Monroe-Woodbury Varsity Girls Soccer team advances to state semifinals

LAGRANGEVILLE — The Monroe-Woodbury Varsity Girls Soccer team traveled to Arlington High School last Saturday, Nov. 4, to take on the undefeated and top ranked Admirals in a quarterfinal match.
The two teams have met four times in the last two years. The Crusaders beat the Admirals 2-0 during the season last year and then lost to them in state quarterfinals 5-2.
This year the Admirals beat the Crusaders 2-0 during the season but in one of the biggest upsets of the Class AA season, the Crusaders beat the defending State Champion Admirals 2-1 to advance to the semifinal round.
The Crusaders entered the game having beat the Express of Elmira 1-0 on Thursday night in the opening round of the state playoffs.
In the victory over the Express, co-captain Liz Myers scored a goal half way through the second half that gave the Crusaders a 1-0 victory.
On Saturday the Admirals controlled most of the first half play, putting pressure on the Crusaders goal but goalie Angela Fini and defense rose up to the challenge and kept the Admirals off the board.
In the second half, Myers struck again when she beat the defense to the ball and placed a nice shot past the Admirals' goalie to put the Crusaders up 1-0 with 23:10 left in the game.
The goal seemed to wake up the Admirals as they turned up the pressure on the Crusaders and after several spectacular saves by Fini, the Admirals' Sofia Germano scored to tie the score with 12:35 left in the game.
With time running out in regulation, Crusader defender Kayla MacKenzie made a beautiful run up the field that ended when she was fouled just outside the box.
Kiki Goodwin drilled the free kick off the Admirals crossbar; the rebound came to MacKenzie whose point blank shot was stopped by the Admirals goalie. But when the ball came right back to MacKenzie, she put the game winning goal in the back of the net for a 2-1 lead with 4:44 left in the game.
The Crusaders' 2-1 victory brings their season record to 17-2-1. The Crusaders will face Baldwinsville in a state semifinal at SUNY Cortland Saturday.
- William Dimmit