By Rob Potter
ROSCOE — October 22, 2004 – A strong second half performance carried the Roscoe Lady Blue Devils to victory over the visiting Livingston Manor Lady Wildcats in Wednesday’s Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division VI girls’ soccer match.
Roscoe (5-10, 4-5 OCIAA) scored both of its goals in the second half to earn a 2-1 victory.
With 36:21 remaining in the second half, Roscoe’s Kate Papa kicked the ball high and into the corner of the Manor goal cage. Stefani Brock assisted on the game-tying tally.
Almost exactly 10 minutes later, with 26:22 showing on the scoreboard clock, Lady Blue Devil Lisa Papa gained control of the ball in the Lady Wildcat goal box. She quickly passed the ball to Kendra Harris, who sent a low shot towards the corner of the net. Manor goalie Bianca Colton dove to try and block the shot, but the ball rolled behind her and into the back of the net to give Roscoe a 2-1 lead.
Harris almost had her second goal of the game two minutes later. However, the ball sailed just wide of the goal cage.
Manor (4-9, 3-6 OCIAA) could not get any shots past Lady Blue Devil goalie Kasse Brock in the final 20-plus minutes.
Brock finished the contest with 14 saves, while Colton recorded 12 saves.
Manor’s Valentina Babich scored just over three minutes into the match on an assist from Ashley Taggart to give the Lady Wildcats their 1-0 lead.
An indication of how even the match was is the fact that Manor recorded 25 shots on goal and Roscoe had 23 shots. In terms of corner kicks, Manor had seven to Roscoe’s five.
“We came out very flat in the first half,” Roscoe Coach Cliff Anderson said. “So they got a halftime pep talk.”
That halftime encouragement worked, as the Lady Blue Devils played more aggressively in the second half and got to more loose balls.
The team was able to do that and win the game despite having only 11 players – in other words, no substitutes.
“I think they were starting to get run down at the end of the first half,” Anderson said. “But they reached down and found something. They had an inner drive in that second half because they really want to make sectionals.
“I’m happy they were able to come from behind and get a win,” Anderson continued. “They should be very proud of themselves.”
A win this afternoon against Eldred in an OCIAA Division VI game would help the Lady Blue Devils move closer to gaining a spot in the upcoming sectional tournament.
While Roscoe played Wednesday’s match without any substitutes, Manor only had three extra players on the sidelines.
“We’re missing two starters with injuries and we have three [players] in all out because of injuries,” Manor Coach Shirlee Davis said. “We had three subs today, but it’s almost the end of the season and these girls are tired.”
Manor has two matches left in the regular season. The Lady Wildcats play at S.S. Seward today and host Tri-Valley next Wednesday in their homecoming match.
“Hopefully, we can win one of those two games,” Davis said.