What if Greeley and Briarcliff girls played
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- November
- 20
How cool would it be if Greeley and Briarcliff scrimmaged each other? I honestly have no idea who would win that. My first instinct is to say the AA team HAS to be better than the B team, but in this case Briarcliff is so good I can’t say.
Greeley was probably the most physically gifted team I saw all year. The Quakers had size all over the field and almost everybody was fast, even the taller girls. The girls up front were superior ball strikers and Courtney Miller used her head like a surgeon on corner kicks. They overwhelmed a lot of opponents with that talent.
Briarcliff was the most disciplined. Everybody knew their roles and executed flawlessly, never overextending themselves or breaking formation. It really was amazing how many opposing coaches praised them after losing to them.
I propose these two teams meet in a park somewhere and go at it for the Best in Westchester title. I’ll ref it for free.
One last note on Greeley’s postgame comments that have stirred so much chatter. I honestly don’t think anyone was spitting on Arcadia by saying Greeley was the better team. The Quakers were obviously very confident in themselves — if you want to say too confident you could make a case — and hadn’t even played badly. They thought they had had a shot to win the title. Fifteen minutes after the loss, which is when I interviewed them, they were still frustrated at not having executed very well around either net. No one said they got ripped off. They knew they lost fair and square. That’s soccer — sometimes you play pretty well and lose. They were mad at themselves for losing to a team they felt they could have beaten.
Greece Arcadia did what it had to do to win. Whether it was better or not is irrelevant. It won. The players and certainly Coach Tracy understand that. Hundreds of losing teams kick themselves every day thinking they should have won. It shouldn’t be any better or worse to say what’s already on your mind.
I don’t want to come off as a Greeley apologist here, because I have no connection to the coach and players other than the fact that they were always helpful to me, but I think their feelings are a result of frustration at themselves, not sour grapes.
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on Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 at 5:23 pm by Jake Thomases.
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Just a comment on Greeley vs. Briarcliff. You say that Greeley had tremendous speed and physicality. I caution that it’s all relative. I’ve seen too many teams that look fast or skilled against slower or less aggressive opponents look not so fast and skilled against better matched teams. My guess is that Briarcliff’s ability to win the 50/50 balls with aggressive AND skilled play, coupled with a sweeper who is as fast as any forward in the state would render them the favorite in this fantasy match-up.
Greeley would obviously win, it wouldn’t even be a fair game for Briarcliff.
Not to discredit Briarcliff’s ability as a team but Greeley is superior in not only speed and physical size but strength. Could you honestly picture Briarcliff even competing with the teams the Greeley girls have faced? Greeley’s sectional and regional play versus North Rockland, Monroe, JJ EF and even Corning is incomparable to the teams Briarcliff ever faced or will face. All of this speculation should be put to rest. Greeley is undoubtedly the stronger team in every way shape or form.
NOT TRUE
LOOK AT THE BOYS
BYRAM HILLS LOST to SPACKENKILL
Byram HIlls STATE CHAMPS Class A
Spackenkill STATE Champs Class B
Lets be honest , Greeley didn’t even win the Section, they SHARED it with John JAY, co champs. Then they got crushed in Semis, yielding 3 goals!!
Briarcliff NEVER LOST!!!!!
1.The greeley girls were not declared co champions they were the only section 1 champions.
2. Byram Hills and Spakenkill are only one class apart two classes apart are a huge difference. I can’t imagine that Byram Hills would ever lose to a Class C team as Greeley would never lose to a class B team.
3. Briarcliff could never even compete against any Class AA teams and probably even any strong Class A teams.
i find this humorous that people are saying they cannot compete with any teams in a higher class….lets be real here THEY DIDNT LOSE A GAME TO…they played the #1 2 and 3 team in the state and controlled the entire game. How could say they would get dominated…..they would put up a great fight and i think on any day could easily win….
In the case of Briarcliff, size of school, or classification make no difference at all. What counts is the number of players Briarcliff has that compete on high level travel teams on the premier circuit. No team in the section has as many players as Briarcliff who compete at the top level of premier soccer. This team can compete with any school at the high school level, regardless of class. They most likely are the best team in the section this year. For the next two or three years at least they will be the cream of the crop in section one. It’s just the way it is. Three or four state titles in a row is not out of the question.
The Greeley girls were declared Co Champions, in the playoffs its a tie if it goes to Penalty Kicks
Horace Greeley and John Jay were co-champs, penalty kicks decide who moves on. Officially that game was a TIE
I am a coach in the Section, they are without a doubt
CO-CHAMPIONS.
Read the Section I and NY State Handbook
NOTICE THE TIE
Date Time Opponent Result
9/10/07 4:30 PM Washingtonville (NY) W 3-2
9/17/07 4:30 PM @Hudson (Montrose, NY) W 4-2
9/19/07 4:30 PM Beacon (NY) W 5-0
9/20/07 4:30 PM Mamaroneck (NY) L 2-3
9/24/07 1:00 PM Ursuline (New Rochelle, NY) W 3-1
9/25/07 4:30 PM Ursuline (New Rochelle, NY) –
9/27/07 4:30 PM @Our Lady of Lourdes (Poughkeepsie, NY) L 2-4
9/28/07 4:30 PM @Ossining (NY) W 4-0
10/1/07 4:30 PM Fox Lane (Bedford, NY)** W 3-0
10/3/07 4:30 PM Somers (Lincolndale, NY)** W 3-2
10/5/07 4:30 PM @Yorktown (Yorktown Heights, NY)** W 3-1
10/9/07 4:30 PM Jay (Cross River, NY)** W 5-2
10/11/07 4:30 PM @Lakeland (Shrub Oak, NY)** W 2-0
10/13/07 11:00 AM @Fox Lane (Bedford, NY)** W 6-1
10/15/07 4:30 PM @Somers (Lincolndale, NY)** W 3-0
10/17/07 4:30 PM Yorktown (Yorktown Heights, NY)** W 6-2
10/23/07 4:30 PM Lakeland (Shrub Oak, NY)** W 6-0
10/23/07 4:30 PM @Jay (Cross River, NY)** W 2-1
10/28/07 12:00 PM Saunders Trades & Tech (Yonkers, NY) W 5-0
10/29/07 2:30 PM Yorktown (Yorktown Heights, NY) W 3-0
10/31/07 2:00 PM @North Rockland (Thiells, NY) W 3-1
11/3/07 1:00 PM vs Jay (Hopewell Junction, NY) T 2-2
11/6/07 1:00 PM @Corning-Painted Post East (Corning, NY) W 5-0
11/10/07 1:00 PM vs Monroe-Woodbury (Central Valley, NY) W 1-0
11/16/07 1:00 PM vs Greece Arcadia (Rochester, NY) L 1-3
Hey Referee???
Red Creek won the Boys Class C State Title
Vestal won the Boys Class AA State Title
They both played West Genesee(AA Sectional team)
Class C State Champs Red Creek 4 West Genesee 2
Class AA State Champs Vestal 1 West Genesee 0
Onbvioulsy little Class C Red Creek is as good or better then AA Vestal. And thats AA to A to B to C
So why would you assume Greeley, who was good but not great , would definitely beat an undefetaed Briarcliff>??
Plus, Greeley gave up 4 goals to Class “A” Lourdes, so who says they wouldnt give up 2 or 3 goals to Briarcliff?
Briarcliff is State CHamps
Greeley Section CO-Champs
OMG….you guys have way too much time on your hands. Get a life. Stop researching girls high school soccer stats. Briarcliff and Greeley are both awesome teams. Move on.
Briarcliff is the superior team. A great offense, solid defense and a much deeper bench would allow them to prevail.
I say Briarcliff wins…they are by far the classier, more disciplined team. Shoulda woulda coulda Greeley – - you had a great season, Arcadia beat you fair and square – time to stop sulking and get over it.
greeley would run over briarcliff.
it would be like an A minor league baseball team going up against an AAA team. lets be real here. greeley has better talent, more physically gifted players, and just a better team. briarcliff, u want a prize for winning class B? if greeley had been playing in class B, they wouldve won the state too.
wait briarcliff was undefeated…was greely..NO
lol thats the stupidest comment i’ve ever heard…if greeley was playing in b they’d win NO SH&IT u retard….there a double AA school, meaning there enrollment is 2x that of briarcliff and thus they have hundreds of more kids added to their talent pool. DESPITE ALL OF THAT….Bcliff would still win…
Listen people. you can not compare teams from different classes. Could a smaller school beat a larger school? Yes, but not often. Everything is cyclical. Not to mention Lourdes is considered a A school, but can bring players if from all over. that is an issue we should be talking about. Also Keio! This is a bigger problem.
Greeley was not that good, probably one of the weakest Section 1 Final 4 teams of all time
Max…..please just stop posting – you have nothing original or constructive to say…..and in fact it seems like you only post things in order to create controversy…. While you are entitled to your opinion you should know that you are just making yourself look like a biased idiot….
This is absolutely perposterous that all you people out there are even fathoming the fact that Briarcliff can beat Greeley. It’s absurd that it’s even questionable among the public. Just because Briarcliff was undefeated doesn’t mean they have the slightest chance in beating Greeley. They would get crushed—bottom line…it would just be EMBARESSING.
I’m not making up for the fact that they lost to Lourdes but it was not a fair game. It was played at 6:00 at night, and the starting center midfielder and stopper were injured. If they were to play again, it would be a slaughtering.
The Greeley team has depth and above all, chemistry—the 10 seniors are going to be missed but the team will hold strong next year and the years to come with the great coaching staff of John Brennan and Erin Tracy.
By the way…atleast Greeley lost fair and square in states. They didn’t have an “own-goal fault”...haha not that’s just pathetic for Briarcliff
Our noble fans who wish to remain nameless followed us from Oneonta to Courtland and everywhere else SHIRTLESS. YES YOU READ RIGHT—-SHIRTLESS IN 20 DEHGREE WEATHER….THATS LOYALTY.
im out.
yo. get over it—greeley rules, briarcliff drools.
i dont know… call me crazy but i think briarcliff girls could beat the greely boys