Girls' soccer

Liberty edges Eldred in hard-fought match

Teams take turns controlling the flow as Eldred shows marked improvement

By RICHARD A. ROSS

ELDRED, NY - In the second game of each of their seasons, the agenda for Liberty and Eldred was to build on their game one efforts.

Liberty looked to continue its winning ways after its 3-1 victory over The Family School. Eldred looked to bounce back from its difficult 9-0 loss to Monticello.

Playing on a hot September 7 afternoon, both teams reckoned with bouts of exhaustion that led to periods of flatness at various times. Subs were inserted with regularity to keep the flow going.

Eldred’s first-year keeper Rachel Smith stopped 15 shots in the first half and only allowed one goal in the first half by sophomore Jasmine Walizadeh at 24:57 on an assist from junior Brittany Austin. The goal was the result of a number of Liberty breakaways.

Eldred had trouble clearing the ball from the get-go, and Liberty kept up constant pressure. Michelle Fancher, Austin and Walizadeh pounded away. Walizadeh had several chances before her eventual goal, including a laser fired right into Smith’s hands. Another potential Liberty scoring attempt was missed on a beautiful crossing ball from a corner kick that found no Liberty player positioned to kick it into a virtually open goal.

Eldred’s Sam Allessandra played with boundless energy and was key in keeping a storming Liberty team from running away with the game. Eldred managed only three shots on goal in the first half, including a pair from Sara Bisland and one from Stephanie Berger.

Eldred coaches Jolene Porter and Tom Vorstadt were encouraging but firm in their halftime talk.

“You’ve got to fight for the ball,” Vorstadt urged. “Don’t give in,” he said, noting that the team’s passing was improved from game one.

Eldred took the message to heart and came out with a surge of intensity that had Liberty on its heels at the start of the second half.

Eldred starting winning balls in the middle, but every few minutes Liberty had its breakaways up the sideline.

Eldred’s Celia Oset turned aside a couple of Liberty sideline runs, and Paulina Renggli fought off the pain of shin splints to add strong defense.

After Eldred’s Meg Patterson kept the ball in the Liberty end after a goal kick, Sara Bisland struck pay dirt, crossing to the front of the net and driving in a ball she picked up from Maxine Ellert, to tie the game at one-all with 28:43 to go.

Fine play by Liberty’s Amarynth Sichel kept the Lady Indians in the mix and at 12:54, Brittany Melchick got loose and blasted an unassisted goal by Smith. This gave Liberty the eventual game-winning point. The Lady Indians tried to add an insurance goal and got a fine attempt from Georgia Siegel and one by Walizadeh that sailed over the top of the goal. The score held at 2-1.

Eldred’s last chance came as it won a ball in its own end and worked it quickly up the field as the final minute wound down. Bisland got the ball in the left corner but was unable to get the game-tying shot off as time expired.

Sara Hazelnis recorded three saves for Liberty. Smith recorded 15 for Eldred. Liberty improved its record to 2-0, while Eldred’s mark fell to 0-2.

Porter and Vorstadt were pleased with their team’s effort. “It’s coming. We took a big step forward today,” Vorstadt said.

Liberty’s coach Ashley Prouty was impressed by Eldred’s intensity and noted her team’s lapses in endurance. “We’ve run plenty during the pre-season, but not in weather like this,” she said.

Expect both teams to improve steadily as the season progresses.

Visit riverreportersports.com for additional photos from this game and Eldred’s season opener.