Girls' soccer

Wildcats show mighty effort against Chester

LIVINGSTON MANOR, NY — The way she sees it, Livingston Manor coach Shirlee Davis views playing up a Class against ‘C’ teams like Chester and Tri-Valley as exactly the kind of preparation her team needs as it approaches its anticipated Class D sectional run.

After tying Tri-Valley 0-0 on September 29, and a day before the rematch with the Bears, the Lady Wildcats went to work against one of Orange County’s better Class C teams, the Chester Lady Hambletonians.

Coming into the game at 6-3, Chester had fared well, despite losing to S.S. Seward, the state’s fifth ranked Class C team. Chester demonstrated excellent passing skills and fine defense but had trouble finishing. They did get one goal at 7:47 of the first half when Amanda Benitez controlled the ball on the attack and drove an unassisted goal by Wildcat goalie Katie Portz.

Chester had other chances, but despite the intense urging of their coach, Kevin MacEntee, they squandered them by hurrying shots, instead of taking that extra dribble to get the ball to the foot of a striker heading for the net. Chester also failed to work the ball to the outside and often tried to use the middle of the field where they were met by a staunch Wildcat defense. Another impeding force in their offense came when the Lady Hamletonians were whistled for numerous handballs.

“We’re going to set a record for handballs here,” snarled Mac Entee.

But the second half was an entirely different venture.

Spreading her offense attack four wide across the midfield, Davis was able to do two things: neutralize Chester’s flow and force the Lady Hambletonians to expend more energy on defense. It also gave Livingston Manor opportunities to break into Chester’s end with several players on the attack.

With Bionca Colton, who replaced Portz early on, in goal, the Wildcats got some awesome saves. Early in the second half, Colton came out on a sliding Benitez and smothered a shot that looked destined for the net. But a short while later at 3:32, Chester’s Jessica Lakis fired a direct kick over Colton’s head for Chester’s second goal. The time was 3:23.

Manor upped its intensity and looked impressive. The effort paid off at 15:03, as Tiffany Parker picked up a nice crossing ball from Jackie Trotti and beat keeper Amanda McCarthy to get the Cats within one.

Colton drew cheers from the Manor crowd with another fine save.

At the other end, Parker controlled the ball and dribbled up the left side of the field but couldn’t convert. Tina Babich worked extremely hard and had the ball within striking distance on the right side of the field more than once. Manor had finally discovered Chester’s Achille’s heels in the play of its fullbacks, but it was too late to get that game tying score.

Manor’s overall record slipped to 3-4, but it still holds a 3-1-league record. Chester improved to 7-3. Colton turned away 20 shots, while McCarthy stopped six.

“We’re in good shape for sectionals,” said Davis. “We played good defense against tough Class C schools, including Tuxedo, Tri-Valley and Chester.” MacEntee was pleased with his team’s efforts but lamented the lost chances in the first half. “Our midfielders worked hard to get the advantage, but we stalled often at the 18-yard line. I’m looking forward to clinching a sectional berth early so we can prepare. Chester has its rematch with S.S. Seward on October 18 at Seward.”

For additional photos of this game visit www.riverreportersports.com and click on “Soccer” to find the article by the same title.