​Northville’s Magnus Halloran (9) celebrates his goal against Hartford in the Section 2 Class D championship game at Queensbury High School on Saturday. (Stephen Weaver)
QUEENSBURY – Two consecutive sectional titles was quite an accomplishment for the Northville boys’ soccer program, yet senior standout Nico Sevastakis envisioned even more success this fall for the Falcons.”I knew we had a good group again this season,” Sevastakis said. “I am just glad we came out again and capitalized.”Saturday started a bit slowly for the offensive juggernaut, which was the top seed in the Section 2 Class D tournament. Once things got going, though, the Falcons could not be stopped.Northville made it three straight Class D championships as it cruised to a 5-0 victory over third-seeded Hartford at Queensbury High School.The win by the Falcons (18-1), ranked No. 6 in the state, came in their 16th shutout of the season. Only three teams have scored this season against Northville, the first being Hartford in a 4-1 triumph for the Falcons on Sept. 5.On Saturday, sophomore defender Magnus Halloran opened the scoring for the Falcons with 4:50 remaining in the opening half. In all, four players tallied goals for the No. 1 seed.”Our goal from Day 1 is to be the best we can be every day,” Northville coach Steve Clapper said. “They push each other to get better every day. This is not just about one person.”Northville’s overall depth, talent and precision were on display throughout the 80 minutes played Saturday.”I knew once we put one in, it was going to be a wrap,” Sevastakis said. “I know we are a good group. We play very calm. We don’t care about the scoreboard. We just play our game.”The lone loss this season for Northville came in a 2-1 setback against Chazy on Oct. 2.”There were things we could learn from and get better at. We did exactly that,” Clapper said. “We tightened up what we needed to tighten up. We’ve made our changes and now we are ready to move forward.”Key momentJust 46 seconds following the opening goal from Halloran, sophomore Ryder Wright made it 2-0 Northville on a score with 4:04 remaining before intermission. Hartford (14-4-1) was unable to muster any offense to make a comeback.”They stuck to the game plan,” Clapper said regarding his squad not being flustered by being unable to score early, despite dominating play. “It shows a level of maturity.”Star of the gameJust about any player that hit the field Saturday for the Falcons excelled, but Sevastakis paced the balanced offensive attack with his 12th and 13th goals of the season.The senior’s second goal came with 15:51 remaining to make it 4-0. Numbers to know144: Goals scored by Northville over 19 games.8:
Consecutive wins for the
Falcons, all via shutout, following their loss to Chazy,5: Goals allowed this season by Northville. What’s nextHartford: The season for the Tanagers continues as an at-large competitor Wednesday in the state tournament against Section VII champion Chazy a