It is a rare occasion when two teams can leave the field of play feeling a sense of satisfaction.

  With a 3-0 win over Hanover, the Atlee girls claimed yet another Capital District girls soccer title. But this year’s championship was about more than simply winning and losing.

  The regular season was more of a struggle for the Raiders (13-2-3) than in year’s past. It is not unusual for Atlee to roll into the post season sporting a nearly spotless record. But in this year of rebuilding, the Raiders struggled (at least by Atlee standards), suffering two losses and three ties. Therefore coming away with the district title provided a true sense of accomplishment.

  “I feel like this year, we have some good players but we didn’t really have the full set of 11 that we normally have,” said Atlee junior mid/forward Ashley Riefner. “I think we worked pretty hard. We may not have had such a solid 11 but we made up for it with hard work.”

  And Riefner knows about hard work. After getting a snub from district recognition last season, Riefner set out to prove herself this year and was named Capital District Player of the Year.

  “Last year I felt really bad because I felt like I definitely deserved something but it just help me motivate and try real hard to get player of the year,” she said.

  On the other end of the spectrum, for Hanover, simply making it to the championship match was a major victory. Hanover reached the finals by pulling off the improbable 3-1 upset of #2 seed Lee-Davis in the semifinals.

  With a bench that resembled a triage ward, the continually shorthanded Hawks struggled just to get through the regular season with a 4-9-3 record.

  “We never have a healthy team, that’s the way it goes,” said head coach Whitney Harpold. “I’ve never had everybody at any game.

  “We set ourselves up as the underdog all season,” she said. “I think it was a surprise to everyone that we made it this far and we’re lucky to get there.”

  Playing among steady gusts of wind out of the southwest and blistering temperatures, Atlee quickly grabbed the upper hand in the championship match. In the third minute of play, Kim Glymph dished out an assist on a perfect corner kick to mid goal while sophomore Jessica Fairly found net for a 1-0 lead.

  For the most part from that point forward the game turned into a defensive contest where the two freshman keepers only combined for a total of seven saves; six by Hanover’s Caroline Crowder and one by Atlee’s Jordan Smith.

  Atlee got solid play from freshmen Alexis Pringle (mid), Abby O’Toole (back) and sophomore Brooke Jerman (mid) to compliment Glymph, Riefner and Sam Armentrout.

  Hanover was not without their own impressive youngsters with Crowder and freshman forward Annie Sadler, who appeared to be everywhere on the field.

  “She’s always doing great back there and we count on her to organize the whole team out there,” Harpold said of Sadler.

  Atlee tacked on a second goal in the 35th minute of play when Riefner sent a header into goal off a beautifully set up assist from Pringle.

  Several times Armentrout found herself in position to score but repeatedly rocketed shots over the goal.

  “Part of it was the wind but I can’t blame everything on the wind,” she said. “Some of it was I was really trying to get the goal and I guess I was overpowering it.”

  The score remained the same until the final minute of play when Armentrout finally connected, sliding between Crowder and another Hanover defender to drive a shot into the net to create the final margin.

  Atlee’s Bruce Lovelace, who picked up coach of the year honors, was happy with the win even though he felt his team could have played better.

  “It was kind of choppy,” he said. “We didn’t possess the ball like I like.”
  However, the coach acknowledged that there are days like that. “That’s soccer,” he said. “You can’t be on every day. You get through the bad days and move on and we got through.”

  Riefner concurred. “It wasn’t the best but we got through it,” she said. “All we had to do was come out with the win and that’s what we did.”

Hanover…............................ 0 0 — 0
Atlee…................................. 2 1 — 3
Records: Atlee 13-2-3; Hanover 6-9-3