By PAUL GOTHAM
Entering the 2022 fall season, Spencerport girls’ soccer faced the challenge of having to replace more than 70 percent of its offense.
Lily Brongo (10 goals and 27 assists), Bre DeHond (27 goals, 14 assists) and Alyssa Hackett (15 goals, 8 assists) graduated from a 2021 Rangers’ squad that scored 80 goals and advanced to the New York State Class A semifinals.
The next season, with sophomore Lindsay Lenhard shouldering the scoring load, Spencerport again advanced to the state semifinals. Lenhard had 20 goals and 14 assists for a team that found the back of the net on 65 occasions.
This weekend, Spencerport will make its seventh trip in as many tries to the state semis. Lenhard, who was working her way into the lead role on offense a year ago, is now the focus of the Rangers’ offense.
“She gives us our rhythm up top,” said Spencerport head coach Jamie Schneider. “How we’re going to solve an opponent, create chances and score on those chances.”
Lenhard leads an offense that has produced nearly 50 percent more goals than a year ago. Of the Rangers 97 tallies this season, the junior midfielder has scored or assisted on 50 of those. She tops the lists of performers among Section V large schools in goals (27), assists (23) and points (77).
“Lindsay is a good goal scorer, but she’s also a good playmaker,” Schneider said. “She has a good pulse for the game.”
It’s hard to imagine given those numbers, but the VCU commit has been even better during the postseason. In four sectional games combined with one regional contest, she has accounted for 10 goals and seven assists.
Lenhard set up teammate Emily Peacock’s goal in a 1-0 win over Victor in the quarterfinals and had another assist in the Rangers’ 3-nil victory over Pittsford Mendon in the semifinals.
She saved her best for the championship game with two goals and an assist in a 3-0 win over over Webster Schroeder. The Warriors finished the season with a record of 17-3-0. All three of those losses came to Spencerport. Lenhard had a a combined three goals and four assists as the Rangers outscored Schroeder in those head-to-head meetings, 9-0.
“Lindsay Lenhard is one of the most dynamic players in Section V,” said Schroeder head coach Kent Brown whose squad allowed 15 goals combined in its other 17 games. “She has a skill set to her game that is difficult to defend. Her pace and vision allow the players around her to thrive and score goals off her passes.”
Lenhard’s second goal in the Class AA final provided insurance for the Rangers. With a 2-0 lead late in the second half, Schneider shifted her to a defensive role in the midfield. She overlapped along the right flank and took a pass from teammate Carley Oakden. Lenhard split a pair of defenders off the dribble before eluding another Warrior and rifling a shot into the opposite side netting.
“We tried to defend her by marking her and having a cover defender close by,” Brown said. “In all three games, she was able to get open and hit a spinning and swerving ball at net that was hard for the keepers and defenders to adjust to. Her ability to score in tight spaces is what makes Spencerport so dangerous when they enter the final third and get numbers in and around the goal.”
Lenhard had four goals and four assists in Spencerport’s 10-0 win over Section VI champion Niagara-Wheatfield in the New York State Far West Regional.
Once a complimentary piece playing behind older players, she credits a former Ranger as a model for her game.
“Lily Brongo was the biggest supporter,” Lenhard said after the win in regionals. “She was my idol. I have looked up to her ever since I was a little, little kid. I always wanted to be Lily. To be able to be here in this moment and say that I get to be the Lily of the team and have underclassmen look up to me, means a lot.”
Spencerport’s defense, the team’s identity, has also improved this season. The Rangers allowed six goals in 2021 and 12 last season. Senior keeper Cate Burns, a Siena College commit, has held this year’s opponents to two goals and one of those was a penalty kick.
Playing behind the backline Kendall Mesh (an Old Dominion University commit), Liana Tata and Anastasia Barczys along with midfielders Jamie Keens (Stony Brook commit), Isabella Fiorillo and Aleena Solano, Burns has registered 19 shutouts this season including seven straight heading into the weekend.
“They are the best defense we’ve had,” said Schneider whose teams have won seven straight regional titles. “Individually just superb and when you put them together collectively their shape and how they anticipate things is remarkable.”
Spencerport (No. 1 NYSSWA Class AA) will face Section I champion Somers (22-0-0/No. 2 NYSSWA Class AA) Saturday in the state semifinals. A 9:30 AM start time is scheduled at Tompkins Cortland Community College.
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