By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Abigail Devine and Alexis Drake scored second-half goals, as host Athena girls’ soccer erased an early deficit and went on to beat Pittsford Sutherland, 3-1 in Monroe County Division III action, Tuesday night.
Devine snapped a one-all-tie with an assist from Haley Drake. Alexis Drake added an insurance goal in the 57th minute.
“Once we switched to a 4-4-2, they kinda found their pieces,” said Athena head coach Sal Butera. “They knew exactly where they had to be. It helped us out. We tried to put a little bit more speed on the outside.”
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JENNIFER LAEMLEIN.
Drake took advantage when a cross from teammate Emma Prota deflected off a Sutherland player into the 18-yard box. Staying with the play, the sophomore defender tucked a right-footed shot under the bar for the final margin of victory.
“That was a good setup,” Butera said. “I’ve been preaching to Alexis to be involved like that, and she scored.”
57’ Alexis Drake takes advantage of a second ball to give @AthenaHigh a 3-1 lead. @secvgirlssoccer pic.twitter.com/sQzxeQNs8n
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 11, 2024
Sutherland’s Stella Livernash started the scoring in the 15th minute with an assist from Victoria Froula.
“You’ve got to give credit to Pittsford,” Butera said. “They really played well against us in the first half.”
Haley Drake leveled the match with an assist from Erica Savage. The teams went into halftime tied at one. Butera knew he needed to make a change.
“We were playing with a 4-3-2-1 with two defensive midfielders and three attacking midfielders,” he explained. “At halftime, we changed the formation a little bit and put a little more speed up front. We just kept substituting our outside middies, so that kinda helped us out.”
Emilee Montagliano made 10 saves for the win.
Butera is in his first year as head coach at Athena. He previously served in the same role with the Greece Olympia boys for 13 seasons, Eastridge girls for four years, HAC for four and most recently the Olympia girls for two years (2022-23).
Athena (2-0-1) travels to play at Honeoye Falls-Lima on Thursday. A 7 p.m. start time is slated. Sutherland (1-2-0) hosts Brockport for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Thursday.
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