Apparently, Saturday, May 2nd was a big day for the SAT's. The Saratoga coaching staff knew that the Mustangs were being affected by it, as it had six players pulled away for the big, nervousness-inducing test. What the staff did not realize was that over in Vermont, the SAT's were on the same day. Luckily for Saratoga, they were hosting and it was Mad River that was forced to travel. Unfortunately, Mad River was hit a bit harder by the SAT's and only came down with six players and their coach. This, in and of itself, though, is remarkable given the travel time and commitment of those members of the organization. Job well done, Mad River.
Okay, enough for background on the match. Saratoga was fortunate that the NY league had a bye week and many players were available. 28 players for Saratoga took to the pitch on Saturday, and 11 of those 28 donned the green and gold stripes for Mad River. The coaching staff, needing to continue development, set the roster for the black and red Mustangs based on needs and had to move personnel around into some unfamiliar positions. Others, stepped up in their roles to play a bigger part of the game. On the other side, the 11 boys that were wearing the unfamiliar green and gold jerseys did both, all while having six new teammates and seeing their peers on the other side.
Scoring for the game yielded the following:
Tyler Krupa, lock (11th, BHBL) - 2 tries (2nd minute, 61st minute)
Mike Matrazzo, 8-man (12th, BHBL) - 6 tries (5th minute, 11th minute, 31st minute, 46th minute, 51st minute, 65th minute)
Justin Sarsick, wing (12th, BHBL) - 1 try (17th minute)
Alex Pulling, inside center (12th, Ballston Spa) - 1 try (22nd minute)
Dylan Gandy, fullback (12th, Waldorf) - 3 tries (27th minute, 29th minute, 57th minute)
Ryan Jones, flyhalf (11th, Saratoga) - 1 try (36th minute), 1 conversion
Nate Heckman, outside center (12th, Ballston Spa) - 6 conversions
Final score: Saratoga 5 - Mad River 0
The co-men of the match are (1) the Mad River players for living up to the commitments they made and traveling the three plus hours each way in a non-ideal situation and (2) the "Mad River Mustangs" for their willingness to don the opponents jersey and fight against their own team. To wear the opposite jersey of what you know and love is difficult. The coaching staff recognizes and personally knows these feelings. However, if these boys had not overcome this, not only would the weekend have yielded no games for the boys overall, it would have set back the development as a whole of the U19 program. Job well done.
Saratoga Mustang Boys host the Schenectady Chargers this Friday at 6:00 pm and the Adirondack Barkeaters this Saturday at 12:30 pm; both games are at Shenantaha Creek Park in Malta. Please come show your support.
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