IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. — After watching his team play with the wind at its back for 40 minutes and come away with nothing to show on the scoreboard, Irondequoit girls’ soccer coach Josh Foster had a simple solution for his squad.
The Eagles made sure that plan was executed, and a pair of familiar contributors delivered.
Kayla Heister and Maeve Steckley connected on second-half goals as No. 5 Irondequoit advanced to the Class A quarterfinals with a 2-0 victory over No. 12 Canandaigua, Wednesday night.
“We just had to be a little more cutthroat in that final third,” Foster said of the plan. “That’s what the talk was at halftime.
“Going into the second half, I knew there was always a chance that they’d pop one in on a counter-attack, but I was happy with the way the girls were playing.”
Steckley snapped the scoreless tie in the 50th minute. Heister padded the lead 10 minutes later.
“We were trying to jam the ball up the middle of the field,” Foster said of the first half. “That’s where they’re (Canandaigua) the strongest. They got some fast, big players in there. They’re really good defensively from an organization standpoint.
“My talk was ‘make sure we’re playing to our strengths. Make sure that we’re attacking where we’ve been successful. Let’s not try to drive right into where they got five players.’ I knew it was kind of a matter of time. Once we had the ball I had confidence.”
Both goals came on set pieces with Steckely converting a corner kick that Heister served from the right flag. Ninth-grader Rhia Hummel picked up the assist on the sequence.
50’ Maeve Steckley on the finishing end of a Kayla Heister corner kick. @WIEagles 1 @CABravesSports 0 pic.twitter.com/qwSFluUdHW
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 20, 2022
“It was kinda of a broken play,” Foster noted. “Rhia Hummel was really smart. She read where the ball was going. Attacked it in the air and knocked it back down.”
The goal was Steckley’s team-leading 17th of the season.
“She’s crazy smart,” Foster said of the senior midfielder/forward. “She’s got such a high soccer IQ. It helps that she’s ridiculously athletic. We have players around her that we work off each other really well.
Heister took advantage of a free kick from deep in the left corner. The junior lofted a ball from just a couple yards off the end line that landed in the opposite side netting.
“I can tell you that was a hundred percent purposeful,” Foster said with a smile. “It was either going in on the back post, or we were touching it in at the back post. It was really good.
“We’ve been very successful on set pieces all year. I told the girls we got to get crosses in. If it’s early crosses, deep crosses, corner kicks, I don’t care. You just got to play smart, and you got to look for opportunities to get those. In the second half, if they drove it was let’s get a cross. If you can’t, then see if you can get a corner.”
61’ GOALZO! Not a corner, Kayla Heister bends the free kick from the left corner for a 2-nil @WIEagles lead. pic.twitter.com/bwX83TvGwu
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 20, 2022
Caroline Vines made five saves for her ninth shutout of the season. Foster credited the backline of Lillian Madonia, Casey Keller, Lilliana Mendez, Bella Quintero and Lily Schoenweitz.
The win was the sixth in the past seven games for Irondequoit (12-5-0).
“The girls played well. We got some special seniors this year. We got a lot of young players that step up. They own it out there. It’s great. It’s a lot of fun.”
Irondequoit will face No. 4 Churchville-Chili (10-5-1) in Saturday’s quarterfinals. A 1 p.m. kickoff is scheduled.
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