By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — With little more than two minutes remaining in the first half of Friday’s Section V Class B1 Girls’ Soccer matchup, Kuditra Derosa fell in heap after a collision inside the opposing six-yard box.
Nearly 19 minutes of game time later, the Greece Olympia senior finished off the eventual winning goal as the second-seeded Spartans went on to beat No. 7 Geneva, 2-0.
Derosa took a pass from teammate Sarah Tawaf and connected inside the 18-yard box.
“I was standing on the top of the 18 and was just looking around,” Derosa said. “I saw a bunch of space basically right in front of the goal. I called for it, and she gave me a through ball. I placed it luckily.”
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The goal couldn’t have come soon enough for Derosa who tallied five times in a 5-2 win when the two teams met in early September.
Morgan Welch gets an unfriendly carom. pic.twitter.com/sPrpjH6lAl
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 23, 2021
“It was super-relieving to get that in,” Derosa said of her team-high 31st goal of the season. “That gave us momentum and that’s probably what won us that game.
“The touch was off in the beginning. We played this team before but we really didn’t know what to expect because we played them early in the season.”
Derosa fed teammate Kayla Mattice for an insurance goal with 10:28 remaining in the game.
With the win, Olympia advances to play No. 3 Hornell. The two teams have split head-to-head matchups in the sectionals the past two seasons.
Kayla Mattice runs on to a Kuditra Derosa lead and finds back of the net. 10:28 remaining @Oly_Athletics 2-0. pic.twitter.com/0pJpHtqY84
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 23, 2021
Elizabeth Faulkner made five saves for the shutout.
Big stop from Elizabeth Faulkner. pic.twitter.com/7H3ec8OC3V
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 23, 2021
Friday’s match represented the last on the home pitch for Derosa – a fifth-year player with the Spartans.
“It’s crazy. I’ve been playing for this team since eighth grade. Started off with some not so good grass that football would tear up all the time. Now that we have this nice facility it’s going to be hard to leave it. I’m surprised I’m not crying right now. It hasn’t hit me yet.”
Olympia will face Hornell on Tuesday. The time and location are to be announced.
Kaitlyn Wright has been creating opportunities all match long for @lady_varsity pic.twitter.com/Xuf5yGQ9hK
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 23, 2021
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