Soccer
Girls get moving: take out Wells, Freeport en route to playoffs
By Uwe Seeler
York girls' soccer is looking strong heading into post-season play this week. Pictured are (back, from left) Ashley Taylor, Brooke Simpson, Hanna Carey, Meredith Reid, Katie Rasche, Jessica Ehrenborg, Morgan Taylor, Stephanie Plaisted, Susan Barton, Kelsey Cruz, Emily Boone and Coach Wally Caldwell, and (front, from left) Kayla Weston, Kiah Voyer-Colbath, Natalie Kaknes, Chelsey Tewell, Haley Westman, Micheala Schilling, Emma Clark and Kim Rigano.
Photo by Uwe Seeler
YORK - The girls' soccer team finished off the regular season on a solid note, breaking down a cynical defensive performance by Wells, 4-1, and rolling over Freeport 6-0 to finish with a record of 9-4-1.
At press time, the Wildcats looked set to enter the post-season as the number four seed as they prepared to play host to Lake Region this Friday, Oct. 20, for the Girls' Soccer Western Maine Quarterfinals at 5 p.m.
YORK 4, WELLS 1
The Wildcats traveled up Route 1 to Wells to face the Warriors last Wednesday night, Oct. 11, and pounded the hosts in a result that was not reflected by the score. The lone goal by Wells came off an uncharacteristic combination of errors in the York defensive zone, and was the only real scoring opportunity of the game for the hosts. Otherwise, Wells regularly packed nine or 10 defenders in back and appeared to be playing simply to not give up goals.Left free to control the midfield and attack at will, York dominated on possession and laid in crosses and corners nearly non-stop from start to finish. The only difficulty came in penetrating the packed Wells defenders forming a human barricade in the box.
Chelsey Tewell led off the scoring for York as she broke in from the left side and slotted home low for the 1-0 lead. Wells managed to capitalize on the York miscues to get even at 1-1, a score that held until the half.
An angry York squad came out pounding the ball in the second half, and finally broke down the Warriors when Emily Boone drove in a loose ball after a corner from Emma Clark to make it 2-1. Tewell touched in a second goal on a through pass from Clark to make it 3-1, and Kelsey Cruz drilled home a low shot after a sustained buildup for the final score, 4-1 York.
YORK 6, FREEPORT 0
The Wildcats finished the regular season with a road trip to Freeport where they brought down the Falcons 6-0 on a cold, windy afternoon. York controlled from the opening whistle, and Coach Wally Caldwell was able to move players around in new combinations and provide some rest for his starters.The game also saw striker Tewell playing from the attacking midfield position, a change which Caldwell may keep in order to counter the close marking being directed at Tewell up top in the second half of the season.
Morgan Taylor opened the scoring just three minutes in when she knocked in the loose rebound after a nice cross from Tewell. Kayla Weston followed mid-way through the half on a rebound after a hard shot from Meredith Reid and the first half closed at 2-0.
Tewell made it 3-0 on a strong run in from the outside mid position after a feed from Susan Barton. Jessie Ehrenborg added one at the 18 minute mark after she drilled home the one-time shot on a beautiful cross from Kim Rigano. Clark let loose a 25-yard bomb on a free-kick for her first goal of the year to put the score at 5-0, and Taylor finished things on a nice tap-in off the corner from Tewell. Final score 6-0.
Caldwell talked later of his playoff bound team and their keys for success.
"We have to control the midfield, that next pass up for us from the midfield is critical," he said. "If we lose control there it puts all the pressure back on our defense. We need to be clean through the middle of the field in order to get our scoring chances."
Caldwell praised the surprising depth and balance of his team during the season, noting that the Wildcats had scored 48 goals from 14 different players. Caldwell sees undefeated Falmouth and Yarmouth as the teams to beat coming into the post-season. During the season the Wildcats split with Yarmouth and lost in two closely-played games to Falmouth.
