The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Clinton clips Canastota
CANASTOTA, N.Y. » Two days after defeating New York Mills 9-0, Clinton hit the road for a Center State Conference tilt with Canastota.
Canastota was able to stymie the Clinton attack, holding it far shy of its Tuesday output, but the Warriors found the back of the cage twice in a 2-0 road win over the Raiders.
Giana Trunfio slotted a shot past Canastota’s goalkeeper Leanne Hamman with 3:26 left to play in the first half to give Clinton a 1-0 lead, and teammate Alexandra Saunders added a second half score to lead the Warriors in the shutout.
Hamman finished the evening with nine saves for the Raiders, weathering a contest in which Clinton dominated time of possession.
“I think we just had a breakdown in our communication. We were not communicating enough to play good defense and get the ball out. We just were not communicating and working together to get the ball up the field,” Canastota head coach Danielle Birckhead said.
Clinton opened the contest with possession, translating that into a shot on goal two minutes into the game. Madison Steates centered a pass to Trunfio near the 28-minute mark, but Trunfio was unable to generate much power on the ensuing shot as it trickled past the Canastota cage. Two minutes later, Clinton re-
ceived a penalty corner, but again, the Warriors came up empty.
The visitors continued to keep up the pressure throughout the next ten minutes of play before Canastota’s Jessica Evans was able to burst into the Raider’s offensive half of the field, carrying the ball down the right wing before rocketing a pass toward the Clinton box to teammate Loryn Wilcox, but a swarm of Clinton defenders prevented a shot from Wilcox.
After several minutes of battling for possession, Clinton nearly broke through near the 8-minute mark when Steates ripped a shot from the top of the shooting circle toward the far left post, missing just outside.
The Warriors got their goal minutes later when Trunfio broke the 0-0 stalemate for a 1-0 Clinton lead, a score that would remain entering the intermission.
Midway through the second half, Hamman denied a shot by Clinton’s Roxee Hughes before the Raider back line cleared the ball and any hope of a Clinton rebound. Hamman came up with another big save for the Raiders several minutes later, sprawling out to deny a Clinton shot, but Saunders was right there for the ricochet, putting away the loose ball for a 2-0 Clinton advantage with 7:08 left to play.
The Raiders were unable to mount a late comeback, falling by a final score of 2-0.
“I told my girls they have nothing to be ashamed of. Clinton is a good team, a good program. They went to finals last year, and we didn’t get so far in sectionals. For us to come out and keep them to 2-0, is pretty good. We have a young team. We have three girls who have had decent varsity experience...the other girls are younger. To hold them to 2-0 in the second game of the season without having practice yesterday because of the heat, I will take that as a good thing,” Birckhead said. “I could not be happier with my defense today. I think Carly Cashel, Haylee Patane, Kara Hyde, and Leanne Hamman, my goalie, had a fantastic game. They rose to the occasion and did what I needed them to do.”