Genesee Region Girl's Soccer

At Byron-Bergen Tuesday night a pair of 2-0 Genesee Region Division 1 teams squared off. The game was delayed approximately 40 minutes due to thunder after only 1:50 of the game had been played. After the break Alexander came out moving the ball well and put immediate pressure on the Bergen net. Junior Defender Gabby Kwiatek found Senior Forward Julia Pettys with a pass and Pettys beat the keeper to make it 1-0 early in the first half. Pettys would 2 more times before the half (with an assist to Junior Midfielder Maria Dominick on the last goal) to build the halftime lead to 3-0.

Senior Goalkeeper Amanda Bender made 3 fantastic stops to keep Bergen off the scoreboard in 1st half.
 

Alexander's bench was a bit short to start the game (only 3 active subs due to various circumstances) got a bit shorter as Sophomore Defender Eliza Vacanti went down with a knee injury with under 10 minutes to go in the 1st half.

After the half Alexander came out a bit slow to start but picked it right back up.  Bergen pulled a goal back to make it 3-1 but Junior Midfielder Abby Shilvock would restore the 3 goal lead just over 10 minutes into the 2nd half as she made the score 4-1.  

Bergen would again pull one back to make it 4-2 but it wouldn't take long for Alexander to have a great passing sequence that resulted in a goal by Sophomore Midfielder Lydia Spiotta (assisted by Dominick) to make it 5-2.  Pettys would net her 4th goal (assisted by Shilvock) moments later to make the final score 6-2.

Senior Amanda Bender had 8 saves in goal for her 2nd win of the year.  The defense and midfield played excellent games.

Alexander is now 3-0 while Bergen falls to 2-1.  Alexander's Varsity team hosts Oakfield Thursday at 4:30 while the JV team hosts Oakfield Saturday at 10am.

Holley traveled to Alexander in the opening game for both teams in the 2011 season. Alexander came away with a 2-0 win thanks to goals by Junior Midfielder Abby Shilvock and Senior Forward Julia Pettys.  Alexander was playing in a different formation with many starters in different positions due to various circumstances but were able to settle down and control the game as time wore on.  Early on the game was a bit ragged as the revamped lineup got used to playing in the positions they were in.  Alexander had a couple chances midway through the first half but was not able to convert on any.

Sophomore Korie Leitten filled in as the the goalie and had a couple nice saves in the first half to keep Holley off the board.  It was Leitten's first game at any level in goal.  

Inside the final minutes Shilvock hit a cross to Pettys on the back post and Pettys' header nearly found the corner but was cleared out by Holley.  However Alexander got the ball right back to Shilvock who hit a shot from 22 yards that found the top left corner of the net to give Alexander a 1-0 lead just before halftime.

Alexander came out in the 2nd half and began to get more of the possession and it paid off about 15 minutes in as Shilvock found Pettys with a nice through ball inside the 18 yard box and Pettys finished with her left foot low in the right side of the goal to make the score 2-0.  

Leitten continued her solid work in goal by knocking a corner kick clear later in the half to keep the score 2-0.  With about 10 minutes left Holley had a cross go off the post but it was cleared out by Junior Defender Gabby Kwiatek to again keep the score at 2-0.

It was a great all around performance by the ladies from Alexander as they got were swarming on defense to the ball and applied a lot of pressure high up the field on Holley's defense and midfield and that lead to a lot of turnovers while also breaking up Holley's possession and attack before it got into Alexander's defensive 3rd.  Leitten finished with 7 saves to get the win and shutout.

Starting Lineup for Alexander: Korie Leitten (10th, GK), Gabby Kwiatek (11th, D), Eliza Vacanti (10th, D), Sydney Breton (9th, D), Ashlee Wolf (11th, D), Maria Dominick (11th, M), Mary Kunze (9th, M), Abby Shilvock (11th, M), Emily Alvut (10th, M), Lydia Spiotta (10th, F), Julia Pettys (12th, F)

Substitutes for Alexander: Morgan Woodhouse (11th, D), Sam Marchisin (11th, M), Nikki Draves (11th, F), Breyana Crawford (9th, F)

The current Genesee Region Girl's Soccer Standings as of 9/21/08

Division 1:

Alexander 5-1-1

Holley 4-2-1

Bergen 3-1-1

Pembroke 3-1-1

Attica 1-4

Kendall 0-5

Alexander picked up 3 league wins this week beating Attica, Oakfield, and Kendall.  Bergen beat Pembroke in OT Saturday night meaning that in the loss and tie column Alexander, Bergen, and Pembroke are all tied at the current moment with Holley one loss behind.  Big games in the upcoming week that will have impact in the standings are Alexander @ Wheatland 9/22, Elba @ Alexander 9/24, and Holley @ Lyndonville 9/23.  The next couple weeks finishes up all the cross-over games and will set the stage for the last round of divisional games.

Division II:

Wheatland 5-1

Elba 4-1

Lyndonville 3-3

Oakfield 1-4

Notre Dame 0-6

Lyndonville knocked off Elba this week in what could turn out to be a big loss for Elba as they were out in front of this division and after knocking off Wheatland early.  The crossover games could really put one team out in front of this division if they can pick up a handful of wins against the division 1 teams.  Both Wheatland and Elba play Alexander this week and a win by either or both could further distance themselves from Lyndonville.  Lyndonville plays Holley and needs a win if they want to keep pace with the top two teams in this division.

A brief look at the Genesee Region Girl's soccer standings through 9/14.  These standings are by points so they will not be 100% accurate or realistic because teams have played different numbers of points.

Division 1:

1 - Alexander (2-1-1)

1 - Byron-Bergen (2-1-1)

3 - Holley (2-2-1)

4 - Pembroke (1-0-1)

5 - Attica (1-1)

6 - Kendall (0-3)

Division 2:

1 - Elba (3-0)

2 - Wheatland-Chili (2-1)

3 - Lyndonville (2-2)

4 - Oakfield-Alabama (1-1)

5 - Batavia Notre Dame (0-4)

Elba knocked off Wheatland-Chili in the 1st week giving them the definite upper hand in the Division 2 reach.  Wheatland knocked off Holley on Friday and the cross-over games for Elba and Wheatland will definitely play a huge role in who ends up on top of this division.  Without a major mistake by both the other 3 teams should not challenge the top 2 teams in Division 2.

In division 1 Pembroke is technically in 1st being the only team without a loss in the league.  Alexander and Bergen have identical records and tied each other meaning they are neck and neck.  Holley lost to Wheatland on Friday putting them a step behind the top 3 at the current moment.  Elba and Wheatland will have a huge impact on who wins Division 1 as both should be able to compete with (and possibly beat) the top 4 teams in Division 1.  This is the first time in a number of years that Division 2 will have such a huge impact in the Division 1 title race.

Stats:

Goals - Clark (Elba) 9, Drage (Wheatland) 6 lead the way.

Assists - Marshall (Elba) 4, Smith (Wheatland) 3 lead the way.

The top 3 goalies in the league appear to be Wilson from Alexander, Brooks from Holley and Reeb from Pembroke.

The league races are shaking up to be very interesting.