By PAUL GOTHAM
CALEDONIA, N.Y. — Chad Schalk preaches patience and self-awareness to his Caledonia-Mumford girls’ soccer team.
On a roster of 19 players, Schalk’s squad has just four seniors and five juniors.
And Saturday afternoon’s effort gave Schalk a reason to be optimistic.
Bre Bishop and Taylor Mills collected two goals apiece as the Raiders snapped a four-game losing streak.
“I was really proud of them today,” Schalk said after the Raiders’ 5-1 win over Perry High School. “Our youth has shown a little bit here and there during the season. We’ve been very up and down. We’ve been looking for that type of performance that we had today for a while now.”
Taylor Mills gives @cal_mum an early 1-nil lead. pic.twitter.com/usZB1iB7Wd
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 9, 2021
Mills tucked a shot under the crossbar from 25 yards out to give Cal-Mum the lead less than four minutes into the contest. Bishop finished off a breakaway to double the advantage midway through the first stanza. Finally, Mills converted on a corner kick opportunity for a 3-nil lead heading into halftime.
Taylor Mills converts on a corner kick opportunity for her second goal of the afternoon. @cal_mum 3-0 pic.twitter.com/xts6PDfjpz
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 9, 2021
With Saturday’s victory, Cal-Mum improved to 5 wins, 8 losses and 1 tie.
“We’re in every game,” Schalk noted. “We’ve been trying to find ways to pull it out. We just haven’t been able to do that yet.”
Playing in the Livingston County has contributed to Cal-Mum’s struggles. The combined record of their past four opponents is 28-14-12.
“When you play in Livingston County, every game you play is a challenge. You’re playing York twice, Keshequa twice, Geneseo, Avon and Le Roy.”
Both York (8-1-3) and Geneseo (12-2-0) are ranked in the state. Keshequa is 8-3-3. Avon and Le Roy have winning records.
“We are more worried about what we do,” Schalk explained. “When we do that, good things usually happen. If we’re more focused on us and how we need to play regardless of who’s on the other side, more often than not good things will happen.”
Bishop’s second-half goal added to the encouraging effort. The eight-grade forward ran on to a through-ball from Mills and finished near post for a 4-1 lead.
“We’ve struggled with the through-ball,” Schalk stated. “We’ve been working on it in practice a lot. A little bit more possession. A little bit more finding feet. As a young team, you tend to panic a little bit and start playing the long ball as opposed to settling it and taking a look up.
“We’ve been doing a lot of things in practice to help with that. They were finally getting it today, some really good through-balls that allowed people some great opportunities to score.”
Taylor Mills threads a pass through the Perry backline, and eighth-grader Bre Bishop goes near post for a 4-1 @cal_mum lead. pic.twitter.com/bnRU5lO8Ex
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 9, 2021
Bishop leads Cal-Mum with nine goals on the season. She set up sophomore Holly McGinnis for Cal-Mum’s fifth goal of the game.
“She’s a catalyst for us. When she’s on the field, she makes a lot of things happen. She’s got a lot of energy. Her touch on the ball is outstanding. She’s been what we needed the past few years: a pure goal scorer. Someone up top who can really just take control. She’s been a spark plug that we needed.”
McGinnis was one of three sophomores in the starting lineup for Cal-Mum. Ava Amorese, one of two ninth-graders along with Hazell Nickerson among the starters, assisted on the second goal from Mills.
Cal-Mum keeper Avery DeMarco, a junior, made four saves.
Jessica Marusarz scored the lone Perry goal with an assist from McKenna Kelly.
Aurora Berry stopped 18 shots for Perry.
Cal-Mum honored seniors Kat Beachel, Mills, Lizzy Pies and Molly Ryan prior to the game.
Leave a Reply