Clarkstown South’s Danielle Gillespie and Suffern’s Tatiana Cruz battle for the ball during a varsity soccer game at Clarkstown South High School Oct. 6, 2015. Clarkstown South handed Suffern it’s first loss of the season with a 4-1 victory.
Clarkstown South’s Sophia Jean-Charles leaves Suffern’s Caleigh Cahoon behind during a varsity soccer game at Clarkstown South High School Oct. 6, 2015. Clarkstown South handed Suffern it’s first loss of the season with a 4-1 victory.
Clarkstown South’s Abby Montera beats Suffern’s Jayne Goldman to the ball during a varsity soccer game at Clarkstown South High School Oct. 6, 2015. Clarkstown South handed Suffern it’s first loss of the season with a 4-1 victory.
WEST NYACK Clarkstown South knows a thing or two about how to compete against top competition.
After upsetting Class A power Pearl River earlier in the season, the Lady Vikings did it again on Tuesday, defeating previously unbeaten Suffern 4-1.
“Don’t let up,” Clarkstown South’s Julianna Vincini said of the team’s approach. “Don’t drop down; just because they are undefeated doesn’t mean we don’t have a chance to beat them,”
Clarkstown South controlled the pace of play by clogging up the passing lanes as well as hustling to and winning most of the 50-50 balls. By halftime, the Lady Vikings had built a commanding 3-0 lead.
Suffern came out with some gusto to start the second half and managed to cut the deficit to 3-1 on a breakaway goal by Kyra Greenbaum in the 44th minute. But only five minutes later, just as the Mounties were beginning to sustain possession, Cummings latched on to a Deanna Trongone free kick in the box and finished to effectively seal the game.
“I think they needed a kick in the gut today; they needed to know that they are beatable,” Suffern head coach Phil Medonia said of his team. “South, cap to them, they played hard, they fought. We didn’t fight as hard as they did.”
Player of the game: Fiona Cummings, Clarkstown South. Many players shined for the Lady Vikings, but the sophomore forward played a high-energy game up top and scored an important insurance goal to quell Suffern’s comeback attempt.
Turning point: Clarkstown South came out flying right off the bat, and in the seventh minute was rewarded when Abby Montera intercepted a pass from the Suffern defense. She immediately blasted a shot that went by Suffern goalkeeper Cassidy Rykowski to get the Lady Vikings on top.
Stat line: For Clarkstown South, Montera, Danielle McManus, Vincini and Cummings all had goals, Angela Basile and Trongone had assists and Elliana Murphy made two saves. For Suffern, Greenbaum had a goal and Jennifer Dinces had an assist.
Quotable: “We play to each team’s level; when we play teams like Pearl River and Suffern, we bring it up,” Cummings said. “(Suffern) is a very good team, we thought they could easily come back at any time, but we held it together.”
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