By Frank Rizzo
CALLICOON — September 12, 2000 – Ashley Frunzi, the Fallsburg goalie, had to contend with more than the omnipresent swarms of gnats on Saturday morning.
For the first half of the championship game of the Lady Eagles Soccer Tournament Frunzi was kept busy by a buzzing Sullivan West/Delaware Valley attack in Callicoon.
That the hosts won by only a 1-0 score can be attributed to some acrobatics by Frunzi in the Comet net.
Michelle Peters scored the lone tally at the 18:22 mark, one-timing a textbook pass from Carli VanWagenen into an empty net. VanWagenen had won a weak Fallsburg indirect kick and dribbled into the zone, finding Peters unmarked in front of the net.
Tara Adams had Fallsburg’s best chance to equalize, but shanked her penalty kick to the right of the SW/DV net with about 1:30 left.
Both teams started slowly and the goalies had little to do at first.
Fallsburg co-captain Tara Adams, on left wing, wound up winning more than her share of battles against the Eagle defense, but her crossing passes did not often find their targets.
Comet striker Sara Ingber also had a couple of semi-breaks, but was stymied by first-half SW/DV goalie Danielle Peters.
Minutes later midfielder Karen Terry challenged Frunzi with a blast outside the zone, the goalie managing to get a hand on it and deflect it away from the corner of the net it was heading to.
Frunzi also made a highlight-film type diving save on a dangerous Megan Moran blast, and her sliding tackle kept striker Alicia Peters from finding the net on a semi-breakaway.
Jessica Head handled the keeper chores for SW/DV in the second half, and got tested early. Ingber split two Eagle defenders, and nudged a soft left-footed shot towards the far corner, but Head got a hand on it and the ball went harmlessly over the endline.
Head then faced Adams one-on-one when Fallsburg was awarded a penalty kick late, but did not need to exert herself as the ball sailed wide of the net to her left.
Second year Fallsburg coach Lee Smassanow praised his team’s second half effort.
“The girls battled it out, battled until the end,” he commented. “They are much improved over last year. It’s a pleasure to work with such a group of tenacious youth.”
“In the first half we did a lot of good things, created a lot of opportunities,” said SW/DV coach Mike Mahoney. “But give [Fallsburg] credit. In the second half they stepped up their defensive pressure and we ran out of gas.”
No stats were available.
Both teams were playing for the second straight day. SW/DV had downed SW/Jeff-Youngsville 2-1 Friday afternoon while Fallsburg lost to Florida 9-1.
Megan Moran and Dawn Hyde scored for the Eagles against their former rivals. Aileen Semenetz tallied for SW/JY.
Jenn Orlowski scored for the Comets in the loss to Florida