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Kaylee Saucier in action in a recent game. Photo by Marc Allard.
Centaur girls’ soccer team heads to final four
After a difficult match for the offense for the girls’ soccer team in the Class L state tournament second round against Brookfield, there was a goal coming into the quarterfinal match with Masuk.
The third-seeded Centaurs wanted to challenge the 14th-seeded Panthers much more.
“We want a lot more offense,” said first-year head coach Andrea Danforth prior to the match. After having to survive in their first state tournament match, getting only one shot on goal in regulation and having to win on penalty kicks, 3-2, against Brookfield, the Centaurs found the road a bit less bumpy on Thursday in the quarterfinal.
Woodstock (14-4-2) scored a goal in each half and downed Masuk, 2-0.
The win sends the Centaurs into the Class L final four as they will meet seventh-seeded Sacred Heart Academy in the semifinal match.
Sacred Heart upset No. 2 Waterford, 2-1, in two overtimes to advance.
Senior defender Freya Robbie said, “It’s our senior year and we’re looking to get as far as we can and to get this far is a really amazing feeling.”
Masuk had a little better of the play early but the Centaurs did challenge a couple of times with Costa getting a pair of opportunities, one that hit the cross bar, another that sailed just over.
Having not scored in regulation since their win over Waterford in the ECC semifinals, the
The team had also been focused on its set corner plays prior to the match and that proved to loom large. With 7 ½ minutes left in the first half, the Centaurs were awarded one.
Costa, as is the norm, took it for the Centaurs from the right of Masuk keeper Kara Leandres.
“I place it basically in the same place every time and Izzy (Selmecki) got at the end of it and hit it with her thigh. It was good. We needed that,” Costa said.
At first, there was a little confusion as the ball hit Leandres before Selmecki nudged it in for her sixth goal of the season but the ball quickly came out.
“It definitely was a goal, the sideline ref had it but the central ref did not see it. They called it, though, and that is all that matters,” Danforth said.
The goal had to hold up for a bit but that was not hard for the Centaurs to accomplish as their defense was again steadfast.
The backs limited Masuk to just two second half shots.
Danforth said that defense has been crucial. Costa netted her 21st of the season with 11 minutes, 57 seconds left in regulation.
Robbie sent in a free kick that Macy Rawson re-directed over the defense and on to Costa’s left foot. She found the bottom right corner of the net to guarantee the Woodstock victory.
Earlier in the week, as Selmecki approached the ball for a penalty kick attempt, Brookfield keeper Gabriella Chronakas began to move to her right which was where Selmecki was shooting the ball. Her kick eluded Chronakas, going into the back of the net.
It proved to be the game winner as keeper Ellary Sampson stepped up and made a save on a shot by Brookfield’s Hannah Bulakowski to ice the Class L girls’ soccer state tournament second-round win.
The result goes down as a scoreless tie but the Centaurs prevailed, 3-2, in the penalty kick session to advance to the Class L quarterfinals.
Regulation play was, at times, a bit scary for the Centaurs in the second-round match as the Bobcats had the best of the play for the most part.
Outside of a lone Costa shot that was saved by Chronakas, the rest of the opportunities belonged to Brookfield (14-2-5).
The Bobcats took seven shots at the Centaurs goal with Sampson having to make stops on four of those, the most notable was a chance by Olivia Zezza that Sampson had to cover the ball on.
But the Centaurs were again outshot in the second half, 10-0, by the Bobcats.
The two teams battled through a 20-minute overtime session with only Brookfield getting a shot off which led to the penalty kicks.
Costa and Rawson did put the first two in the net which gave the Centaurs the advantage as Olga Mayen Perez hit the first for Brookfield but the second PK for the Bobcats hit the post.
The Centaurs also hit a post but Sampson kept the Centaurs in the lead when she made a save on a shot by Zezza.
Brookfield tied it at two. Sampson then stepped up and made the save that sent the Centaurs to the final eight.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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