CLIFTON PARK – For the third straight year, Greene is returning to the Class A field hockey state semifinals. The defending state champions scored two goals 85 seconds apart, and ousted Section II champion Shenendehowa, 2-1 Saturday night on the Plainsmen’s home field.

Next up is a Friday date in the semifinals against Section I’s Mamaroneck at 7:30 p.m. on the turf at Cicero-North Syracuse High School. Greene beat Mamaroneck, 1-0, a year ago for the state championship.

“I would think, unfortunately, (Mamaroneck) would want some redemption,” said Greene head coach Sue Carlin.

The Trojans did not allow a single goal during last year’s state playoff run, and it graduated tri-captains Erin Smith, Christine Conroe, and Anna Crumb along with other key senior players. This year’s Greene unit sports just three senior starters, two of which are on the defensive end. “Someone at the end of last year asked me, after losing that great group, if they thought we would be back in the same situation – making the final four,” Carlin said. “Maybe I wouldn’t have been quick to say we would, but having worked with them and seeing their determination and work ethic, they just have high expectations for themselves. To see that from such a young group, they expect to perform at a high level, and that is a credit to them.”