Currently Browsing: HS Game Reports
‘Dice Rolled
Photo Credit: Erik Rauterkus
.
Written by Erik Rauterkus
Strong Defensive Effort, Offensive Outburst Propels Champs
As defending city soccer champions, the Schenley girls took to the rainy Cupples Stadium field with a vengeance and used revenge as its theme. Earlier this season the Allderdice girls soccer teams beat the defending city champion Spartans but the second game of the season would come with a different ending.
Schenley’s Spartans girls defeated Allderdice 3-0 on Wednesday night thanks largely to a scoring burst near the end of the first half. The field was wet, the day was cold, and the ball was hard to control but Schenley consistently pushed into Dice territory and threatened goals from the beginning. The closest chance came from Jonquil Shaller with a break away which was repelled by Dice’s goalie. Where the Spartan offense was concerned, every time the ball was pushed down the field, the entire team came to help and lay on the pressure. And every time Allderdice would get a burst of offense the Schenley girls would all be there to thwart the attempt.
Schenley outplayed dice in all aspects and with 13:42 left, a corner taken by Leeza Tokarski was placed in the middle of the box and put in by Samantha Gregory. The emotion lit up the Schenley side and they quickly doubled their lead with a scramble that Leeza Tokarski capitalized on making the lead 2-0 with 11:40 left in the first half.
It was only about 8 minutes later when a cross pass accounted for the third unanswered goal for the Schenley Spartans, this time coming from Natalie Sorce.
Schenley had domintated the first half but the Allderdice girls did have their moments. The next forty minutes was full of Dice’s all out pressure that created many chances, one that ricocheted off the top cross bar. The Spartans defense stood up to the challenge and kept Dice scoreless, however, Allderdice held the Spartans to no points in the second half as well. Coach Shevitz said, “We have a strong defense with great communication.” This was shown in the game when on every play, Schenley’s players directed each other as to who to pick up.
When asked about preparing for contending against top WIPIAL and PIAA teams, Coach Shevitz said they take one game at a time. He acknowledged that the team will start preparing to play more than just city teams, that have a weak history of competing with top PIAA teams. Coach Shevitz did say that’ “the city has good talent,” with lots of improving play.
Corner kicks had a big role in this game both offensively and defensively. “We practice them [corners] a lot,” said coach Shevitz, “and they change the flow of the game.” This was a very true statement with Leeza getting a couple corner opportunities early, setting the Schenley theme of the game in ball and clock control and eventually capitalizing with a Tokarski corner that set up a goal by Samantha Gregory.
With great play and communication from the Schenley Spartans defense and strong resilient attacks by the Spartans offense the game created a shut out that put back a lot of confidence heading into the latter half of the season.
Email This Post
Print This Post
