Potsdam's boys (7-7-4 overall) will travel to play the Section 2 champion in a first-round game Wednesday. Johnstown will play Broadalbin-Perth for that title at 7 p.m. Monday in Colonie.

Potsdam's girls will host the Section 7 champion on Tuesday. Plattsburgh High School will face Northeastern Clinton for that championship at 5 p.m. today in Chazy.

BOYS GAME

POTSDAM 1, OFA 1

OFA (12-3-2) had beaten No. 3 Potsdam twice during the regular season, but the Sandstoners steadily improved as the season progressed, and played the top-seed to a draw Thursday. The two teams were declared co-champions.

"We started out the season 0-3-2, but we came back, played hard and gelled as a team," said Potsdam coach Mike Germano.

"We got healthy, finally had guys where they were supposed to be playing and went were 8-3 the second half of the season. It's been a Cinderella season for us. The guys have played very well."

Potsdam opened the scoring in the 30th minute when T.J. Rimmer sent a cross into the penalty area, which was headed home by Scott Bartenstein.

OFA tied the score in the fourth minute of the second half as Alex Bender connected from in close on a pass from Jacob Rishe.

Nick Monast made 11 saves in goal for Potsdam over 110 minutes before Sebastian Grimberg took over for the shootout. Grimberg made two big saves and benefited from one OFA shot hitting the post and one sailing wide.

Grant Prudhomme scored the lone OFA goal in the shootout OFA's Ty Carrow made nine totals saves, but Potsdam's Seth Adams and Rimmer scored on perfectly-placed shots in the shootout.

"This is a tough way to end it. The kids have worked so hard this year," said OFA coach Matt Morley.

"We didn't play our game in the first half, but played much better in the second half. I couldn't be prouder of them. We had 12 wins and our three losses this year were all close games. OFA's Eric Whitcombe, who tallied 13 goals and six assists on the season, was named Class B Offensive Most Valuable Player after the game.

GIRLS GAME

POTSDAM 2, CANTON 1

After Lia Davis blasted a shot off the crossbar, Tess Curry forced home the rebound with three minutes left in regulation to lift top-seeded Potsdam past No. 2 Canton.

"The offense wasn't clicking, the ball was skipping a lot on the wet surface, but we finally got a good service into the box and Tess ran through it." said Potsdam coach Joe Stark.

For Canton (9-6-2), it was a tough day all around as the team first attended the calling hours for Boyd Jones, father of Canton halfback Alicia Jones, who passed away earlier this week. The team then took the field three hours later for the sectional final.

"We were facing adversity with the loss of Alicia's dad," said Canton coach Greg Kiah. "On the field, we played 80 minutes today. Our goal this season was about growth and we showed that."

Potsdam (15-3-0) trailed 1-0 when Murphy Newman scored unassisted for the Bears in the third minute. The Sandstoners tied the game in the seventh minute as Allie Fayette knocked in a corner kick by Cassie Grace.

Monique Cornett made seven saves in goal for Potsdam, and Kara Locey made 10 saves for Canton.

CROSS COUNTRY

CANTON RUNNERS SET RECORDS

Canton's Matt Pierce and Aimee Beaudette each set course records at the Section 10 championship meet at the Massena Country Club.

Pierce won the boys Class B title, running the 3.1-mile course in 16 minutes, 46.3 seconds. Beaudette claimed the girls Class C title in 19:24.1.

Canton won the boys Class B title, Potsdam claimed the Class C crown and Tupper Lake won the Class D boys title. OFA's girls won the Class B title, Gouverneur claimed Class C and Norwood-Norfolk won in Class D.

Potsdam's George Morris was the boys Class C champion and Norwood-Norfolk's Jon Eng won the boys Class D title. Malone's Kaylie l.amica won the girls Class B title, and Norwood-Norfolk's Emily Cotey was the Class D girls champion.

VOLLEYBALL

OFA 3, MALONE 1

Megan Tallman scored 10 points, including four straight in game four, to lead OFA to a 25-22, 25-11, 20-25, 25-14 win over Malone (12-6) in a Section 10 overall semifinal at Norwood-Norfolk High School.

The Blue Devils (18-1) will play Chateaugay for the overall championship at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Norwood-Norfolk.

Alison Edwards added 11 points and 12 digs for OFA.