By Paul Cifonelli / Editor-in-Chief
BROCKPORT, N.Y. — There’s many ways to win a high school soccer game, whether it’s a high-scoring shootout or a low-scoring grinder. Brockport (5-6-0) girls’ soccer ended its 2020 regular season with a 4-1 victory over Greece Arcadia (2-10-0), primarily by controlling the ball and taking plenty of shots.
While ball control wasn’t necessarily something that was stressed by Brockport head coach Matt Davis, he noticed his team plays better when it does what it did tonight.
“We needed to make a conscious effort to control the ball a little bit more,” Davis said. “We haven’t been doing that and we’ve had a bit of a rough stretch, so it was a good opportunity for us to work our shape a little bit and move the ball around.”
It took some time, but that ball movement turned into goals for the Blue Devils. Jenna McNulty put her team on the board in the 18th minute by putting a free kick in the net for her first goal of the season.
@BportGSoccer gets on the board with 22:29 left in the first half. Jenna McNulty finds the back of the net on a free kick. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/N21SeajUKT
— Paul Cifonelli (@PCifonelli) November 7, 2020
Just three minutes later, Nadia Nealon, the primary distributor in the game and one of the main ball-handlers, scored her fourth goal of the season on a shot from well outside the box that his the crossbar and deflected in.
Nadia Nealon goes bar down with 19 minutes left in the first half to give @BportGSoccer a 2-0 advantage. Brockport is right back on the offensive after that. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/xQPZNwuYkL
— Paul Cifonelli (@PCifonelli) November 7, 2020
After the two tallies, Brockport didn’t let down. It kept the pressure on through the halftime break and Maija Young and Paige Taylor turned it into two more goals. Young registered her seventh goal of the campaign, while Taylor’s tally was her first.
With a 4-0 lead in hand, goalie Ava Velletri saved a penalty kick with eight minutes remaining that looked like it would secure the shutout for the Blue Devils.
@BportGSoccer goalie Ava Velletri saved a penalty kick to keep the shutout alive with just over 8 minutes left. Still 4-0 @BCSDBlueDevils @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/5y8ndC25lK
— Paul Cifonelli (@PCifonelli) November 7, 2020
That didn’t last, though, as Mya Drake put away a goal for Greece Arcadia in the 76th minute. Drake’s goal was her second of the season.
Brockport will enter sectional play as the #11 seed and will take on #6 Churchville-Chili in the first round. Davis thinks his team’s record is deceiving because of the schedule they’ve played and that they have a chance to make some noise in the postseason.
“We’ve had some ups and downs for sure, but if you look at the teams we’ve lost to, they’re going to be right at the top at the end,” Davis said. “I think playing the schedule that we play is going to benefit us in sectionals and at this point you never know. There’s just one game and anything can happen.”
Brockport will open sectional play on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 6 p.m. Greece Arcadia is the #14 seed and will take on #3 Honeoye Falls-Lima on the same day at 6 p.m.
