Girls’ soccer

Bulldogs put up a heck of a fight

Sixty minutes of Lady Dawgs’ play challenges O’ Neill to the max

By RICHARD A. ROSS

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY — Don’t let the score of Sullivan West’s 5-1 loss to Division IV co-leader James I. O’Neill fool you. This game was a battle royale. The steadily improving Lady Bulldogs got the better of the early play in a game that was delayed substantially by O’Neill’s tardy arrival.

Winning balls, passing well and good defense got the Lady Bulldogs the early lead as Stevie VanWagenen drove in a shot past O’Neill goalie Katie Lewis with 34:41 remaining in the first half. Jessica Armstrong provided the assist.

O’Neill (4-2, 2-0 OCIAA) shares the division lead with John S. Burke Catholic and is a team with fine skills and solid defense. Lewis only needed to stop six shots on the day, while Sullivan West keeper Morgan Edwards was much busier blunting 17 shots by the Raiders.

In a post game interview, Coach Ellmauer noted that a shift in Sullivan West tactics at halftime might have led to the team’s eventual unraveling. That eventual deterioration was not in evidence for the first 20 minutes of the second half. Sarah Lander showed tremendous pursuit and great defense at her fullback position. Ellmauer frankly admits he made a big mistake early in the season by placing her up front. “She’s really good back there,” he noted.

Kate Fanning’s play in midfield was another strong point. Up the middle, the Bulldogs stymied O’Neill’s attempts to break through until the final 10 minutes when exhaustion became a factor for Sullivan West. Three quick goals were the result of that fatigue, including second strikes by Mumford and Carano and a goal by Alyssa Pagano. Assists came via Rebecca Tenuta, Liz Cannon and Mumford.

Ellmauer and assistant coach Cliff Kelly were pleased with their team’s progress. Ellmauer told his girls, “You guys were really good for more than 60 minutes until you ran out of gas.” Ellmauer said his team has a shot at sectionals, despite its record of 2-7 (0-3 OCIAA). “I can’t say enough good things about these girls,” he added.

O’Neill’s coach Kristen Stroppel noted that the Raiders regard Burke as their main competition for the division title. For the better part of the day, Sullivan West proved to O’Neill that they had better not ignore the Bulldogs.

For additional pictures of the Sullivan West-O’Neill game visit www.riverreportersports.com and click on Sullivan West to find the article by the same title.

By KOURTNI GUZZO, ROSCOE HS

ELDRED, NY — The Eldred vs. Roscoe game on September 27 featured great intensity as both teams are vying for spots in the sectionals and are Division VI rivals.

At first, Roscoe seemed somewhat listless, but after Eldred put in its first goal on a shot by Jessica Bisland, Roscoe woke up and really started to play. Stephanie Berger provided the assist on that goal The Lady Blue Devils kept up their defensive efforts and at half time the score was still 1-0 in favor of the Lady Yellowjackets.

In the second half, Roscoe scored a goal by Kendra Harris, with an assist from Stacey Duffy.

Both teams played great defense for the remainder of regulation play, but Eldred seemed to dominate play by getting far more shots on goal than Roscoe did. At the end of the second half, the score was tied at 1-1.

In overtime, both teams played hard but Eldred ended up with their second goal as a shot by Sasha Brush went in at approximately five minutes into the overtime.

Pauline Renggli recorded 10 saves for Roscoe. Kassie Brock stopped 20 shots for Roscoe.

Roscoe’s record fell to 2-6-1 (1-2 OCIAA) while Eldred improved to 3-4 (2-2 OCIAA).