By Ted Waddell
LIBERTY — October 30, 2007 — Due to what Liberty Coach Ashlea Prouty called “horrific field conditions” Saturday’s Section IX Class B opening round soccer match between the Ellenville Lady Blue Devils and the Liberty Lady Indians was postponed.
“There was a river 10 feet wide going down the middle of the field,” Prouty said.
However, the match was played on Sunday afternoon at Liberty Central School. In the wake of a team of volunteers pushing the water away with brooms, and constructing a trench in back of the downstream goal, the field was deemed playable, even though one goal was a mudpit.
“The field conditions really affected the game play,” Prouty said.
The game’s only goal was recorded at 26:56 of the first half as Liberty junior Rebecca Scherer fired a shot into the net past Ellenville’s goalie off an assist from Lupe Perez.
With the 1-0 win, eighth-seeded Liberty (13-6) advanced to face top-seeded Red Hook in the semifinals. That match was scheduled to be played yesterday afternoon in Red Hook.
The ninth-seeded Lady Blue Devils, who are guided by Coach Nicole Krom, finished their season with an 8-7-1 record.
“In the second half, they [Ellenville] were very, very aggressive, and [our goalie] Taylir Lorino had some impressive saves,” Prouty said. “It was an exciting game between two evenly matched teams, and it was well played by both teams.”
Liberty’s Lorino had six saves, while Ellenville goalie Kathleen Dimilia made three saves.