By PAUL GOTHAM
WEBSTER, N.Y. — This past weekend, Nina Scalzo became the first former Webster Central School District student-athlete to be enshrined in the New York State High School Girls’ Soccer Hall of Fame. The event included a tournament and to honor a former player, the current Webster Schroeder team headed to Albany to partake in the festivities.
The schedule makers didn’t do the Warriors any favors.
Kent Brown’s squad drew matchups with Garden City (No. 6 Class AA in the final NYSSWA poll of 2024) and St. Anthony’s (No. 2 Class AAA) a pair of high school powerhouses from Long Island.
A lineup adjustment made in an attempt to neutralize those opponents started paying dividends on Tuesday night when a trio of scorers led the way in a 3-nil victory over Hilton.
“With our draw, we just ended up getting those two teams off Long Island,” Brown said. “It was a great learning curve for our kids because the kids had to learn to compete. If we didn’t learn to compete, it would have been a long weekend. The kids felt it.”
Last season, Kylie Clement finished with 10 goals and 2 assists as a striker. Brown felt that Clement and her 6-foot frame was needed as a defensive presence over the weekend.
“Against those two teams, we had to have some height and size,” Brown said. “They were just flat-out bigger than us.”
On Tuesday, the combination of Clement and Brynn Zoltoski at center back anchored a defense that did not allow a shot on goal for the first 60 minutes of the match.
“When we put Kylie in the backline with Brynn, our organization completely changed,” Brown said. “We are able to high press teams.”
The result? Schroeder had an 8-1 advantage in shots and took 11 corner kicks without relenting a similar chance for the Cadets.
“Kylie and Brynn have really stabilized our backline, and we’re not doing as much chasing as we did in the first couple of games. We were able to settle things down a little bit more.”
Both blessed with a strong first touch, the duo is adept at getting the Warriors into transition.
“We’re lucky here. Both of our outside backs have pretty good pace, so that allows our midfielders to pinch up a little bit higher and press.”
Emma Rascoe gave Schroeder a 1-nil lead heading into halftime with her team-leading fifth goal of the season. Mia Bielemeier had an assist on the play. Clement and Olivia Fulkerson added to the lead in the second half.
Fulkerson struck from along the right flank inside the 18-yard box with an assist from Bray Dreschler. Clement converted on a Reis Arnold service from the left corner flag.
With the win, Schroeder improved to 2-0 in Monroe County Division I play and 3-3 overall.
The Warriors host reigning NYS Class AAA semifinalist Fairport on Thursday and travel to play nine-time sectional champion Spencerport on Saturday.
“We got a long road ahead of us this week,” Brown said. “We’re going to go from playing two teams off Long Island that are dominant to three teams in Monroe County that are historically very good.”
Hilton (2-1) travels to play at Penfield on Thursday. The Cadets did not allow a goal in their first two games of the season.
A Second Team All-State selection as a sophomore and First Team as a junior and senior, Nina Scalzo scored a school record 90 goals and added 50 assists for Webster. Scalzo went on to play at Syracuse University where she was a three-year starter. She finished her collegiate career ranked fourth all-time in SU history with 24 career goals and 61 points. She is sixth all-time in program history with 13 assists.
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