By Rob Potter
ROSCOE — A strong defensive performance and a hat trick by senior forward Maggi Calo propelled Livingston Manor/Roscoe Devilcats to a 3-0 win over the visiting Fallsburg Lady Comets in Wednesday afternoon’s Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division V soccer game.
With the victory, LMR improved its record to 7-4 overall and 6-4 in Div. V. Fallsburg fell to 3-7-1 overall and 1-7-1 in Div. V.
While happy with her players and getting the win, LMR coach Shirlee Davis thought the Devilcats left too many scoring opportunities slip away.
“We didn’t play poorly,” Davis said. “We just didn’t execute a lot of our shots as well as we could have.” LMR converted just 3 of 35 shots on goal.
Calo gave LMR a 1-0 lead about 10 minutes into the game. From 10 yards away, she sent a low shot into the corner of the net. Hunter Browne assisted Calo on the goal.
Despite an assault on the Fallsburg goal, LMR did not score again until late in the second half. With 6:16 remaining in the game, the ball was rolling aimlessly about 10 feet in front of the Fallsburg goal cage. Calo sprinted to the ball and kicked it into the back of the net to give the Devilcats a 2-0 advantage.
At 3:39, Calo completed her hat trick when she kicked the ball off Fallsburg goalkeeper Brooke Rappaport’s hands and into the goal. Rappaport dove to stop the ball, but couldn’t make the save before the ball crossed the goal line.
Browne was credited with an assist on the play.
While Calo and Browne led the LMR offense, everyone contributed a solid defensive effort. The Devilcats kept the ball in the Lady Comets’ half of the field for much of the game. In addition, LMR goalie Victoria Davis only had to make two saves.
“In the first half, we played defense pretty well,” Davis continued. “But we didn’t have our regular defense out there because of illness, injuries, etc.”
Davis had nothing but praise for the Lady Comets.
“Fallsburg is a different team since we played them earlier this season,” she said. “They have come a long way. They played good defense and they are improving.”
When he spoke to his players immediately after the game, Fallsburg Coach Michael Geller praised their performance.
“It certainly was their best game of the year,” Geller said. “It was their best from an organizational standpoint. They were in the proper positions to get the ball and make good passes to each other. We just have to work on offense and getting the ball upfield to take good shots.”
He noted that the Lady Comets still have time to improve in the few games remaining this season.
“If we had scored a couple more goals here and there, our season could be very different,” Geller commented. “There have been three games this season where we were leading or tied in the 70th minute, but lost the game in the final 10 minutes.
“We have a relatively young team and they are working hard to have a good season,” he added.