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11-16-2006 By ERIC AHLQVIST Editor But Milford head coach Lorin Campbell is already thinking about the 2007 season. ``I’ve got some plans in place to try and increase our team depth,’’ Campbell said. ``I didn’t like the feeling of getting there and not being able to finish.’’ Campbell said he is planning to coach an under-17 team in the Oneonta Soccer Club this summer made up of members of his team and other area girls. The Lady Wildcats will lose just one senior starter to graduation in sweeper Corrine Ketzlick. Ketzlick was a first team Tri-Valley All Star this season, and the glue of Milford’s defense. ``She will be tough to replace, but I have some plans for that as well,’’ Campbell said. Eighth grader Emily Brennan will likely move into Ketzlick’s spot next season, Campbell said. McGraw, which won a state title in 2004, trailed the state quarterfinal contest 1-0 and were thoroughly dominated in a rain-soaked first half, but a lightning strike at halftime postponed the game for 30 minutes, and the teams were given an additional 10 minutes to warm up after the delay. ``I had a feeling in the back of my mind right away that it could be bad for my team,’’ Campbell said. ``They took us into the gym and it was about 95 degrees and we just lost our focus and intensity.’’ McGraw senior and team leading scorer Jen Rutan scored less than three minutes into the second half to tie the score at 1-1. Lady Eagles head coach John Rutan made a key halftime adjustment, moving Rutan from midfield to forward, and it paid immediate dividends. ``I’ve been slow to make that move in the past, and I just decided to go for it right away,’’ he said. ``Two years ago, were were down 3-1 to Davenport in this game and we came back, and I told them at halftime that this year all we needed was one goal.’’ By the time the second half began, the rain had subsided, but a strong wind at McGraw’s back enabled them to keep the ball on Milford’s end of the field for the first 20 minutes after intermission. The Lady Eagles had at least six good scoring opportunities during that time, and it seemed like a just matter of time before they would score again. But the Lady Wildcats weathered the storm, both literally and figuratively, and as the wind died down they started getting some offensive opportunities. ``We survived,’’ Milford head coach Lorin Campbell said. ``My defense was very gritty.’’ With just over nine minutes remaining in regulation, Milford sophomore Emily Brigham put a 30-yard pass through the McGraw defense to teammate Maria Arnot. The speedy Arnot wheeled to her right and beat her defender down the right sideline leaving her one-on-one with McGraw goalkeeper Chelsea Hayes. Arnot slipped a shot past the diving Hayes, but the ball rolled just wide of the far post. Midway through the first overtime period, McGraw freshman Emily Williams took a pass from teammate Shannon O’Hara and hit a sinking shot that bounced once and skipped past diving Milford goalkeeper Chynna Pitlock on the slick artificial turf for what proved to be the winning goal. ``We’d never played at this level before, or on the artificial turf, so everything was new for us this year,’’ said Campbell, whose team won its first Section Four Class D crown this season. ``Hopefully, it’s all experience that will help us next year if we’re fortunate enough to get back here.’’ McGraw (20-0-1) advances to Friday’s state Final Four, where they will play Section Five power Arkport at Cortland State. They end the season with a 19-2-1 mark. |
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