The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)

GIRLS SOCCER DeRuby downs Devils

- By Kyle Mennig kmennig@oneidadisp­atch.com @DispatchKy­le on Twitter

ONEIDA >> Oneida’s Rachel DeRuby got her first chance to play a varsity girls soccer match under the lights against rival Vernon-Verona- Sherrill on Thursday night.

The freshman made her mark in front of a large and raucous crowd.

DeRuby’s goal in the 22ndminute proved to be the lone score of the match, a 1- 0 victory for Oneida.

“At first I was like wicked nervous because I didn’t know what to expect because we haven’t played them yet this season,” said DeRuby. “But then as we got into it I was like ‘OK, I’m doing good.’”

Oneida coach Scott Fallon likened DeRuby to a point guard on the basketball floor, saying she sees the field well to make plays for her teammates as well as herself.

“She’s got very good touch with the ball,” he added. “She plays some soccer, as you can tell, in the offseason.”

Scoring chances were limited for both sides throughout the match. Oneida’s Kirsten Barrett sent a free kick into the box in the seventh minute that VVS keeper Samantha Bentley easily handled. Alexa Kiser followed with the Red Devils’ first shot three minutes later, an attempt that missed wide.

The hosts were able to take advantage of a free kick in the 22nd minute to tally the only goal of the match. Barrett played the ball from the left side into the box, where Sarah Paul came up with it and dished it out to DeRuby on the right. The freshman lofted a shot over Bentley and it settled into the goal for a 1-0 Oneida lead.

“I was like ‘oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh,” said DeRuby. “Once we scored we did a really good job of keeping it in their half and playing really well defensivel­y.”

VVS tried to find an equalizer with a pair of through balls in the clos-

Oneida lost both games in the rivalry series last fall and Fallon said Thursday’s victorywas­abig one for his team.

ing minutes of the first half but Oneida keeper Liz Rice beat the attack to both passes. Touches were few and far between for Rice, who only made two saves in the shutout victory.

“We’ve really got an outstandin­g assistant coach, Rob Larkin from Clinton, and he does some good stuff, in game adjustment­s,” said Fallon. “We sort of played a little more defensive in the second half.

We tried to take away (Katie Musacchio) from VVS because she was the player that was building their offense.”

The Red Devils’ best scoring opportunit­y came during a flurry of activity starting in the 55th minute. Kiser sent a shot high before VVS quickly regained possession and earned a corner. Oneida cleared the ball but gave up a free kick a minute later. Rice was up to the challenge, catching Katja Meyer’s far-post attempt to preserve the lead.

The hosts maintained possession for much of the final 20 minutes, keeping the visitors from getting another shot on goal.

Oneida lost both games in the rivalry series last fall and Fallon said Thursday’s victory was a big one for his team.

“We try to take the New England Patriots ap- proach, no game’s bigger than the other,” he said.

“We can talk all we want but it’s VVS-Oneida. Shawn (Lynch) has done a great job bringing their program up and we’ve got ours turned around now so it’s a good game.

I respect what he does with his girls. I thought a very clean game for both teams and it’s big for our program.”

 ?? KYLE MENNIG — ONEIDA DAILY DISPATCH ?? Oneida’s Rachel DeRuby (20) dribbles the ball as VernonVero­na-Sherrill’s Sarah Wayland-Smith (18) defends during their match in Oneida on Thursday.
KYLE MENNIG — ONEIDA DAILY DISPATCH Oneida’s Rachel DeRuby (20) dribbles the ball as VernonVero­na-Sherrill’s Sarah Wayland-Smith (18) defends during their match in Oneida on Thursday.

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