STATE RANKED # 9 WHITESBORO OUTBOOTS #25 CAMDEN 5-2-PLAYOFF RUN AHEAD
Whitesboro Lady Warriors Class of 2013, from left: Kim Steiger, Jen Deuel, Brie Heitz, Mary Pastorelli, Ashley Williams, Danielle Ricci, Jordan Case, Julie Britt, Rebekah Geller.
Jeff Pexton-MHTS/PGI Photo
The Whitesboro Warriors Girls Soccer team continued their tremendous 2012 campaign with a convincing 5-2 home victory over the Camden Lady Blue Devils tonight at Ed Wadas Field.
Whitesboro, the 2010, 2011 and 2012 TVL Champions, improved to (13-1) overall and (9-0) in league action.
Brie Heitz netted a hat trick for the Lady Warriors, tallying 3 goals on the evening, while fellow senior Jen Deuel notched two scores for Whitesboro.
Whitesboro’s Brie Heitz (16) gets a boot on a ball early in the match as Camden’s Haley Kelley (1) defends.
Entering tonight’s matchup, Whitesboro was ranked 9th in the latest NY State Poll. Camden made the trip East as the 20th ranked team in the State. Both schools are classified as “A” schools in girls soccer.
The Warriors earned a tough 6-2 win over Camden back on September 20th at Camden. Since then, Whitesboro has rattled off seven more victories, outscoring their opponents by a combined total of 29 to 3.
Tonight’s loss and that one back on 9/20 are the only losses the Camden Lady Blue Devils have sustained all season.
Camden left the field tonight with a record of 13-2-1 and will likely gain a high seed and a home playoff game in the Section III, Class “A” playoffs that get underway next week.
A strong showing on Whitesboro’s home field tonight was important to head coach Bob Wilson’s Lady Devils as they look to make a deep playoff run.
Whitesboro is flying toward the playoffs and Natalie Kozlowski (3) is no exception. Camden’s Karley Keil (7) will see plenty of post season action as well.
Camden definitely came to play tonight, starting strong and putting four very quick and solid shots on Whitesboro keeper Emilie Mull, before Whitesboro could muster a shot of their own.
After the flurry of Camden offensive pressure subsided, Whitesboro showed the chilled home crowd why they believe they should be the #1 seed in the Section III Tournament next week.
Senior Brie Heitz scored the first of her three goals when she took a pass from Ashley Williams and beat Camden keeper Kiersten Leos up high to make it 1-0 Whitesboro with 23:00 minutes remaining in the first half.
Down 1-0 with 11:48 to go in the first half, Camden looked to even the score when Michaela Soules burst in alone on Emilie Mull but Soules’ shot sailed high of the net, keeping the Whitesboro lead at 1-0.
Whitesboro took full advantage of Camden’s miss when Heitz found the net again, taking a pass from sophomore Mariah Williams and beating Leos up high again to increase Whitesboro’s lead to 2-0 with 11:00 to go in the half.
Speed to burn…Camden’s Michaela Soules (10) races into the Whitesboro zone as Mary Pastorelli (4) keeps pace for Whitesboro.
Both teams traded scoring opportunities in the last ten minutes of the first half, but neither found the net and the intermission came with Whitesboro holding a two goal lead.
The Lady Warriors got their third goal of the game from Jen Deuel 6:22 into the second half when the speedy senior raced in the Camden goal and notched her 10th goal of the season.
Brie Heitz continued her stellar evening with the assist on Deuel’s goal.
On such a chilly night and many miles from home, many teams would have mailed in the rest of the game and accepted defeat at this point in the game.
Not these Lady Blue Devils, not tonight. Michaela Soules hit a free kick from almost 40 yards away, which was then misdirected into the Whitesboro goal by Jenna Sherwood, to pull Camden to within 3-1 with 24:58 remaining in regular time.
Then, with 15:37 remaining, Jen Deuel scored her second goal of the game when she found herself one on one with Camden keeper Cassilyn Wolff.
Jordan Case (21) sets up a blast in the second half while Camden’s Haley Kelley (1) looks to break it up.
Deuel fired a laser beam into the back of the net to give the 2011 Section III runners up a 4-1 lead.
Camden refused to go away easily however, as Michaela Soules scored her 21st goal of the season with 8:57 remaining in regular time by winning a one on one of her own with Emilie Mull in front of the Whitesboro goal.
The Warriors punched their ticket to victory #13 with just under 5 minutes to go in the match when Ashley Williams pushed the ball up the right side of the field and hit a perfect cross to Brie Heitz, who banged it home to make it 5-2 Warriors, which is the way this one would end.
Emilie Mull as outstanding in goal for Whitesboro, stopping 18 of the 20 shots she faced. Cassilyn Woff and Kiersten Leos combined for 10 saves on 15 shots they faced for Camden, which dropped to (13-2-1) on the season.
After a non-league meeting with Class “AA” Liverpool, a team that Whitesboro has already beaten handily, the Lady Warriors will likely receive the #1 seed for the Section III Class “A” playoffs which begin next week.
Camden Lady Blue Devils Class of 2013, from left: Cailin Conley, Lydia Stouffer, Michaela Soules, Cassilyn Wolff, Kaley Hilts, Laura Ward, Allison Turk.
At this juncture, the Lady Warriors appear to once again be on a collision course with arch rival Jamesville DeWitt.
The Lady Red Rams have ousted Whitesboro in the final game of the Section III tournament each of the last two seasons.
In both instances, Whitesboro had a marked disadvantage in upper classmen and this season, to a player, the Lady Warriors believe this is the year they will bring the gold banner back to Whitesboro.
It certainly appears they have the firepower and the defense to do so!
Best of luck to both clubs, who may just find themselves pitted against one another for a third time this year if the brackets unfold a certain way in the post season.
Whitesboro 5 Camden 2
Box Score
1 2 Final
Camden 0 2 2
Whitesboro 2 3 5
