(Courtesy: NYSPHSAA)
Kenmore/Grand Island jumped out to a 2-0 early lead 90 seconds in, but Adirondack United storms back to claim the NYSPHSAA State "Regional" championship, 7-3, at the Nexus Center in Utica on Saturday.
Queensbury's Bayley Duffy scored a pair of goals in the come back effort.
Adirondack United, the lone Section 2 Girls Hockey team, consists of players from area high schools, like Glens Falls, Queensbury, South Glens Falls, Hudson Falls, Saratoga Springs and Corinth. Formed last year, the girls came out and took on established girls programs in Section 7 before making it into the state tournament, but fell short in Utica. This pushed head coach Jeff Willis to pursue a higher goal -- the state title.
This year, the girls advanced to Utica thanks to a strong effort over Section 1's North Avalanche at the COOL Insuring Arena on Wednesday, then won 6-1 Friday over 2022's champions Skaneateles of Section 3. While the start was slow for Adirondack United, according to Pete Tobey of The Post-Star, the girls took advantage of a 11-1 second period shot advantage to even the game up.
The title is Section 2's first hockey title for the girls, with only Albany Academy previously having a girls hockey team within the boundaries of Section 2. The last overall hockey title for Section 2 was Queensbury's, back in 2019. Before then, Saratoga won the Division 1 title back in 2013.
