Rangers Finish Section Five tournament unscored upon with victory over Churchville-Chili
By PETER MANCUSO
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — As soccer sectionals begin in the Greater Rochester area, you can expect to see the leaves changing colors, pumpkin spice lattes returning to your favorite coffee shop and lately – the Spencerport Girls Varsity soccer team winning another sectional title. Saturday afternoon in Canandaigua, NY at Braves Field, the Rangers did just that collecting their seventh consecutive sectional championship with a convincing 2-0 win over Churchville-Chili.
The names may have changed; graduated are the likes of Fahmer, Coykendall, Wall(s), Opladen and Wengender, but the results are much the same with new names such as Fitzgerald(s), Burns, Mesh and Solano mentoring young ones (Lenhard, Tata and Peacock) with the goal of a sectional title and beyond the same.
The success doesn’t come by accident.
“It is about the standard the previous teams have set,” remarked Jamie Schneider, Spencerport’s girls Varsity coach. “Every year to meet that standard does look a little different and there are always challenges, but the players work hard in the off season and during the season and somehow we are able to continue putting the puzzle together to repeat as sectionals champions.”
And work hard they do, both on offense and defense. Spencerport came into the game with a plus 50 goal differential, a 14-match unbeaten streak and shutouts in its last four contests. Their two nil win Saturday closed out their 2022 sectional tournament run with four straight wins, 15 goals scored and none allowed. The shutout was the team’s 12th of the season.
Spencerport scored first in the 14th minute of the first half as sophomore sensation Lindsay Lehhard notched her 18th of the year on a corner kick to the near post that Churchville-Chili goalie Emily McCane could not stop. It was Lenhard’s third first half corner for Spencerport and after serving the first two toward the top of the goalie box and not converting, she decided to go near post with her next shot.
“To be honest – I looked at the goalie and turned to the sideline official and mentioned I’m going near post on this one,” when asked about her different decision on the corner kick. A good one at that as the Rangers grabbed an early 1-0 lead.
Lenhard, in her third year on Varsity, has been Spencerport’s leading goal scorer and point producer this season and that is by design.
“Coming into my sophomore season I’ve had to step it up and take on more of an attacking role while adapting with the players and styles around me.”
Churchville-Chili quickly reset themselves and came back with their best two scoring chances of the first half just minutes later. With just over 24 minutes left in the first half Spencerport goalie Cate Burns made a fantastic diving save on a shot by the Saints, setting up a Churchville-Chili corner kick which created another good scoring opportunity for the Saints.
Over the last 20 minutes of the first half both teams put together quality scoring chances with the goalies, Burns and McCane, and their defenders providing the necessary effort to keep the game 1-0 Rangers headed into intermission.
Spencerport didn’t take long to extend its lead after halftime as freshman Liana Tata converted a header into the Saints goal off a super served ball from senior Sidney Khuns only four minutes into the second half. It was Tata’s ninth goal of the season.
“We’ve been working hard all season to get to this point and I have teammates to look up to and help with the challenge,” Tata noted when asked what it is like to be one of the younger players on the team. “I wouldn’t able to do it without my older teammates and the help they have given me during the year.”
Of Spencerport’s 62 goals this season, 36 are from 9th or 10th graders.
Despite being down two goals, Churchville-Chili did not relent and their free kick game nearly got them back into the contest. Twice within minutes during the first part of the second half the Saints fired free kicks at the Rangers goal, one just wide and another that caromed off the cross bar.
GOALZO! Lindsay Lenhard gets @Rangers_GSOC on the board first in the Class A Championship. pic.twitter.com/L7cuNtYjT9
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 29, 2022
Churchville’s chances to come back became even tougher when senior captain and leading goal scorer Amelia Breton went off the field around the 20 minute mark with an apparent lower body injury and did not return to the game.
Spencerport dodged another Saints free kick attempt in their 29th minute and then controlled much of the game over the final ten minutes, in large part to a midfield led by junior Isabella Fiorillo who was a standout throughout the match.
This is Fiorillo’s first year at Spencerport and she is a big part of the reason why the Rangers control the midfield so well.
“Depending on each game opponent, the midfield as a whole knows who we are marking and who we are on,” explained the third year varsity player. “Today we man marked to start and adjusted from there.”
Fiorillo created a number of offense chances for the Rangers and caused havoc for the Saints as well.
Less than four minutes into the second half, Liana Tata give @Rangers_GSOC a 2-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/EgN3k1m0SD
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 29, 2022
As did Spencerport defender Kendall Mesh, a junior captain in her third year on varsity.
“Marking has been something we concentrated on throughout the season … we have good team chemistry and we give it our all every practice.”
And the results (shutouts) speak for themselves. Mesh also noted, “We have definitely improved on our finishing over the year and have picked it up after the beginning of the year started a little slow … we are still going and we have unfinished business from last year.”
The unfinished business Mesh is referring to is a state title, something Spencerport won in 2016 and 2017 with Spencerport Coach Schneider at the helm along with other members of his staff who he knows have helped in the long term success of this program.
“Our assistant coaches are so important,” Schneider enthusiastically remarked, referencing Rick Mueller and Hank Wengender who have been with him for many years, and Connor Julien as well. “Not only for the X’s and O’s, but for the relationships … when things aren’t going well with the team or individuals, their importance is huge keeping things going in the right direction.”
Spencerport will face a team to be determined in NYSPHSAA regional play on Saturday, November 5 at Niagara Wheatland. The time of kick off is yet to be determined.
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