By Rob Potter
GRAHAMSVILLE — September 17, 2002 – Tonya Hipsman recorded a hat trick to lead Chester to victory Saturday in the championship game of the Tri-Valley Girls’ Soccer Tournament.
Teammate Katrina Cook also scored a goal for Chester, which defeated Eldred by a 4-1 final.
Cook scored her goal early in the first half and Hipsman beat Eldred goalie Allison Schombs with a low shot to the corner of the net 10 minutes into the second half to give Chester a 2-0 lead.
Eldred (1-3) responded quickly, however, as Kimberly French beat Chester goalie Kelly Luciana with a high shot to the back of the net to make it a 2-1 match.
But Hipsman gave Chester (4-0-1) a two-goal advantage moments later. She added a goal in the last minute of the game to provide the final margin of victory.
“She had an outstanding performance,” Chester Coach Brenda Winslow said of Hipsman. “And as a team, our passing on offense was good. These girls are very generous, I don’t have any selfish players.”
Eldred Coach Laura Schneider said that she has a “very young team” this season. The Lady Yellowjacket roster consists of one senior – Kelly Brodmerkel – nine juniors and seven sophomores.
“We did pretty well, we’re working together,” Schneider said. “We have some little stuff to work on.”
Schneider also noted that Schombs played well in the net.

Tri-Valley 6 • Monticello 1
In the tournament’s consolation, the host Lady Bears built a 4-0 first half lead en route to the victory.
Liz Lowe paced the T-V offense, netting a pair of goals and assisting on a goal by teammate Tiffany Paul. Jill Knox added a goal and an assist for the Lady Bears. Lee Anna Larison and Nikki Dean also scored goals for T-V and Julie Donovan had an assist.
“Things are starting to click for us now,” T-V Coach Mary Feusner said. “We have had the team together as a whole for about two weeks. People feel comfortable in their positions and know what to expect from their teammates.”
T-V (1-2-1) outshot Monticello (0-5) by an 18-9 margin in the match.
The Lady Panthers avoided the shutout when Shannon Dietrich scored a goal nearly six minutes into the second half.
Monticello Coach Kristi Dean noted that fact that she has five players out with various injuries and that the Lady Panthers were moved up to face Class A competition this season have taken a toll on the squad.
“We lost nine seniors from last year’s team,” Dean said. “We’re rebuilding. But these girls have a lot of heart and a lot of desire.”
“They have a lot of good spirit,” added Assistant Coach Renee Rutter.
Dean was pleased that her team “really stepped it up” in the second half. And Rutter noted the play of goalie Brittany Morse, who is a freshman.
“She came out of the goal to stop shots and did a great job,” Rutter said. “She worked really hard today.”
For scoring six goals in the tournament, Hipsman was named the event’s MVP. Chester’s Emily Rappa was chosen as Ms. Defense and Larison won the Ms. Sportsmanship Award.
Named to the all-tournament team by the four coaches were: Katrina Cook (Chester), Dietrich (Monticello), French (Eldred), Knox (T-V), Lowe (T-V), Nicole Peluso (Chester), Derryl Rausch (Monticello), Allison Thayer (T-V), Lauren Timan (Eldred) and Tiffany Washington (Monticello).