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Lori Brown | Democrat
Port Jervis defender Greg Rhoades, left, tries to get the ball away from Monticello’s Mentor Gashi in the first half of Monday’s game.
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Monticello, Family School end winless seasons
LMR holds back Lady Falcons
By Rob Potter
HANCOCK — Livingston Manor/Roscoe did its best to not run up the score against winless Family School in a non-league girls’ soccer game Tuesday. At halftime, already leading 8-0, Coach Shirlee Davis instructed her players to keep the ball in their half of the field and pass it to each other. In addition, several of the Devilcats switched positions in the second half.
“We played pass and keep away in the second half,” Davis said of the prevent offense. “It’s the right thing to do in that situation.
“And we had some girls move around on the field,” she added. “They gain a new respect for each other when they play a new position. We were able to get Victoria Davis out of the goal today. We wanted to do that a few times earlier in the season, but it didn’t work out.”
LMR (11-4) ended up coasting to a 14-2 victory over the Lady Falcons (0-15-1) as it heads into sectional play next week.
As expected, there was little mystery to the game from the outset. Just 3:05 into the game, senior forward Maggi Calo gave LMR a 1-0 lead by kicking the ball into the far corner of the goal net from about 15 yards away.
In the next four minutes, Calo scored two more goals to give the Devilcats a 3-0 advantage.
LMR added five more goals in the half and despite sitting back, tallied six more goals in the second half.
Calo led the Devilcats with four goals. Several teammates also contributed to the team’s offensive outburst.
Meagan Edwards and Farrah Mills each scored a pair of goals. Hunter Browne, Cortney Evans, Cassidy Lewis, Faith Mills, Jami Sedlacek and Samantha Scott all registered one goal.
Ami Calo had four assists and Scott made one assist.
Davis was the Devilcats’ goalkeeper in the first half, while teammate Mollie Browne played goalie in the second half. Davis and Browne each made four saves.
Davis praised her team for “doing a good job today.”
“We played great defense,” she commented.
The game against The Family School was the penultimate contest of the season for the Devilcats. On Wednesday, LMR defeated Eldred, 5-0, in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division V game.
Despite trailing for virtually all of Tuesday’s contest, the Lady Falcons kept competing.
They scored twice in the second half to avoid being shut out.
With about 18 minutes remaining in the game, Jaci Koch scored on a low shot to the corner of the goal cage from the top of the goal box. Seven minutes later, Koch assisted on a goal by Celise Fabio.
Family School goalie Veronica Fortunato made eight saves.
“It was a tough game, but our girls showed heart and did their best,” Family School Coach Debbi Knack said. “We played better in the second half.
“A game like this is not a win for us in the traditional win column,” Knack continued. “But with the way we kept playing and didn’t put our heads down, it feels like a win to us.”
Knack noted that it has been a difficult season for her team.
“We started the season with only four girls returning from last year’s team,” she explained. “For many of the girls on the team, it was their first time playing soccer.”
Panthers are looking ahead to next year
By Lori Brown
MONTICELLO — “We can’t go anywhere but up,” Monticello boys soccer coach John Maranzana said after the Panthers concluded a winless season with a 5-0 loss to Port Jervis in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division III game Wednesday.
“We have only one senior, Onique Taylor,” Monticello Coach John Maranzana said. “He is our sweeper and played really hard all season. It was a tough game.”
“There has been a decrease in participation, there is no JV team this year,” Maranzana continued. “We have been struggling with numbers and only started the game with 11 players. I hope more kids get involved in athletics.”
Maranzana said he is “cautiously optimistic” about next year’s outlook.
The Panthers played solid defense for the first 22 minutes against Port holding the Red Raiders scoreless. Then Mackenzie Decker netted the ball with an assist from Imad Urrutia.
With about 8:30 to go until halftime, Port Jervis (4-10, 2-3 Div. III) took a 2-0 lead with a successful corner kick. Urrutia took the kick and Gerald Gray capitalized with a goal thanks to an assist from Aldo Portillo.
Monticello goalie Austin Colon had nine saves in the first half and switched positions during the second half.
The Raiders came into the second half very aggressive and scored their third goal of the afternoon about 40 seconds into the half. Enzo Portillo assisted as Decker scored.
Monticello’s Alex Rokiki started as goalie in the 2nd half, but after the ball kicked by Decker slipped past him Anthony Lamorde took over as the keeper.
Six minutes later, Monticello’s defense prevented several shots on goal. But those Panther defenders were unable to clear the ball, resulting in Port Jervis’s Arti Gray scoring a goal.
During a five-minute span later in the half, Monticello’s Ariel Pabon had three direct kicks but couldn’t convert.
At 26:44 into the half, Port Jervis’ Gerald Gray scored with an assist from Zane Hegedus to extend the team’s advantage to a 5-0.
Despite being down by five goals, the Monticello players never gave up and hustled until the game’s conclusion.
“Gerald Gray is a new captain and had a good game,” Port Jervis Coach Eric Andrews said. “Mackenzie Decker had two goals as well as did Gerald Gray. Greg Rhoades played great, too. Zane Hegedus always plays good as our sweeper.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Andrews added. “It is always big to score early in the game.”
Port Jervis’s goalie Matt Babcock recorded four saves in the game.
Lamorde made seven saves for the Panthers.
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