Shen survives, advances
Clifton Park
The main objective each game for Toba Akinyemi is keeping scoring threats away from the Shenendehowa goal. That does not prevent the senior defender from occasionally getting into the offensive mix himself, like he did Saturday night.
Facing a stiff challenge from a relentless and gritty Ballston Spa squad that played one player short for the final 48 minutes, Shenendehowa finally broke a scoreless deadlock when Akinyemi, the team's sweeper, headed in a corner kick by Jake Miller with 11:43 remaining. The Plainsmen made their lead hold up and registered a 1-0 win over the 10th-seeded Scotties in Section II Class AA boys' soccer quarterfinal play.
The second-seeded Plainsmen (13-3-1) advance to the semifinals, where they will take on third-seeded Albany on Thursday night at La Salle. The Falcons edged Shaker 3-2.
Saturday happened to be Shenendehowa coach Jonathan Bain's birthday. He was eventually able to celebrate a win with his team, but not before Ballston Spa (6-9-3) pushed the Plainsmen to the brink even after losing sophomore defender Matt King to a red card with 7:48 left in the first half.
"To maintain that level, and that amount of fight, being a man down is just outstanding," Bain said. "Even when they went down a man, they didn't break stride. The goalkeeping was outstanding. They were dangerous. Mike Robyck up top gave us some problems. That game hung in the balance for a long time."
Akinyemi's second goal of the season culminated a 20-minute span in which the Plainsmen poured on the pressure against the short-handed Scotties and were finally rewarded.
Miller sent a high-arching corner from the right past the goal and to the left, where Akinyemi headed the ball past the diving attempt by Ballston Spa senior goalie Ethan Shuhart.
"I was trying...