Team of the Year: Chatham Panthers
After losing a ton of talent from the previous year—namely all-everything quarterback Zach Kraham—a lot of people expected the Panthers to take a major step backward. Instead, head coach Mark Dwyer took this relatively young team to an undefeated regular season and into the Section II Class C Final Four before succumbing to eventual champ Watervliet.

Team on the Rise: Hudson Bluehawks
The Bluehawks had an up-and-down year, finishing 3-6 overall, but they came up huge when it counted the most, shocking top-seeded Schalmont in the Section II Class B playoffs. The team carries over a bit of momentum going toward next year and will return plenty of talent, including quarterback Talib Barksdale and running back Paul Gray.

BOYS’ SOCCER

MVP: Joe Van Allen and Andrew Knight (Chatham)
The two senior leaders helped lead the Panthers to a share of the league title and a trip to the sectional Final Four, and they did it in two very different ways. Van Allen played the role of the hardnosed grinder who fought tooth and nail for every one of the 28 goals he scored this year, while Knight, on the other hand, was a cerebral passer who racked up the assists while also being the most dangerous weapon in the league on corner kicks and free kicks.

Team of the Year: New Lebanon Tigers
An argument can be made for Chatham, who won a share of the Patroon Conference title and made it to the Class B Final Four, but our choice is the Tigers of New Lebanon. Always a strong team, this year’s squad was no different, going through their regular season slate with just one “blemish”: a mid-season draw. On top of the league crown, the Tigers also made a trip all the way to the Class D Final Four.

Team on the Rise: Ichabod Crane Riders
They finished in the middle of the pack in the Patroon this year, but a lot of their top players are underclassmen, and there is plenty of talent to be had at the lower levels of the program. The Riders always seem to be in the upper half, and, with both Chatham and Maple Hill losing a large share of talent, next year could be the year the Riders fight their way back to the top of the league.

GIRLS’ SOCCER

MVP: Kylie Watt (Ichabod Crane)
The MVP of girl’s soccer was an obvious choice for us here at ccSCOOP. Watt has been a dominating force in the Patroon Conference for years now, and this season was no different, since she netted 30 goals, while leading her team to the league title and a trip to the Class A Final Four.

Team of the Year: Ichabod Crane Riders
The Riders had some early bumps in the road, but they finished the season on a tear and won the games they needed to in order to secure a league title. On top of that, they gave top-seeded Burnt Hills all they could handle in a 1-0 loss in the Final Four.

Team on the Rise: Hudson Bluehawks
It may be surprising to see a team that only notched two wins this past season listed as a team on the rise, but this young Bluehawks team has the pieces in place to make some noise in the Patroon Conference in the years to come. In their final five games, they scored ten goals and won two games to show their potential. On top of that, they are slated to lose just three seniors to graduation.

FIELD HOCKEY

MVP: Rachel Preusser (Taconic Hills)
There were a number of ways to go on this choice, including Preusser’s own teammate Rachel Gellert, but in the end we chose Preusser because she seemed to come through in the clutch for her team more than any other player in the league.

Team of the Year: Taconic Hills Titans and Germantown Clippers
The Titans and Clippers each staked their claim for Team of the Year by earning a share of the three-way conference title. The reason these two teams edged out Ichabod Crane was simply that they made it further in sectionals. The fact that the three teams only lost to each other shows just how even and strong they were this year.

VOLLEYBALL

MVP: Francesca Bona (Chatham)
Bona was the best all-around player we saw this year. Her team did not have the most success of any team, but she gave them a shot in every single game and every match she played in.

Team of the Year: Taconic Hills Titans
The Titans surprised a lot of people with the season they ran off. When all was said and done, the Titans lost just three games and finished in second place in the Patroon Conference.

GOLF

MVP: Ricky Kopec (Chatham)
There may have been other golfers who put up better scores throughout the course of the season, but, in the tournament that mattered most, the Patroon Conference Medalist Tournament, Kopec came through with a great day of golf to bring home the title.

Team of the Year: Ichabod Crane Riders
The Riders may be both the Team of the Year and the Team on the Rise for golf. ICC went undefeated and captured the league crown en route to being named Team of the Year. On top of that, the Riders featured a ridiculously young team, headlined by junior Josh Ingham, which should be just as strong, if not stronger, next year.

CROSS COUNTRY

MVP: Emily Degueter (Hawthorne Valley) and Kalib Failing (ICC)
Degueter and Failing each earned Most Valuable Player honors, thanks to winning the Patroon Conference Championship race for both boys and girls.

Team of the Year: Ichabod Crane Riders
No question about it, the Riders take this honor after both their boys’ and girls’ teams captured the league titles.

FALL SPORTS MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

R.J. Walsh (New Lebanon)
Clearly we had plenty of talented players in many different sports to choose from, but in the end it was Walsh who earned the honor of ccSCOOP Fall Sports Most Valuable Player. Walsh led the New Lebanon boys’ soccer team to sole possession of the Central Hudson Valley League crown and was also named Co-MVP in that league. Walsh racked up 30 goals and nearly 40 points overall, scoring goals in seventeen of the Tigers nineteen games this year.