By Frank Rizzo
FLORIDA — November 3, 2000 – Sullivan West/Jeff-Youngsville was floundering, saddled with a 1–6 record, and a sectionals spot, much less a shot at a title, seemed impossible.
But a team meeting changed all that, and on Wednesday, the momentum-charged squad upended top-seeded S.S. Seward to earn a shot at defending Class B champion Roscoe.
The Class D title tilt will be played today at 2 p.m. at Monticello High School.
SW/J-Y took a 4-1 first-half lead and went on to beat the Spartans 4-2.
Rachel Whalen opened the scoring for the host Spartans at 7:46.
Aileen Semenetz then scored the first of her three at 12:52, assisted by Sandra Scholz. Semenetz followed with unassisted goals at 14:51 and 20:23 before Christine Winski closed out the first half scoring at 26:31 with another unassisted tally.
“We were worried about a letdown,” said SW/J-Y coach Mike Ellmauer. “We went a tad conservative in our play in the second half.”
Keri Dugan scored for Seward (12–5–2) at 36:30 of the second half.
“Seward put a lot of pressure on us early, but we did not break. [Goalie] Erin Bose had a hell of a game for us,” Ellmauer said.
The squads had battled to a 4-4 non-league draw on October 2, so they knew each other.
SW/J-Y lost to Roscoe 2-1 in a non-league game on September 11, but that was a different squad.
“When we were 1–6 we made changes. We were close, but not clicking, not jelling,” said Ellmauer, who returned to the coaching reins after a five-year absence. “I was kind of new to them, and they were new to me. We had a meeting and straightened things out.”
SW/J-Y (10–7–1) was seeded fifth in the five-team D bracket but advanced with a 1-0 win over fourth-seeded Chester (see related story).
“We’ve been having a nice ride so far,” said Ellmauer. “We’d like to think we’re on a roll.”