BOYS’ SOCCER — On Wednesday (Oct. 25), Haldane — the reigning Class C state champions — hosted North Salem in what the Blue Devils hoped would be the first win in their defense of the title.
It was not to be, as the Blue Devils, seeded No. 2 in Section I, lost a heartbreaker in extra time, 1-0, to the No. 3 Tigers.
North Salem put pressure on Haldane throughout the game, and goalkeeper Ronan Kiter had a busy afternoon. The Blue Devils had a difficult time with their attack because their leading scorer, Clem Grossman, was out with a hairline fracture.
Haldane was able to hang around but couldn’t put the ball in net. With 5:55 left in the 15-minute overtime, a North Salem player sent a rocket past Kiter to end the game. “I’m not upset, because the boys battled and gave it everything they had,” said Coach Ahmed Dwidar. The Blue Devils finished 9-7.
FOOTBALL — On the heels of a gritty win at Valhalla, Haldane had another road test on Oct. 21 against undefeated Westlake, falling 16-14 in a nail-biter.
Westlake took an early 7-0 lead but it was all Blue Devils in the second with a 3-yard touchdown run by Evan Giachinta and a 15-yard TD pass from Ryan Van Tassel to Michael Murray.
That would be all the Haldane scoring, however. In the third, Westlake scored on a 3-yard run but missed the extra point, allowing the Blue Devils to maintain a one-point lead. But with 3:21 left in the game, the Wildcats kicked a 24-yard field goal to take the lead.
For the second week in a row, Haldane’s offense struggled to put up points. Van Tassel completed seven of 14 passes for 59 yards, and Giachinta and Van Tassel each rushed for 49 yards. “We did not execute down the stretch,” said Coach Ryan McConville.
The Blue Devils (5-2) will close the regular season hosting Woodlands (0-5) at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday (Oct. 28).
GIRLS’ SOCCER — On Thursday (Oct. 26), the No. 4-seeded Blue Devils (6-8), the defending sectional champions, traveled to No. 1 Leffell (9-2-1) for the Section I, Class C tournament but fell to the Lions, 2-1.
Haldane struck first when Josie Foley-Hedlund fired a free kick that skimmed the top bar. But Leffell tied the game with 12:56 left in the first half, converting a penalty. The Lions scored the game winner with 5 minutes in the half; neither team scored in the second half.
CROSS-COUNTRY — Haldane raced on Oct. 21 in the Section I Coaches Invitational at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls. Owen Powers finished 53rd in 19:39.1 and Silas Emig was 88th in 21:16.9. For the girls, Kate Resi finished 101st in 29:20.1, Penelope Andreou was 106th in 30:33.4 and Hazel Berkley was 108th in 30:45.5.
Powers and Andreou were the top Haldane finishers in a home meet against Hendrick Hudson held Monday (Oct. 23) at the Highlands Country Club in Garrison. The Blue Devils’ next race will be the Northern Counties Cross-Country Championship in Milton on Saturday (Oct. 28).
VOLLEYBALL — Haldane finished a tough season last week without an elusive second win, falling in three sets on Oct. 19 to powerhouse Putnam Valley (25-11, 25-13, 25-18) and on Oct. 20 at Somers (25-11, 25-15, 25-8).
Against Putnam Valley, Scotia Hartford was 8 for 8 on serves and had five digs and three assists and Emily Tomann went 6 for 7 on serves with an ace and also had 10 digs and 5 kills. The Blue Devils (1-14) did not qualify for the Section I, Class C tournament.
