Just Kickin’ It

Girls: Final 4 preview

November

Let’s get right to it. Both games are state semifinals on Friday.

Class A

Rye (16-4-1) vs. Section 3’s Cortland (18-4-1), 11:45 a.m. at Tompkins CC in Dryden, NY: Cortland has the homefield advantage. To me, that’s immaterial however. It’s not like there are going to be thousands of fans standing outside in the cold temperature making it intimidating for Rye. I don’t think that should have much impact on the game. We all know what Rye needs to do. Get the ball to Alexandra Rimmer and Lia Bellizzi as often as possible. If it means bringing Bellizzi a little bit further back into the middle of the field just to get her some more touches, I think it’s worth it just so she can make her presence felt in the game. Goalkeeper Tatiana Saunders needs to put forth another solid outing. Cortland has won 12 straight games and is led by junior Aubrey VanGorder, who has 19 goals. Her older sister, Emily VanGorder, is the team’s best defensive player. Other players that needed to be marked closely are Katherine Hunsberger, a senior forward with 16 goals and midfielder Casey Marks. Rye can go into this game feeling confident. Its playing its best soccer of the year in the playoffs having outscored opponents 11-0 thus far.

The pick: Rye

Class B

Briarcliff (21-1) vs. Ravnea (15-7-1), 2:30 p.m. at Tompkins CC in Dryden, NY: Have I seen Ravena? No. But the team is 15-7-1. I just can’t see how a team with seven losses is going to beat Briarcliff. Of course anything can happen, but this would be a huge upset. Briarcliff doesn’t have those letdown games against opponents that aren’t as talented, and if it were ever to have one, it would never come in a state semifinal with so much on the line. The Bears want that second straight state championship. Ravena has one superstar who Briarcliff will need to monitor closely. Ravena’s Ashley Wilson has 39 goals and no other player has more than 10. Provided she doesn’t have an absolutely incredible game, this seems like a Briarcliff win.

The pick: Briarcliff

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 13th, 2008 at 3:55 pm by Jeff Gold. Print | Email

One Response to “Girls: Final 4 preview”

BHS Fan November 14th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Will someone be updating scores during the game today? Some us can’t make the schlep up to Cortland to watch the game.

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