Proctor slips past Cosmos

In the great old game of soccer, sometimes patience and resilience pays off.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20131005/SPORTS02/710059917

Proctor freshman Elisabeth Tate (24) is surrounded by Springfield’s Jade Twombly (11) and Lizzy Mckenzie (21) as she settles the ball during Friday’s game at Taranovich Field in Pittsford. Photo: Albert J. Marro / Staff PhotoPublished October 5, 2013 in the Rutland Herald Proctorslips pastCosmos By JAMIE NORTON CORRESPONDENT PROCTOR — In the great old game of soccer, sometimes patience and resilience pays off. And sometimes you come out on the losing end, no matter how well you play. The Proctor girls were the lucky ones in their match against Springfield on Friday afternoon. In a nail-biter between teams with identical records that could’ve swayed in either direction at several different points, it was the Phantoms who finally broke the ice with just seven minutes left to play in regulation. They held on for a 2-0 victory over the visiting Cosmos. A mere 1:25 after Springfield keeper Brooke Willey knocked down Abby McKearin’s potential go-ahead penalty kick, McKearin got another chance at one, and she didn’t miss. She fired a laser beam into the left side of the net with just 7:10 left to break a scoreless tie in agame that Springfield seemed to have control of for most of the day. McKearin added a second goal less than two minutes later for good measure with an assist from freshman defender Alexis Bride, as Proctor avoided what would’ve been its second straight overtime match. “We just went through a tie game with Brattleboro (on Tuesday),” Proctor coach Butch Abdelnour said. “(Overtime games) just drain you like crazy, and just to have to go through that again – I knew the girls were tired ... When you have that kind of game where it’s just so much back and forth, that’s when it gets hard.” Defense was the name of the game for the first 70 minutes, as neither team was generating many attempts on goal. The Cosmos exhibited a pretty good possession offense, but Proctor’s senior sweeper Brodie Langlois put on a defensive clinic in front of keeper Alyssa Valerio. “Brodie is probably one of the biggest rocks on this team,” Abdelnour said. “We have a whole bunch of them, but Brodie’s a huge part of this defense. She’s very fast, she’s very strong – they will try to beat up on Brodie, but nobody gets past her. She’s probably one of the main reasons we’re doing so well.” Megan Elrick, Sierra Thornton, and Hannah Ashby also all made several outstanding defensive plays in helping Valerio’s shutout performance. Valerio herself made a few terrific diving stops on sure would-be goals, and a leaping grab on another. “The defense was huge,” Abdelnour said. “I think defense on both sides was really tough – they had their chances, we had our chances, but the defense (on both teams) all stepped up. Especially right inside the 18, they really pushed it hard.” The Phantoms’ offense, meanwhile, tried more of a give-and-go transitional approach, but the Springfield backfield of Abby Garaffa, Kylie Bellows, Meghan Thomas, and Katie Stokarski did a great job keeping the ball out of dangerous territory for most of the game. They minimized Proctor’s looks at the goal and allowed their teammates to outshoot the home team 12-9. “I thought our defense was fantastic,” Cosmos coach Christian Craig said. “They were awesome today. They did exactly what we asked them to do, we just didn’t finish (shots) early, and that’s what this game came down to – we just didn’t put away opportunities.” Sara Locke and Chelsea McAllister both had a number of close calls and the Cosmos were also unable to cash in on any of nine corner kicks. Abdelnour said his team felt a huge sense of relief when it finally put one in the back of the net in the final quadrant of the second half. “We don’t have an experienced bench, so it’s very hard for us to go that far into the game,” he said. “The closer (to the end of regulation) you get, the more nerve-wracking it gets ... It takes us that last little bit to fight through that last 20 minutes.” The Phantoms are now 6-3-1 on the season and host Woodstock next Wednesday. Springfield, meanwhile, drops to 5-4-1.