By Rob Potter
ELDRED — November 5, 2004 – After the Chapel Field and Eldred girls’ soccer teams played two close matches during the regular season, one would have expected Tuesday’s Section IX Class D semifinal between the teams to be a similar type of game.
The Lady Yellowjackets and Lady Lions, who both competed in the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division VI during the regular season, played once at Chapel Field and once at Eldred.
When the squads played on the Lady Yellowjackets’ home field, Eldred prevailed 6-3. But when they competed on the Lady Lions’ home field, the contest ended in a 1-1 tie.
But in Tuesday’s sectional contest, third-seeded Chapel Field (11-5-1) took an early lead and went on to record a 5-0 victory over second-seeded Eldred. With the win, the Lady Lions advanced to the Section IX Class D title match versus S.S. Seward – which was scheduled to be played yesterday at Middletown High School.
Shaina St. Germain began the scoring for Chapel Field. She sent a low shot past Eldred goalie Alli Schombs and into the back of the net 16 minutes and 37 seconds into the match. Schombs dove for the ball, but it rolled just past her.
Jessica Wiejak assisted St. Germain on the goal.
About six minutes later, St. Germain registered her second goal of the afternoon. With a crowd of players near the Lady Yellowjacket net, Schombs stopped a quick shot from one of the Lady Lions. But Schombs could not quite control the rebound and St. Germain kicked the ball into the open net. Christina Billman was credited with an assist on the goal.
Billman gave Chapel Field a 3-0 advantage when she scored with just under four minutes remaining in the first half.
St. Germain earned a hat trick by scoring her third goal of the game at the 7:18 mark of the second half. Ashlyn Morgan assisted on the goal.
With just under 12 minutes left in the contest, Billman scored the fifth and final Lady Lions’ goal.
Eldred (10-8-1) had several chances to score in the game, but could not get the ball past Chapel Field goalie Jenna Vellenga. She made 17 saves in the contest.
“The girls knew the urgency of this game,” Chapel Field Coach Daniel Spanjer said. “They realize it’s single elimination, but they were determined. They have been talking about sectionals since I came aboard.”
(Spanjer took over as the Lady Lions’ coach four weeks into the regular season.)
“Eldred is a quality team and when you come up here to play them, you have to be prepared to do a lot of running,” Spanjer added. “Our team was able to do that today.”
Eldred Coach Jolene Porter noted that the first half was the key to the contest.
“They just outplayed us in the first half,” she said of Chapel Field. “We came out flat in the first half and they took advantage of that.”
The match was the final soccer contest for nine Lady Yellowjacket seniors. Those seniors are Jessica Cherry, Ashley Cole, Kim French, Angel Garafalo, Jenna Harris, Candice Martin, Kristie Meehan, Crystal Ruiz and Schombs.
“My team didn’t quit, they kept playing hard today,” Porter said. “I’m proud of all of them.”