By Rob Potter
JEFFERSONVILLE — October 5, 2001 – Second half goals and stellar goaltending led the Sullivan West girls soccer team to non-league victory Tuesday over Livingston Manor.
Aileen Semenetz scored twice in the first 15 minutes of the second half to turn a 1-0 SW lead into a 3-0 advantage. The Lady Bulldogs went on to post a 3-1 victory.
“The team played flat,” Livingston Manor coach Shirlee Davis said. “We should have played a lot better. The girls just didn’t play well.”
For the majority of the first half, however, it appeared as though Manor (6–2) might score a few goals as the Lady Wildcats kept the ball in the Lady Bulldog end of the field. But SW goalie Erin Bose was up to the task, stopping all of the shots she faced in those opening 40 minutes.
Despite outshooting SW by a 9-4 margin in the first half, Manor found itself down 1-0 at the break.
Just over five minutes into the game, senior midfielder Christina Winski gave SW (6–3) the lead. From Manor goalie Danielle Franco’s right, Winski sent a high arcing shot towards the goal. The ball floated just over Franco and under the crossbar into the netting. Karen Terry, a fellow senior midfielder, was credited with the assist on the goal.
After halftime, the Lady Bulldogs wasted little time in scoring. Megan Moran passed the ball to Semenetz, who was moving quickly towards the Manor goal. Gaining a step on the Lady Wildcat defender, Semenetz took the ball in stride and kicked the ball with her left foot over Franco’s shoulder into the net.
“Megan played a good ball for Aileen,” SW coach Mike Mahoney said. “She made a good decision when she saw that they were trying to set up a trap. Megan played the ball so Aileen could take advantage of her speed.”
Semenetz’ second goal came at the 25:32 mark. She was near the top of the goal box and sent a high shot past Franco. Kate Orr was credited with an assist on the tally.
The SW offense improved in the second half, as the Lady Bulldogs outshot Manor 13 to 7.
“We were sluggish in the first half, but we played well enough defensively to get by and give up nothing,” Mahoney said. “I told them at halftime that we needed to get together and have a more balanced attack. We needed to get more movement in the midfield.”
Manor avoided being shut out when Arielle Parker scored with 2:04 remaining on the clock. Parker beat goalie Amanda Patterson — who replaced Bose with nine minutes left in the match — with a low shot to the right side of the goal.
Parker nearly scored the first Manor goal about 18 minutes before when Bose lost the handle on her shot. The ball then rolled along the goal line as Parker and Bose rushed towards it. But SW defender Jen Ackermann got there first and kicked it away from the open net.
With 21:16 left in the match, Davis earned a yellow card from the officials for complaining about what she thought was a missed call.
“My girl was pushed when she was going for the ball right here in front of me,” she said. “Soccer is a physical game, but you can’t let things get out of hand. If it gets out of hand, it changes the momentum of the game. It’s okay, though, I’ll take the yellow card.”
Manor recorded 16 shots in the game, while SW had 17. Bose finished the contest with 12 saves, while Patterson was credited with one save. Franco had nine saves for the Lady Wildcats.
Despite the loss, Davis remained optimistic about the rest of the season.
“A game like this can only make us stronger,” she said.