LaGrange. Monroe-Woodbury falls a single goal short in state soccer quarterfinals
Cortland /
| 10 Nov 2021 | 02:48
Crusader Anna Maggi (#2) beats her defender to the ball in the second half. Photos by William Dimmit.
Defender Kaitlyn Nolan (#29) clears the ball out of the Crusaders’ defensive zone.
Francesca Donovan’s shot off the post early in the second half was as close as the Crusaders came to scoring in the game.
Crusader Goalie Olivia Shippee makes another fantastic save to keep the Admirals off the board.
On a cool Friday night, Nov. 5, at Arlington High School in Dutchess County, the Crusaders faced the Admirals in a quarterfinal state playoff game.
The Crusaders entered the game with a 17-2 record on the season after beating the Elmira Express, the Section 4 champion, 6-0 in the opening round of the playoffs.
The Arlington Admirals entered the game with a 18-1 record after beating John Jay 2-0 for the Section 1 Championship.
In one of the most exciting and intense defensive struggles, the Admirals prevailed 1-0.
The Crusader Goalie Olivia Shippee and Admiral Goalie Kayla Kalbaugh took turns during the first half making diving saves to keep both teams off the score board during some very exciting end to end action.
Crusaders had several legitimate scoring chances during the half but all the shots either just wide or Kalbaugh came up with the save.
In the second half of the game the Crusaders began to turn up the offensive pressure but a shot by Francesca Donovan rang off the goal post and a shot by Sarah Hudson was just a little high.
Finally, with 11:22 left in the game, Admiral Sydney Dyer scored a goal off a cross from Casey Stowell to put the Admirals up 1-0.
With 6:20 left the game Crusader goalie Shippee came charging out of the goal to stop an Admiral breakaway and keep the Crusaders in the game.
But the Crusaders were unable to score the rest of the way.
The Crusaders 1-0 loss ends their season and brings their record to 17-3-0 for the season.
The Admirals will go onto the State semifinals in Cortland where they will face Shenendehowa the Section 3 champion on Saturday.
- William Dimmit