By Rob Potter
MONTICELLO — October 10, 2003 – Visiting Saugerties took a 3-0 lead in the first half of Tuesday’s OCIAA Division III girls’ soccer match versus Monticello and didn’t look back.
The Lady Sawyers added another trio of goals in the second 40 minutes of play to post a 6-0 victory over the Lady Panthers.
Sophomore Amy Toporowski scored twice for Saugerties (7-4, 3-3 Division III) in the opening half of play. Junior Kristin Waters added the other first half goal for the Lady Sawyers, who outshot the Lady Panthers by an 11-5 margin in the half.
Monticello goalie Erica Kalber made two nice saves on shots by Saugerties within the first 10 minutes of the second half. Kalber, a junior, finished the game with 16 saves.
At the 29:11 mark of the second half, however, Saugerties’ Sarah Hildenbrand beat Kalber with a low shot to the far corner of the net.
Approximately 20 minutes later, Waters scored her second goal of the afternoon. Another Saugerties player sent the ball toward the net, but Kalber could not hold onto it. Waters then kicked the ball into the net to extend the Saugerties lead to 5-0.
With just under eight minutes remaining, the Lady Sawyers scored their final goal on a corner kick. Toporowski took the kick and sent the ball into a plethora of players who were standing in the goal box. Senior Ilona Szotyori then booted the ball into the net.
In addition to scoring a pair of goals, Toporowski was credited with two assists in the game. Szotyori also assisted on two Lady Sawyer goals.
Lady Sawyer goalie Brittani Suto recorded eight saves.
Saugerties outshot Monticello by a 17-9 margin in the contest.
“We’re starting to play some good soccer,” Saugerties Coach Tom Miron said. “The girls are making diagonal passes and starting to implement some of the things we have worked on in practice.”
Miron noted that Lady Sawyers’ victory was especially nice since Monticello defeated Saugerties by a 2-1 score when the teams played last month in Saugerties. Monticello’s Christa Billias scored both Lady Panther goals in that contest.
He added that his team has some tough games coming up against fellow OCIAA Division III teams Cornwall and New Paltz.
“The girls are playing together and we’re starting to click,” Miron said.
Monticello (3-10, 1-5 Division III) has lost its last eight matches and Coach Kristi Dean and Assistant Coach Paul David are expecting their team to improve in its remaining games.
“We’re going to be more competitive in the second half of our schedule,” David said.
“We’ll be strong and competitive,” Dean added.