Girls soccer

Burke closes the door on Sullivan West

Lady Dawgs work hard but fail to break through

By RICHARD A. ROSS

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY - Sullivan West’s intensity and hunger were not lost on Burke coach Tony Cavaliere. “They came here to play today,” he said after his team’s 3-0 hard-fought victory over the Lady Bulldogs. “They have been steadily improving and this was a tough, physical game.”

Cavaliere’s assessment was right on both counts.

Games between the two schools always bristle with intense rivalry. No matter what the sport, the games never lack for emotion or excitement. This game lived up to that standard.

Both teams struggled early under a graying sky and dropping temperatures. Sullivan West got its first rush with a ball that Donna Kelly sent ahead to Melanie Kleiner. Officials set the tone by monitoring pushes and awarding direct kicks. Burke was whistled for two infractions, but Sullivan West’s kicks by Kleiner and Sarah Lander failed to create opportunities.

Burke got its first shot off about three and a half minutes in, as Tara Fogarty sent a nice cross to Brianna Valentin. Sullivan West’s Kristen Niemann held on for the save.

Sullivan West’s Jessica Corbett broke loose, but Burke’s midfielders were active in dropping back quickly on defense, alertly sending won balls ahead to the team’s cadre of hungry strikers.

Sullivan West’s Stevie VanWagenen wrested a ball from Burke, but such hard-fought skirmishes were often supplanted by Burke’s relentless pursuit. A corner kick by the Lady Eagles afforded another opportunity. That was followed by a triangulated attack with crisp passes from Valentin to Erin Doyle to Deidre Croke, who fired a shot that Niemann saved.

Sullivan West’s Sarah Lander booted the ball back and the Dawgs advanced, with Kleiner dribbling adeptly through traffic and passing ahead to Lauren Ellison.

Burke keeper Emily Stallings came far out to grab a ball, and momentarily lost it, with 18:22 to go in the first period. Unfortunately, the Dawgs couldn’t capitalize on that brief opportunity.

Burke’s Katie Grahn sent a nice ball to Fogarty, but Sullivan West’s defense proved to be feistier than Burke expected.

Kleiner fought hard and won the ball, and a tremendous throw in by Audryanna Ward had the Dawgs on the attack, but a push by a Sullivan West player reversed the polarity with a Burke direct kick.

Burke got its first goal with 27:09 gone on a shot by Holly King, with an assist from Valentin as Burke players were finding open space in the Bulldogs’ previously solid defense.

King shot the ball straight on, after picking up the cross and angling her shot into the corner beyond Niemann’s reach.

After a flurry in the box at 9:32, Burke nearly got another one in on a spicy cross from Maryfaith Rickard to Valentin. But the Dawgs seemed bound and determined to keep the game within reach.

The teams retired to halftime with Burke leading 1-0.

The second half seemed to belong to Burke from the opening kick in. Keeping the ball in the Sullivan West end for nearly 20 minutes, the Lady Eagles wore down the Sullivan West defenders, who were locked into chase mode and unable to get into any rhythm of attack.

With eight shots in the second half and seven in the first, Burke out-shot Sullivan West 15-0 by game’s end. Two more of those would find their way in before the second half expired, as Burke amped up its defense to hold balls in.

Part of the strength in the midfield was coming from the movement of Danielle Weimer, the team’s leading scorer from striker to midfield. Anticipating a coming fray with Clarkstown South, Cavaliere decided to give the athletic junior some work to bolster the Lady Eagles’ defense.

It worked against Sullivan West.

Weimer nearly had a goal that rang off the crossbar. She provided an assist on Burke’s second score sent into the net by Cappadora with 13:49 remaining by beating Stephanie Meyer, who had gone into goal midway through the second half.

Looking to get some offense going, Sullivan West coach Mike Ellmauer had replaced Niemann in goal with Meyer, who was in the net for a few seconds before she made a tremendous save on a point-blank shot by King.

Burke’s third goal came from King, who kicked a ball that hopped up over the head of Meyer and into the net with 36:49 gone by. In those waning minutes, Sullivan West sent most of its energy forward to try and get in a goal. That left Meyer alone on King, who beat her on the odd-bouncing ball.

Cavaliere was glad for the win that improved Burke’s record to 11-2-1 (6-0-1 OCIAA). The tie came against James I. O’Neill. Burke’s only losses this year have come against Class A Cornwall and Class AA Suffern.

“I wish I knew the secret to our scoring drought,” said a despondent Ellmauer. “We’re working hard, but we’re just not getting the bounce.”

Stallings had no saves for Burke, while Niemann had nine and Meyer recorded three for Sullivan West, 3-11 (2-3 OCIAA). Sullivan West can still make it to sectionals with an even record in league play. There are three league games remaining, including games against O’Neill, Liberty and Fallsburg. The Lady Dawgs need to win two of those three to make it to the postseason.