FOX23 Community

legitcoach, 

Maybe Wilson played in what you might call an easier division but you yourself talk about the depth of a team.  Well in the smaller schools theirs not much depth.  But if you look you will see that Ravena did play some of the AA schools, beating out Balston Spa , Scotia Glennville, Colonie, we played BH  losing by one goal in the last 20 seconds and we also played Shaker even though we lost we played them harder than some of the big schools ,  The level of competition has improved in the colonial council in the past few years. And Ashley Wilson was able to produce even against the AA schools. I don't see where you dont think Shaker has depth, you'd better take a better look. 

You sound like someone who has a dog in the fight.  Your negative venomous comments and the amount of effort you put into trying to prove you are right (all the stats) is a direct reflection that you know you are wrong.  It is obvious you don’t like Barone and your hatred comes out clear.  You are exactly what is wrong with high school sports today, you did a great job of badmouthing a kid, that’s right a kid.  You can be very proud of yourself for that but you made a complete fool of yourself to anyone who knows soccer.  Barone is going on to play Division I soccer at Siena and she was recruited  by Boston University, St. Bonaventure, Ohio State and many other college soccer programs.  According to you all those Division I coaches and athletic directors who wanted Barone to play at their schools and offered her scholarships and financial aid are all clueless.  At some point you need to step back and realize the rest of the world isn’t clueless its you, who is blinded by your hatred of a kid.  Barone is not overrated your comments are.  

Where are your stats on the center back, how about center mid , how about the flanks, Is it only the goal scorers, and the assists that can win player of the year??MY POINT save your stats because like i said it is alot more than goals and assists all these kids obviously are important to there team if you want to base it on goals  --goals are goals but two unassisted goals and an assist in the semi final of class AA  beating shaker 3-1 I think we should consider her! should I go on ?o.k. the finals of the section 2 class AA  with 3 seconds on the clock ashley barone buries it in the back of the net Shen brings home the section 2 trophy ask the shen coach how important Ashley Barone was for there team Caitlin Caha lan by all means is a talented player well deserving of first team honors there is  just one really important minor statistic that you have failed to research !!! Let Me remind you the center mid for shaker is u-17 regional team player who is phenomenal with the ball has vision like no other was recruited by most of the top D1 schools Yes you are right shen has alot of talent but how many goals could Barone  of really had with the region 1 center mid playing behind her Oh yea - what about playing time she had those goals in how many minutes  of play DO YOU HAVE THOSE STATS??? I know the shen coach had 26 girls and most of them played while caitlin was on the field beating up lesser teams ashley was on the bench cheering her teammates on.I know you may be a legit coach but I got to remind you Ashley is just a kid with a big heart that wishes all her competitors well!!!

Of course, Shaker's depth consists of basically all unexperienced players as well as newbies to the varsity team. The next leading scorer had 10 goals, followed by 5. The pressure was constantly on Cahalan to score and she did

Alright you need to give Barone a break. You may think that she didnt play hard during that game. Every single one of those girls though played there heart out including Barone. Yes maybe Barone hasnt scored as many goals as those two girl, but she has been know to always play her best. All and all i nominate Barone for player of the year.

Way to go Ash!!

Wow.  Sorry I am so late to this party.  Who won anyway?

I think I would have voted for Barone.  I know that she always forced coaches to be aware of her. Sure, Shen had other scoring threats like the Desimone sisters, but nobody else could change the game for Shen like Ashleigh.

Cahalan was also an offensive force, but in big games (vs Shen, Beth, Nisky) you watched out for Millock.

The other game changers in Section 2 (at least the Suburban) at the forward spot were Maksuti and Frary, IMO. Especially Frary, because Bethlehem was much more balanced than any of the other teams. Take away Frary and Nisky would have struggled. Take away Barone or Maksuti and their respective teams would have still had success.

Ashley Wilson is a good player. I think she probably has the best work ethic in Section 2 (if you're giving out other awards).  Skillwise she is pretty good (especially good speed).  But pointing out the difference between the different sized schools is relevant, IMO. Ashley is a stud the Colonial; in the Suburban, she would have been a good forward, but not an elite one. There is that much difference. I'm not trying to disparage anyone, but there really is that much difference.

I also think that goal scoring is overweighted in these types of things, but that's the way it goes.  Happens in every sport.  Sluggers win MVPs, offensive linemen get paid less. And nobody but coaches appreciate the sloggers.  So the defenders and midfielders don't get enough credit.  The midfielders, like Lee, Frary, Millock, Clinton, Goodwin led highly successful teams this year.  I would even suggest that if you looked at their all-around games they are better overall players than any of the forwards mentioned here.  Heck, I would say that both Beccas were the best pure players in the section this fall.  But none of them are as dynamic as the forwards. They could all win games for their teams (and did), but I'm not sure that any of them kept opposing coaches awake at night planning on how to account for them on the field.  Ashleigh Barone did.

Thanks for the debate everyone and for all the input.  We'll announce the girls winner, along with the boys, our football player of the year and our coach of the year on our season ending show at Christmas time.

 

Rich

I would just like to throw my two cents in. Barone should be the MVP this season. Is there a lot of hype around her--yes. Should there be-maybe not as much but -yes. She is a player that is not selfish on the field. She doesn't have to score every goal on the team. She is what a team player should be. For her there is always room for others on the top of the heap. The Wilson girl, yes she is a good player. But she does play in a weaker division. In her class she would be the top player. Unfortunately for her she plays in a division that is not as strong as the Shen division. As for the girl from Shaker, also a good player. But she was not being double-teamed every game for the whole game as Barone was. Barone still put up impressive numbers for a girl that every other team had a plan to stop her from scoring. Barone is the MVP. And I say that as a mother with a child playing for Bethlehem.