By Lori Brown
LIBERTY — October 6, 2006 —On Tuesday afternoon, the John S. Burke Catholic School Lady Eagles soared over the Liberty Lady Indians, 9-0, in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division IV soccer match.
The Lady Indians played hard until the bitter end, but Burke proved to be too much on this particular day.
During the first half, Burke (7-2-1, 3-0-1 Div. IV) gained total control of the game. Brianna Valentin started off by making the first goal of the game with an assist from Katie Foiles.
A few minutes later, Foiles kicked the ball into the Liberty net on an unassisted play.
The third goal was scored by Burke’s Danielle Weimer who was assisted by Erin Doyle.
Those three goals were recorded within the first 10 minutes of the contest. The next three goals were scored in the remaining 30 minutes of first-half play.
The first goalkeeper for Liberty was Sara Hazelnis, who had seven saves in the first 20 minutes of the game. During the other 20 minutes of the first half, Liberty’s new goal keeper, Meghin Shortall had four saves.
Both of the Lady Indian goalies blocked the ball well, but they were no match for Burke’s offense.
Liberty’s Jasmine Walizadeh made several attempts at kicking the ball into the Lady Eagles’ goal cage, but they went just shy of the net.
Burke continued putting more pressure on Liberty’s defense.
Burke’s fourth goal was recorded by Danielle Weimer on a penalty kick. Four minutes later, Colleen Cappadora kicked the ball into the net to give the Lady Eagles a 5-0 advantage. With only 10 minutes left in the first half, the sixth goal was scored by Marifaith Rickard.
During the second half of the game, Liberty (3-7, 1-3 Div. IV) managed to hold the Lady Eagles from scoring as many goals as they did in the first half. About 15 minutes into the second frame, Burke’s Deidre Croke kicked the seventh goal of the game with an assist from Erin Doyle.
Approximately 10 minutes later a hand ball was called against Liberty. Burke’s Sarah Beysel had a goal kick, but she kicked the ball before the whistle was blown, therefore the block by the Sauchuk did not count.
Beysel kicked the ball a second time and the ball eluded Sauchuk.
Burke’s Emily Stallings scored the team’s final goal at the top of the circle of the goal box with about two minutes remaining.
Burke Coach Tony Cavaliere said that his team “offensively moved the ball.”
He added that his players were more aggressive and had some good luck and a couple of breaks.
“I tried to find new combinations, so I played the girls in different positions,” Cavaliere said. “Liberty did not give up and in the second half of the game, they played well and moved the ball around nicely.”
Cavaliere commented that his girls showed enthusiasm during the game and were very competitive.