Girls’ soccer

Lady Panthers get it going in the rain

Hat trick by Niforatos propels win over Indians

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LIBERTY, NY — Despite a steady downpour on October 7, the girls of Liberty and Monticello never gave way. Drenched and chilly, they fought a pitched battle that featured superb back and midfield play. Both teams battled to keep the pressure on each other for the first 23 minutes of the game.

Monticello captain Kristen Vanhage sent many Liberty shots far back over the midfield line from her fullback position, while Liberty used deft passing and nice runs to work the ball upfield towards the Monticello end. At 17:01, Liberty’s freshman phenomenon Rebecca Scherer got the game’s first goal, picking up a ball from Caitlin Baker and driving it past keeper Jackalyn Litwak.

Monticello kept its poise. With its strong backfield deployed to keep the ball away from Litwak, the midfielders worked the ball up to the strike force, centered around junior Darian Niforatos.

Just two minutes after Scherer’s goal, Niforatos tied the game on an unassisted blast past Liberty keeper Maggie Sauchuk. The Lady Panthers kept the heat on Sauchuk as Monticello forward Te’neshia Washington sent a blast her way that was turned aside. Her twin, Ty’nessa, fired one on goal as well, but the score hung at 1-1 until Alex Gonzalez drilled one in to give the Lady Panthers a 2-1 lead with four minutes remaining in the first half. The score remained that way, while the two drenched teams hovered near their coaches in the downpour at halftime.

Niforatos gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead with an unassisted goal early in the second half. Liberty’s Scherer answered back to make it 3-2 a few minutes later. Monticello’s Gonzalez made it 4-2 with a penalty kick that sailed by Sauchuk at 14:31. As the game wound down, Niforatos pulled off the hat trick at 3:00 to go. Liberty was unable to clear a ball that the Panthers worked back and forth in front of the net before Niforatos drilled in her third goal of the day.

Litwak recorded seven saves for Monticello, which improved its record to 3-6. Sauchuk turned aside 11 shots for Liberty, which fell to 2-8.

“Early on this season, we got beaten up a few times,” Lady Panther coach Paul Daivid noted, “but now in the second half of the season, we’re limiting other teams to far fewer goals. This is exactly where I wanted this team to be at this time.”

Monticello has seven seniors on its team, while Liberty has only two. Still, both teams feature many exciting younger players who, as they improve, are bound to make their teams even better.