By Ted Waddell
ROSCOE — September 6, 2002 – A lot of folks thought they were seeing double during Wednesday afternoon’s non-league girls varsity soccer match as the home team Lady Blue Devils of Roscoe (0-1) faced the Lady Blue Devils of Margaretville (3-0).
In the end, experience and endurance won out, as the visitors walked off the field of play with a 4-0 victory over a younger Roscoe team bedeviled by early season injuries and problems with eligibility.
Margaretville, a Section IV team from Delaware County, scored three goals in the first half. Claire Cella at 29:46 (unassisted), Diane Edlinger at 11:41 assisted by Cella off a corner kick and at 9:45 by Cella with an assist by Bobby Jean McCann.
The visitors added their final entry in the scoring column in the second half when Jenna Bernhardt put one into the net at 30:17.
Stats: shots on goal (Roscoe 4, Margaretville 19); saves (Roscoe 6, Margaretville 4); and corner kicks (Roscoe 2, Margaretville 9).
The Roscoe goalie of the afternoon was Heather Wood; for Margaretville, it was Heather Russell.
After Roscoe sidelined two defenders with minor injuries, the home team compensated by moving the mid-fielders and a striker back, thus limiting their offensive strike.
It was the third match of the season for the Lady Blue Devils of Margaretville. They were 2-0 at the recent Edmeston Tournament.
Dan Cohen has been coaching Margaretville Central School girls’ soccer squads for 20 years.
“Heather Russell did a fantastic job as keeper,” he said. “She was an all-star goalie last year.”
According to Cohen, his squad lost several leadership players to graduation last year, but the young team is “beginning to jell early, which is nice to see.”
“As long as they can keep focused on soccer and their next opponent and don’t look too far ahead, I think we’ll be very competitive,” added Cohen.
“I thought Roscoe was very aggressive,” he said. “They went for the ball . . . (but) the skill level isn’t quite there yet.”
This is Cliff Anderson’s first year at the helm of the Roscoe Lady Blue Devils. He served as assistant girls’ varsity soccer coach for seven years under former head coach Mary Austin.
The team from Roscoe recently took to the soccer field in a scrimmage with Ellenville, Monticello and Middletown.
“I thought the girls did very well against the (Class) A and B teams,” said Anderson.
In Wednesday’s game, Roscoe had three players out with injuries and “not enough girls eligible to play,” said Anderson. “We were just eleven.”
Roscoe has five returning seniors: Diana Failla, Amber Gray, Rosie Miesner, Chrissy Rosencranse and Danielle Sullivan. The team captains for the season are Gray, Miesner and Rosencranse.
Anderson said he’s looking to returning strikers Failla and Kourtni Guzzo to take the lead in putting the ball into the net.
“We have a lot of girls who are just learning,” he stated. “It takes time . . . you can’t build a team in a year.”
Asked to dust off his soccer season crystal ball, Anderson said he’s predicting a 50/50 year.
“We’re hoping to make the sectionals,” he said.