April 10, 2005

Country's Best Team Finds Title Hard To Hold
Aaron Summers, SCVarsity.com Staff

Now ranked as not only the top team in the state but also the top team in the country, the Northwestern boys soccer players have seen the target on their backs grow even larger. Day in and day out, the Trojans know to expect everybody’s best shot. But despite playing a man down for much of the second half, the Trojans averted disaster on Wednesday, turning back a fierce challenge from the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets. Fort Mill kept the game scoreless through regulation with stellar play from their goalkeeper Will Barbieri, but it was Northwestern’s goalkeeper Taylor Crawford stealing the show in a shootout, as the Trojans eventually besting the Yellow Jackets via penalty kicks, 4-2.

“I was a little worried,” Northwestern head coach Nick Finotti said, concerning the fact that his keeper hadn’t faced a shot during the run of play. “But confidence plays a huge role for a goalkeeper, and Crawford has an extremely high level of confidence.”

Barbieri played a dual role and led off the round of penalty kicks, beating his opposite number Crawford with a well placed strike. Nathan Arroyo followed suit for Northwestern, evening the ledger. Fort Mill’s Bryan Berky and Northwestern’s Ben Brannan also netted their attempts, before Matt Riggio’s shot for the Yellow Jackets sailed safely over the goal.

“All of the pressure was on me, and I wanted to do it for my teammates,” Crawford said. “I knew he was all about power, and I knew he’d go high so I tried to get into his head.” With a successful conversion, Reid Hovis sent the Trojans ahead, putting them in control of their own destiny. Providing margin for error, Crawford smothered the next Fort Mill attempt, and Holden McConahey followed with the clincher for Northwestern, burying the ball in the back of the net.

“A game that goes to penalty kicks like this is a crap-shoot, a lottery where anybody can win,” Finotti said. “We kept attacking, but it seemed that we couldn’t get any breaks,” Finotti said. “We had a lot of dangerous chances in regulation, but they came up short.”

Northwestern (15-0) came out strong in the opening minutes, holding possession in Fort Mill’s third of the field. But the Yellow Jackets (12-2-2), ranked No. 6 in the state, refused to cede any quality shots, allowing only two shots on goal in the first half, keeping the game deadlocked at the break.

In the second half, a quick red card to Northwestern’s Ryan Kropp changed the tone of the game, as the Trojans were forced to play a man down. Despite the advantage, Fort Mill left Crawford untested, never able to muster a shot on goal.

“We were hoping to possess the ball a little better and knock it around like we normally do,” Fort Mill head coach Denny Saverance said. “But for some reason, our passing game was off. We were hoping to wear them down, but our fitness shape is not where it needed to be.”

In fact, the Trojans were responsible for a bulk of the offense, particularly battering Barbieri in the closing minutes. But Barbieri was up to the challenge, turning away four corner kicks and two set pieces over the final 10 minutes of regulation.

“Our strategy did not change a bit,” Finotti said. “We kept trying to attack, picking times to get behind them. I didn’t want them to sense panic in me; otherwise they might have panicked themselves.”

The pattern continued in overtime, as Barbieri was called upon to keep the Yellow Jackets alive. Though playing a man up, the Yellow Jackets seemed to tire more quickly than the Trojans, playing close to the vest in extra time in hopes of forcing a shootout.

“We were hoping to possess the ball a little better and knock it around like we normally do,” Saverance said. “But for some reason, our passing game was off. We were hoping to wear them down, but our fitness shape is not where it needed to be. In the second five, we just ran out of steam. We didn’t have it in us.”

Meanwhile, the Trojans continued to go for the jugular, determined not to let a lottery of penalty kicks decide their fate.

“Our strategy did not change a bit,” Finotti said, when questioned as to how he and the Trojans adapted following the red card. “We kept trying to attack, picking times to get behind them. I didn’t want them to sense panic in me; otherwise they might have panicked themselves.”

But despite Northwestern’s efforts, Barbieri repeatedly denied the Trojans in overtime, ultimately forcing the shootout.

“Barbieri is a great keeper, one of our team leaders,” Saverance said. “This is a terrible way to lose, but we’re really proud of the guys.”

“Barbieri was unbelievable,” Finotti concurred. “He’s a fantastic goalkeeper, and he played very well. The whole Fort Mill team played very well, with a lot of character.”

Finotti was just happy to escape unscathed, noting his team’s determination when the chips were down.

“We’re a target, more than anybody can believe,” Finotti said. “We get everybody’s best shot; everybody is gunning for you.”

April 10, 2005

Kicking Around: The Week In Girl's Soccer
John Devlin, SCVarsity.com Staff

The year before the arrival of Torey Lybrand and coach Ryan Roseberry, the Westside girls’ soccer team posted a 1-16 record and was out-scored by
a combined 145-1 count for the season.

“People wondered if I was crazy taking this job,” said Roseberry.

Having a player of Lybrand’s ability fall into his lap helped Roseberry plant the seeds of reform. Initially, the transfer from the Fort Mill area
proved to be a solid, but not spectacular, addition to the Rams. In the first two seasons
together in Anderson, Lybrand and Roseberry help change Westside’s reputation for soccer futility. The Rams won three matches in 2003, and posted a school-record five wins a year ago.

This season, however, has been a coming-out party for Westside soccer – for the Rams in general, and for Lybrand in particular.

With Lybrand scoring goals at a copious rate, Westside is off to an eye-opening 9-3-1 start. Lybrand, a center midfielder and sweeper, has exploded for an out-of-nowhere total of 42 goals and eight assists, good a state-leading total of 90 points.

“Torey was a good player when she first got here, but she certainly didn’t show the ability that she does now,” said Roseberry. “The rise in her talent level this season has been meteoric, and it’s all because her exceptional work ethic. She wants to be a top-flight player, and she puts in an amazing
amount of time into it.”

All that effort – summer weight training, club soccer play, endless skills work – has played off in spectacular success for the 5-foot-5 junior.

“You don’t get a lot of girls that can take people on one-on-one with the ball the way Torey does,” said Roseberry. “There have been times when she’s dribbled the length of the field to score. She’s scored in a myriad of ways, and she can really pass the ball. The interesting thing is that she does not want to be a star. She’d rather be a good player that helps a good team win.”

Lybrand’s commitment to the team is obvious in her acceptance to lead the defense at sweeper in matches against the top teams in Region 1-AAAA.

“Torey’s only failed to score in three games this season, and those were in matches that she played sweeper,” said Roseberry.

The immediate goal for the Rams this season is to finish at least in fourth place in the region and to make the state playoff cut for the first time in school history.


“That would be a tremendous accomplishment for the program,” said Roseberry. “We’ve won more games than any other team in school history, but
making it to the state playoffs would probably be an even bigger step for us as a team.”

Westside is still far behind region leaders Wren, Greenwood and cross-town rival T.L. Hanna. If the Rams are to make the move to playoff status, they will have to sweep Easley.

AROUND THE STATE

CLASS 4A

April 5 – Elyse Clarke scored two goals and freshman keeper Carolina Cooper was flawless in the nets as James Island scored a 2-0 Region 7 win
over Wando … Laura Bendenbaugh handled all the scoring in Hartsville’s 4-0 Region 6 win over South Florence … Lauren Buonaiuto had two goals and an assist as defending Region 8 champion Hilton Head tuned up for the first of two heavyweight bouts with Summerville with a 6-0 win over Beaufort … Kadi Mosheni scored three goals Leigh Ward added two more in Fort Dorchester’s 8-0 Region 8 win over Battery Creek … Alexis Brothers found the range four times and Julie Bolt added two goals for West Ashley in a 12-0 Region 8 win over Berkeley … Danielle Schmitt and Jen ****len both had two goals and an assist in Fort Mill’s 7-0 Region 3 win over York. The top-ranked Yellow
Jackets launched 32 shots in the match … Freshmen Leslie Sweat and Sarah Gilliam scored four goals apiece in Summerville’s 10-0 Region 8 win over Colleton County … Alex Mouton and Tenlley Desjardins both scored hat tricks in Richland Northeast’s 13-0 Region 5 win over Lower Richland. Mouton also had three assists … Hannah Walsh
finished with four goals and two assists in White Knoll’s 7-0 Region 4 win over Orangeburg-Wilkinson … Amanda McPhail assisted of two goals as Dutch Fork downed Ridge View 3-1 in Region 5 action.

April 6 – Sarah Catenacci scored three goals in Wando’s 6-0 Region 7 win over Goose Creek.

April 7 – Samantha Watts tallied the only goal and
LaShawn Reed made six saves as Spring Valley scored a 1-0 upset win over Lexington.

CLASS 3A

April 4 – Pendleton wrapped up the Region 1 championship in its first year as a varsity program with 1-0 shootout win over Walhalla. Caitlin Williams, Jessica Garrett, Kimberly Dehondt and Morgan Matzolf converted PK opportunities for the Bulldogs, but the verdict wasn’t assured until keeper made a sliding save on
Walhalla’s last shot … Michelle Robertson scored three goals, while Caroline Walker and Kim Powers scored two each in Wade Hampton’s 9-0 Region 2 win over Blue Ridge. Power also had two helpers for the Generals … Riverside freshman Sarah Jacobs
scored the only goal of the match as the Warriors nipped archrival Eastside, 1-0.

April 5 – Ashley Kidwell scored two goals as Socastee beat North Myrtle Beach 4-0 in a Region 7 match … Kerstin Williams took care of the scoring and Niky Ford made nine saves in a 1-0 Region 7 win by St. James over Georgetown … Abbey Martin scored three goals and Charity Cirillo had three assists in Eastside’s 12-0 win over Greer … Blackwell had two goals and an assist in Travelers Rest’s 3-0 win over Pickens … Katie Comalander had a goal and an assist in Chapin’s 3-2 non-region win over A.C. Flora … Ellison Sharpe scored two goals and set up another in Dreher’s 4-1 win over Hammond.

April 6 – Tollison scored four goals and had two assists in Greenville’s 11-0 Region 2 win over Blue Ridge … Lindsey Danderfield, Courtney Shumpert and Hannah Wilson all scored hat tricks in Airport’s 14-0 non-region win over Camden. Dangerfield and Shumpert were also credited with two assists apiece. Sierra Jones had three helpers for the Eagles.

April 7 – Hannah Wilson scored two goals, and Courtney Shumpert had a goal and two assists in Airport’s 4-0 win over 4A Hartsville … Christian
Patton posted a hat trick and Mallory Phillips had two assists in Brookland-Cayce’s 5-0 Region 5 win over Dreher.

CLASS 2A

April 4 – Erica Bunke scored two goals as Bishop England ripped archrival Porter-Gaud 7-0.

April 6 – Erica Bowne had two goals in Christ Church’s 3-0 win over Walhalla … Kristi Cameron scored two goals as Ninety Six beat Gilbert
5-0.