Soccer showdowns

Manor wins first sectional title; Tri-Valley girls and Fallsburg boys seasons end following great quarterfinal victories

By RICHARD A. ROSS

MILTON, NY - Livingston Manor and Chapel Field split their regular-season series with the Lady Lions coming out on top in their final fray, but it was the Lady Wildcats who tamed the Lady Lions in the game that mattered the most.

And with only two teams in the Class D Sectionals this year because Seward is on a one-year hiatus in Class C, the game afforded the winner a title in the rare window of opportunity. Manor had lost to Chapel Field at the dome two years ago, and it was a key agenda item from opening day to get back and finally win.

Livingston Manor got two goals from leading scorer Marissa Diescher. Melissa Lair, Valentina Babich and Christina Babich added a goal apiece for Manor (11-8), which led 3-0 at halftime.

Manor was slated to face Smithtown Christian at the Hudson Valley Sports Dome on November 6 in the first round of regional play.

Tri-Valley succumbs to S.S. Seward

FLORIDA, NY — The emotional roller coaster of Tri-Valley’s sectional run ascended to a dizzying height with an emotional 2-1 quarterfinal win over Tuxedo on October 29 with a pair of goals by freshman Jakki Pugh. The game ended a streak of seven sectional losses to the Lady Tornadoes that dated back to 1996.

Unfortunately, heavy rains had postponed the game from its scheduled October 27 date, thereby forcing a spent Tri-Valley team to play S.S. Seward on the road on back-to-back days.

Having tied the Lady Spartans twice in the regular season, a team that only lost to Class B John S. Burke, Tri-Valley hoped to pull off a stunning win. But a first-half goal by Seward’s Mallory Matuseski gave Seward the eventual game winner.

A breakaway by Casey Offringa fed a dashing Pugh, who got a shot to rebound off Seward keeper Alina Greiser, but no Lady Bear was there to send the rebound home. Tri-Valley ended its fine season at 10-6-2.

GOSHEN, NY — Following an emotional semi-final 4-3 win over rival Liberty, a team that had bested them twice in the regular season, the Fallsburg Comets were stoked for another crack at Burke, a team they had played tough. Scoring three of Fallsburg’s four goals in the Liberty match was striker Erick Santos. In the game against Burke, he would provide the game-tying goal, after Fallsburg fell behind early as a ball took what coach Darren Kenney referred to a “superball bounce” that caught keeper Jessi Maldonado betwixt and between. Santos evened the game about 25 minutes into the first half and the teams deadlocked and went into overtime. Burke’s Raoul Sanchez broke the tie and ended Fallsburg’s run. The Comets ended its fine season at 9-8-1.