The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
VVS edges Oneida on second half goal
From the beginning, Thursday’s girls soccer showdown between Vernon-Verona-Sherrill and Oneida was a goalkeepers’ duel.
The two Tri-Valley rivals combined for 18 first half shot attempts, finishing the contest with a combined 33 shots on goal.
Neither was able to find the back of the net until the 56th minutewhen Anna Rossi broke down the Oneida defense.
The Red Devil junior fired a shot to the left side of the goal where it deflected off an Oneida defender and past Shlotzhauer for a 1- 0 VVS lead. It was all VVS would need. Morgan Brewer posted 11 saves in her ninth shutout of the season, tied for the VVS school record, and VVS held on for a 1-0 win.
“I have to hand it all to my defense,” Brewer said of the acheivement. “They played
with me the whole season and have been there for me all season. It’s really a teameffort behind the defense and me.”
“It ’ s her f irst year playing. She’s had over 165 saves up to today,” VVS coach Shawn Lynch said. “With today, she’s up to almost 185, which is amazing for a sophomore. She played amazing. She anticipates. You’re scared everytime the girl is shooting. but she seems to be in the right place at the right time. I don’t know. You can’t teach that.”
Laiken Kiser recorded VVS’ first shot of the game, firing a shot just under the middle of the crossbar, but Shlotzhauer calmly punched the ball over the bar to thwart the VVS eighth grader.
Oneida countered with a Sarah Paul shot on goal, but Paul couldn’t connect squarely on the ball, and Brewer jumped on it for the save.
Ten minutes into the contest, Rachel DeRuby fed Kayla Suppa with a pass at the top of the 18-yard box, but Suppa’s shot was down the middle, Brewer made an easy save.
Shlotzhauer had a huge sequence for Oneida midway through the first to keep the contest at 0- 0. The Oneida senior parried an Alexa Kiser shot, reset, and then corraled the rebound attempt to keep VVS off the board.
VVS and Oneida traded runs and corners with frantic pace in the waning moments of the first half. With five minutes to go in the first, DeRuby sent a cor- ner into the mouth of the VVS penalty box, and Nicole Smith collected a deflection and fired a shot toward the right side of the goal, but Brewer got back in position in time for the save.
Rossi had a chance to give VVS a 1-0 lead prior to the intermission, but again, Shlotzhauer came through with the save.
The theme continued in the second half as Shlotzhauer and Brewer matched one another save after save to keep the contest knotted at 0-0 until the 56th minute when Rossi made her mark.
“I moved her up top.... thought it would be good to put her at striker. Just the pressure we’re putting on. Pushing to the flag and trying to get the cross in. It eventually worked,” Lynch said. “Oneida is a good team. They can put it together. I think they are a really talented group.”
One of Oneida’s best opportunities at the equalizer came in the 73rd minute off of another DeRuby corner. Brewer skied to collect the offering, but the crowd of bodies prevented her from catching the ball cleanly. With the ball bouncing dangerously between a crowd of VVS and Oneida players looking to get a foot on the ball, Brewer dove in to collect the save.
“Honestly, I’m really not thinking in that type of situation. I’m thinking, ‘Where’s the ball? I have to find that ball so they can’t put it in the back of the net,” the VVS sophomore said.
“No fear. Do your job. And that’s what she does.”
The win was VVS’ first on its new field, under the lights, and moves the Red Devils to 10-6 on the season.
Oneida falls to 6-7-1 following the loss.