By Rob Potter
MIDDLETOWN — On Saturday morning, for the third time this autumn, the Eldred Lady Yellowjackets and Livingston Manor Lady Wildcats met on the soccer pitch.
And for the third time, the Lady Wildcats prevailed.
With its 3-1 victory at Faller Field at Middletown High School, top-seeded Manor earned the Section IX Class D championship.
Manor (11-4-1), which won the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA)
Division VI title with a perfect 8-0 mark, will have some time off before its next match. The Lady Wildcats will face the Section XI champion, Smithtown Christian, at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at Faller Field in a state tournament opening round match.
Manor junior striker Marissa Diescher scored the first goal of the morning less than six minutes into the match. The ball bounced off one of the Lady Yellowjackets and Diescher was able to kick the ball into the net.
No. 2 seed Eldred (10-8) evened the game at 1-1 with 17:39 to go in the opening half on a goal by Heather Ouellette.
But Diescher scored the go-ahead goal with 3:26 remaining until halftime. Sophomore Maggi Calo assisted Diescher on the tally.
Diescher added an insurance goal at 37:17 of the second half.
“Our goal was to limit their corner kicks and score in the first 10 minutes of the match and we did that,” Manor Coach Shirlee Davis said.
Davis credited her players with passing the ball well and playing good defense.
“We were able to get to the ball and played well in the middle of the field,” she said.
With eight more days until the match with Smithtown Christian, Davis plans to have her team very prepared.
“We still have some work to do,” she said of her team, which outshot Eldred by a 20-6 margin.
Eldred sophomore goalie Diana Schombs made 17 saves, while Manor senior keeper Angela Trotti had four saves.
Diescher’s three goals boosted her season total to 34. But she was quick to credit her teammates.
“They made some good chip passes,” she said.
Diescher also noted that team defense is very important for the Lady Wildcats.
“We always want to play good defense in the first 10 minutes and last 10 minutes of each half,” she said.
Although Eldred Coach Kelly Robertson and her players were understandably hoping that they would be the team which brought the Section IX Class D championship plaque back home to Sullivan County, she spoke about the positives for her team.
“Every girl on this team went out on the field and played hard today,” Robertson said. “I am proud of them. They all gave 100 percent out there.
“At the beginning of the season, our goal was to reach this game and we did it,” she added.
The Lady Yellowjackets will be losing nine seniors to graduation next June: Lauren Alves, Jenn Brunning, Shannon Hanson, Jill Harris, Lauren Hazen, Rachel Hofaker, Dorise Kinred, Kaitlin Terry and Christina Watts.