COLONIE, N.Y. – To win a title defense needs to come up big, some defenders come up when needed in big games and sometimes it’s just a big guy who plays defense that can help deliver a sectional title.
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake defender Sean Speck knows how to deliver; both on the ice for the Ballston Spa/Burnt Hills ice hockey team and Saturday afternoon in goal for the Spartans soccer team.
The 6-foot 2-inch goalie once again shed his walking boot to take his place in goal and turned back No. 1 seeded and three-time defending Section II Class A champion Queensbury 1-0 for the title.
“I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, I knew they were a tough team, they were going to challenge us a lot,” Sean Speck said. “I just came, worked and did my best.
“This is amazing; I’ve been waiting for this my entire life. I’ve seen my brothers go through the process, they haven’t been able to get it done and being able to win the championship means a lot.”
Speck was on his belly diving to cover up the prize throughout the contest, shedding Queensbury defenders, some of who were always looking for a piece of him and even once, ended up tangled in his own net upside down in Spider-Man fashion.
“Sean is just an animal, there is nothing else I can say about it,” Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake coach Adam Cohen said. “That kid has played injured all season long, I don’t know if you saw him walking out here, he walks out in a walking boot every day. He’s just top to bottom an all-around great guy too.
“They bought in, they knew what they wanted this year and Sean is just an anchor back there that they know they can trust. If they make a little mistake here or there, he’s got their back.”
The lone goal came 10 minutes into the sectional final when junior Park Scott split two Queensbury defenders, racing up the left side of the field and angling for the net.
“I was really thinking I got past the defender, I saw the opening, I ball went through his legs and saw the opening,” Park Scott said. “I went for the shot, it didn’t really go where I wanted it to and my teammate Max Nemec was just on top of it and he put the ball in.”
Surprisingly that would be the lone score of the game for both squads as Cohen has his attention on the Queensbury threats.
“We were obviously aware of (Mark Horgas) and we needed to keep an eye on him, but we were just playing our game,” Cohen said. “We play a pretty conservative defensive system that we don’t have to man-mark anybody.
“I know that every single guy on my field, every guy on my bench will do what needs to be done and have each other’s backs.”
Just as Scott delivered one of the biggest assists of his career early in the contest he was the go-to player late in the contest as Burnt Hills was looking to run out the clock and keep the ball away from Queensbury. Scott was able to take delivery of the ball deep in the Burnt Hills offensive end in the corner and hold off one or more defenders late in the contest.
“You just do your best, keep the ball away, hold it, use as much time as you can,” Scott said. “Really focus on where a defender is moving doing your best.”
Burnt Hills saved their best for Saturday’s date, circled on the calendar early in the season.
“They came to tryouts ready to go and all season long we were focused on this day,” Cohen said. “We kept on saying November 2, we’re winning on November 2 and that’s all that we had to do today. We got all our effort getting all those little mistakes out of the way so that we could have this game.”
Just as he asked his team, Cohen delivered for the Spartans.
“This is my second year here with a group of guys that have a tradition of winning,” Cohen said. “Burnt Hills has had a lot of success and I just wanted to bring that success back again. It feels really good to be a part of it, but it’s not me, it’s them, they earned this.”
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake will take on an opponent to be determined Tuesday or Wednesday at Section X (St. Lawrence area) with the winner returning to Colonie High School for the New York State East Regional Saturday, Nov. 9.
“I’m pretty confident if we can make it through a Suburban (Council) schedule and we can make it through a tough Queensbury team that has really good success in their program’s history, there is a whole lot that can stop us at this point,” Cohen said.
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