DISTRICT 6 SOCCER PLAYOFFS

Lady Little Lions rout Lewistown

Steve Richards

STATE COLLEGE — State College out-shot Lewistown 26-0 en route to an 8-0 rout in a District 6 Class AAA girls' soccer quarterfinal on Thursday.

CDT/Michelle Bixby

State College's Megan Ritchey (17) goes up against Lewistown's Logan Snyder (24) during the Lewistown at State College girls' soccer game Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009. CDT/Michelle Bixby

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Seventeen of the 26 shots came in the first half, a half in which Lewistown continually found itself in the defensive zone. The dominant start for the Little Lady Lions can be attributed to a series of three practices conducted by coach Kevin Morooney leading up to the game.

“Our primary focus was to be really intense and have a good start in those scrimmages,” said Morooney.

“I changed the conditions and evaluated the effort after each one.”

The positive results were evident early and often, with the first goal coming at the 4:18 mark from Kelsey Gill unassisted.

Gill and Kelsey Graham played give-and-go three different times before the second tally for State College came 10 minutes later at the 14:37 mark from Lauren Kenney.

Substitute Lauren Eck had her hand in the next two goals, assisting Paige Fry at the 21:59 mark and scoring her own less than two minutes later at 23:37.

Taylor Webster got in on the scoring action at 36:06, and was joined by Kathleen Warner on a cross from Megan Ritchey at 37:55 to close out a 6-0 first half for the Lady Little Lions.

When speaking of his team’s dominant first half performance in which it tallied 13 scoring chances, Morooney mentioned a few small things but said the biggest adjustment made was “changing the goal from scoring to just managing the game — trying to figure out how to maintain the lead.”

State College not only maintained a lead in the second half, but it also extended its advantage. Gill found the back of the net for a second time at 43:37, less than four minutes into the second half.

After a lot of possession and ball control by the Lady Little Lions, they again broke through, this time on a penalty kick, from Warner for her second on the night.

Morooney attributed the massive shot advantage, especially giving up zero, to the maturity of his team.

“Our backs and midfielders were in great position to make plays and win the 50- 50 balls,” he said. “I didn’t realize we gave up no shots, but our experience can be credited for that.”

State College came back this season with seven returning letter winners.

In addition to firing 26 shots, State College also finished with six corner kicks, with Warner’s first goal a result of one. The Lady Little Lions forced Lewistown goalie Emma Hepler to make 13 saves, all of which had her diving for all corners of the net.

State College faces rival Hollidaysburg on Monday, the third time the teams will meet this season.

“There is obviously a lot of familiarity between the two teams” says Marooney. “That makes effort, execution, and adjustments that much more important. It should be an emotional game.”