DRYDEN, N.Y. — Lindsay Lenhard connected on an equalizer in the 71st minute, but the Spencerport girls’ soccer team did not convert a go-ahead tally and ultimately saw its season end against New Hartford (III) in penalty kicks (6-5) in the NYSPHSAA semifinals, Saturday at Tompkins Cortland Community College.
“I credit the girls,” Spencerport head coach Jamie Schneider said. “They’ve had such a great year. They are so tough, very good soccer players and they got better throughout the year. To get us this far was an incredible job.”
Lenhard took advantage when a free kick from teammate Sidney Khuns was mishandled inside the 18-yard box and scored her 20th goal of the season.
The goal came 17 minutes after New Hartford took a one-nil lead and was the result of Spencerport’s ability to shift the momentum in the second half.
“We thought we were playing well defensively, but offensively we were struggling a little bit to find our rhythm,” Schneider said of the opening 40 minutes. “We asked the girls to come up front in the transition. After defending we have to go forward and just go play.”
The Rangers’ pressure created more opportunities. Emma Watson struck the crossbar in the closing minutes of regulation.
Aleena Solano nearly ended the match when her left-footed strike from the right flank also rang the crossbar.
“They started going forward faster, and we found better lines and better opportunities. We had some good chances.”
Spencerport (17-1-3) was making its sixth appearance in the state semis in as many attempts.
“Any time you get back to the state championship here you have a lot to hang your hat on. It’s no fun when you lose, but when we look back we will definitely be proud of what we’ve done.”
New Hartford, the reigning state champions, improved its unbeaten streak to 58 games.
Willa Pratt scored the New Hartford goal. The Spartans (20-0-2) will play Albertus Magnus in Sunday’s championship game.
Leave a Reply