The Cinderella Sharon Springs Spartans got two goals from Ryan Brown to slay the top-ranked Cougars of North Warren 3-0 to win the Section II Class D championship Saturday afternoon in Colonie.
Sharon, which knocked off the two top-ranked Class D teams, now play the winner of the Section VII-X (Chazy and Parishville) state regional Saturday in Colonie at noon. The boys get a bye in the first round of the state regionals.
The Spartans came into Saturday finals the seven-ranked team in Class D in Section II but right from the opening tap, Sharon proved the quicker, stronger team.
Though they were playing against the wind, Sharon dominated the early going of the contest, which was played in cold and windy conditions.
Much of the play was concentrated in the North Warren end.
The first half was scoreless but Sharon almost scored several goals.
Brian Warner and Brown almost combined on a goal 12:15 into the game. Warner nearly scored with 19 minutes left and Brown’s shot almost caught the right corner of the Cougar net a minute later.
North Warren, the 11th ranked team in the state with a 15-3 record coming into the game, stepped up their play in the final 10 minutes of the first half.
Sharon goalie Douglas Ullman had to make a leaping save with 9:30 left to prevent a goal.
The Cougars then got a corner kick and almost scored in a scramble in front of the net.
Sharon’s Brad Baker (large photo) nearly broke the scoreless start with a header with seven minutes left and Brown’s shot almost caught the left corner of the North Warren net with 5:45 left.
It was Warner, a senior, who finally broke the scoreless tie as he headed in a shot off an indirect kick from Zachary Bartlett 5:31 into the second half.
Baker almost made it 2-0 when the sophomore nearly headed in a shot 16:30 into the half.
Trailing by a goal, North Warren started to press the action and Ullman had to make several tough saves to keep Sharon in front.
Despite North Warren’s pressure, Sharon was able to regain control and Brown almost made it 2-0 as he put in a shot on a short breakaway with 10:55 left.
He did score to make it 2-0 with a goal off a long rebound with 4:36 left.
Ullman, who ended the game with three saves, kept the Cougars off the scoreboard with a diving save with four minutes left and Brown put the game away with a goal with 2:23 left on a pass from Jeff Johnson.
Sharon Coach Tony DiPace was not surprised how the Spartans played Saturday.
Even though their record was not great in the regular season, the Spartans consistently outshot teams.
“We just had trouble making them fall,” Coach DiPace said. Finally, their shots started to go in, just like in the second half Saturday.
It was a great all-around team game, the Coach said, but he lauded the defense for their play against a high-powered team.
“My hat’s off to my defense,” the Coach said, noting the play of Keegan Klinker, Justin Perrotti, Aaron Marshall and Cody Conley.
They were exceptional, especially when the Cougars had the wind in the first half. Sharon outshot North Warren nine to two in the opening half.
Sharon suffered through several injuries in the regular season but started to put things together with about four games left, Coach DiPace said.
Brown had missed time to a broken toe and a concussion, Baker had been out with a sprained ankle and there were several other injuries.
After a late season loss, the Coach said, he challenged the team to put their game together.
After that, they tied Schenectady Christian, the top team in the league.
“We really started to put it together,” Coach DiPace said.
The Spartans played well down the stretch and have knocked off three better ranked teams in sectionals.
“I certainly knew we had it in us,” the Coach said.
“I knew these guys had heart. I believed in them all the way and they didn’t let me down.”
This is the first time in seven years that the boys have won the Class D championship. That time, they lost in the first round of the state regionals to Chazy.
The state semi-finals and finals will be held in Oneonta on November 17 and 18.
The boys got to the Class D finals with a 3-2 victory over Northville at the Morse complex in Glens Falls Tuesday afternoon.
The Spartans scored early and kept the lead winning a high percentage of 50/50 balls.
Six minutes into the game, Robby Countryman’s pass found the foot of fellow senior Warner and he finished the play for a 1-0 Sharon lead as the Northville slipped while trying to change direction.
Warner helped set up Sharon’s next goal as he put a cross across the goal mouth to a streaking Brown to give Sharon a 2-0 lead.
Northville cut the lead to 2-1 when they converted a penalty kick with about 10 minutes left in the first half. Goalie John Ostrander came out from the net to put in the shot.
The Spartans regained a two-goal advantage just two minutes into the second half when Warner’s pass was put in by Johnson.
Northville cut the lead to 3-2 when Ostrander again converted a penalty kick with 13 minutes left.
Sharon outshot Northville 17 to 13 and Ullman ended the game with three saves and Andrew Willey had nine.
Coach DiPace lauded the Spartans’ backline of Conley, Perrotti, Marshall, Countryman, and Klinker for a strong, all-around game.
Northville came into the game ranked sixth. They ended the season with a 9-10 record.
Sharon got to the semi-finals with a win over second ranked Loudonville Christian on October 26.

For Schoharie, the Indians poured it on to win their third straight Class C title, also Saturday.
Nicolle Adams scored three times, the last goal coming in the second overtime, to give the Indians a 3-2 overtime win over Maple Hill at Broadalbin-Perth.
Tia Cornell had two assists and Beth Cleveland had one as the third-ranked Indians downed top-ranked Maple Hill.
The Indians now play Hoosick Falls, the top-ranked Class CC school in the state, in the Class C-CC playoff today, Wednesday at 4pm in Broadalbin-Perth.
Co-coach Kevin Scofield said it was an all-around effort and lauded the play of Kaitlyn Dano, Kaitlyn Johnson, Hilary Hext and Morgan Archer, among others.
Dano has been battling injuries but was “unbelievable,” the Coach said.
Dano, he added, “controlled the entire tempo of the game.”
Johnson made 15 saves, many difficult ones and Archer defended against Maple Hill’s top offensive player.
Cornell, he added, did a great job getting the ball into play and Adams was double and triple-teamed throughout the game and had four players on her when she scored the game-winner with 6:33 left in the second overtime on a pass from Cornell.
“We’re so proud of our kids,” the Coach said.
If the Indians get past Hoosick Falls, they would play in the state regionals on Saturday somewhere outside Section II, Coach Scofield said.
Playing Hoosick Falls, which ended the regular season with a record of 17-0-1, will be a challenge but the Indians are ready, Coach Scofield said.
“In no way are we afraid of Hoosick Falls,” he said. “The girls are looking forward to the challenge…
“Hoosick Falls is like a mountain but we’re ready to climb that mountain.”
The Indians have lost in the last two Class C-CC playoffs, including a loss to Hoosick Falls two years ago.
In the semifinals,the third time was the charm for the Indians as they beat Middleburgh 4-2 in the Class C semi-finals in Amsterdam Thursday evening.
SCS, which had lost and tied against the Knights during the regular season, got two goals from Adams and one each from Dano and Cleveland.
Dano opened the scoring just six minutes into the game scoring on a shot from about 32 yards out that bounced off the crossbar and behind MCS goalie Taylor Hayes.
The Knights’ Megan Rozumalski tied the game with a long cross from the right corner, a shot that curved into the net with about three minutes left in the half.
“It was a great shot from a great player,” Coach Scofield said.
SCS retook the lead as Adams got a breakaway on a give-and-go from Dano 1:14 later. Schoharie led 2-1 at the half.
In the second half, Adams scored again on an assist from Cleveland about nine minutes into the half and Cleveland tallied on an assist from Cornell about seven minutes later. A penalty kick by Dano sailed over the Middleburgh net to prevent further scoring for the Indians.
Lindsay Standhart scored for the Knights in the second half.
Experience in the sectionals helped out the Indians, Coach Scofield said.
“The experience of being there helped us a little bit,” the Coach said. “We made our shots count.”
MCS Coach Amber Johns was impressed with the play of both teams and said the Indians “put together a good game.”
Several players had outstanding games Thursday, Coach Scofield said.
Loucks, a senior, had an excellent game marking Rozumalski. She was not in the game when the Middleburgh standout scored her goal.
In the midfield, Dano, another senior, had an exceptional game intercepting passes, and moving and distributing the ball.
Hext, a junior, had “almost a perfect game” on defense while Adams’ speed made her dangerous.
Her “speed on the turf was tough to deal with,” Coach Scofield said.
Johnson, a senior, had six saves in goal.
The Coach said the Indians were going to take it one game at a time, especially in light of the injuries Schoharie has suffered this year.
“We’re pretty much beat up,” he said. “We’ve had to deal with some major injuries.”