ADAM SAMROV

Sports Editor

SCHUYLERVILLE, N.Y. -- At halftime of their Class C quarterfinal matchup against Galway, the top-seeded Hoosick Falls Central School girls soccer team was only up a single goal, with momentum on the Eagles' side having scored moments before.

During the halftime break, usually coach Tom Husser will give an inspirational message and instructions to start the second half. But on Wednesday, the only person talking was senior captain Grace Delurey.

"I didn't have to say much at the beginning of halftime, [Grace] was saying it right off the bat," Husser said. "She said we want to go to Cortland and [not to] let down. The kids were psyched, got into the same mindframe, scored a couple quick and put it away."

The Panthers scored three goals in the first 14 minutes of the second half to pull away, beating No. 8 Galway 6-1 and advancing to the semifinals.

"We consider ourselves a second half team," Delurey said. We got up 2-0 and sat back a little bit. It was frustrating, because they got the intensity."

Hoosick Falls (16-2) started off extremely quick on a windy day, as Delurey took the opening kick down the field and fired a shot in the far corner past Galway goalie Rebekah Reichard 21 seconds into the match.

Three minutes later, off a corner kick, Alice Hayden found Allie Martin for another tally to double the Panther lead.

"They came out fired up, the girls were ready for this," Husser said. "Going into the wind, to score right off the bat was big, it really took the pressure off."

After the opening salvo, the Panthers kept pressing but Reichard, who had more than 20 saves for the Eagles, couldn't get one past. Methodically, Galway made a run and finally connected with seven minutes left in the first half.

Abby Spagnola took a ball into the box and hit it with her left foot into the jet stream. The ball floated over Hoosick Falls goaltender Hannah Fricke to make it 2-1.

"I said it's 1-and-done, we have to want this," Delurey said.

After Delurey's urging, the Panthers came out immediately and upped their lead back to two when Jordan Haynes scored her 24rd goal of the year off an assist from Rachel Pine.

Moments later, Delurey scored again, her 26th goal of the season and 64th of her career, tying Meg McKee as the school's leader.

"Sixty-four goals is a pretty good accomplishment, but she also has 17 or 18 assists," Husser said. "She's all over the field -- up top, out wide, in the back ... Grace says never says die, she's our field general."

"It's quite an achievement. I want to get that last goal to go out with a bang," Delurey said. "It feels good to have that many goals in my career."

Hoosick Falls finished the game in style, first with Martin scoring another goal off a Hayden corner and then with Rachel Pine scoring on a great individual effort with two minutes remaining. Each goal was No. 12 on the season for the pair.

"They can't mark us all," Husser said. "They can mark Jordyn but then Grace or Rachel get you."

After scoring seven goals in the regular season, Pine has five goals in the first two sectionals.

"I just want to go out with a bang, we wanted to keep stacking up the goals," Pine said. "We didn't want to end the intensity."