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11-09-2006 By ERIC AHLQVIST Editor The victory gave the Lady Redskins a share of the Section Three Class C crown, and sends them to the state quarterfinals on Saturday, where they will meet Candor for the second straight season. Saturday’s game will begin at 1:30 p.m. in Chittenango. Cooperstown defeated Candor, 1-0, in last year’s game. On Saturday, Cooperstown and M-PH played the last of 10 games at Cortland State, and it was probably the best. CCS junior Anna Kieler, the team’s leading scorer, gave the Lady Redskins a 1-0 lead midway through the first half. But they did not score again over the next 90 minutes of regulation and overtime. Manlius’s Makeda McGowan tied the score at 1-1 three minutes into the second half, and the teams remained tied through two mandatory 10 minute overtime periods, and two five minutes sudden death overtime periods. In last year’s final against Cortland, then freshman Laura Rowley scored in the second five minute overtime period to give CCS the victory. ``We had some good opportunities, but we just couldn’t put it in the net,’’ said CCS head coach Jennifer Pindar. With junior sweeper Kyle Mackie lost to injury early in the second half with an ankle injury, Cooperstown junior goalie Jen Wehner had a career-high 24 saves in the game to help force the game to penalty kicks. Wehner’s best save probably came in the second sudden death overtime, when she dove and deflected a shot from McGowan just outside the post. Pindar said Mackie, who sprained an ankle and has ligament damage, will not play on Saturday. ``We’ll move Lindsay Valentine to sweeper and Abby Hull will probably start at a center-midfield position,’’ Pindar said. ``We’ve been dealing with injuries and making adjustments all season, the girls are used to it and I don’t think it will be a problem.’’ In the shootout Saturday night, Kieler went first for Cooperstown in the penalty kicks and scored, and fellow senior Lindsay Soraci scored on CCS’s second attempt. Rowley went third and also scored, and M-PH missed their kick, giving Cooperstown a 3-2 lead. After M-PH missed, junior Potrikus made her shot, making Cooperstown a perfect 4-4 in the penalty kicks and ending the game. The shot gave Potrikus some redemption as well, as she had missed a penalty kick attempt in the semifinals against Beaver River. ``We also won in penalty kicks in the semifinal game against Beaver River so I think we were confident we could do it and probably a little more relaxed than M-PH,’’ Pindar said. On Saturday, Cooperstown will meet a Candor team that will have revenge on its mind after losing the Lady Redskins last season. Candor defeated Sidney, 3-0, in the Section Four Class C final Saturday. Candor is 18-2 and did not lose any starters from last year’s team, said head coach Kurt Bastian. ``We have two girls (Stacy Brace and Kristen Cleveland) who have combined for 50 goals and our motivation has been to get back to where we were last year and improve on that,’’ Bastian said. ``I don’t think we want on revenge on Cooperstown as much as we want to get to the next step. We’ve only played one game on turf this year, so how quickly we adapt to that surface will probably be the key to the game for us.’’ Candor’s only two losses came to Class A Maine-Endwell and Class B Elmira-Notre Dame. Cooperstown entered last year’s state quarterfinal undefeated, but will enter Saturday’s game with a 14-4-4 mark this year. ``One of our long range goals was to win sectionals again, but we always talk about one game at a time,’’ Pindar said. ``It’s a little harder being the defending champion because everyone wants to beat you, but these girls really rose to the challenge in sectionals.’’ Now they’re three games away from a state title. Note: Junior Anna Kieler and senior defender Rachael Kuch were named to the Section Three Class C All Star team on Saturday. |
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