A mere 12 days after roasting in brutal heat during the finals of its own tournament, the Jamesville-DeWitt girls soccer team visited Christian Brothers Academy amid conditions more than 40 degrees colder.
But if the air was chilly, the Red Rams’ play did not reflect it, as it used both speed and skill to leave the Brothers far behind in a 6-0 romp in front of a large and loud crowd at Alibrandi Stadium.
Going in, a lot of the talk was centered on how CBA’s Eva Gordon had carried her side to a 3-0 start, scoring nine goals in those games, including all three against Chittenango and all four against East Syracuse-Minoa earlier in the week.
Quickly, though, it was apparent that Gordon would be a non-factor on this night. Every time she got near the ball, J-D defenders Jenna Hayward and Stephanie Mannion, helped by midfielder Caroline Kopp, would tail Gordon, and the double and triple teams would prove effective.’
More effective, though, was the J-D’s quick and exciting attack tore CBA’s defense apart, finding all kinds of ways to put the ball in the net.
Less than six minutes into the game, Maddy Devereaux’s corner kick slid to the middle, where a charging Jessica Holmes poked it past Courtney Henderson. In the 27th minute, Devereaux, this time in the middle, rocketed a hard right-footed shot into the right side of the net to make it 2-0.
Already in trouble, CBA made it worse late in the half when one of its defenders accidentally headed Devereaux’s cross from the right backwards, over Henderson’s head and home for an ‘own goal’, and it was 3-0 going into halftime.
After watching her younger sister control the first half, Tessa Devereaux had her big moments in the second half, after Ella DiGiovanni headed home a corner kick that expanded the margin to 4-0.
In the 50th minute, J-D forced a free kick from 20 yards out. A handful of defenders were in front of Devereaux, as was Lindsay Evans, who had replaced Henderson in the net. And they were all spectators as Tessa’s perfect shot zoomed into the right side of the net.
Just to cap it off, Tessa Devereaux put in a fast-break goal with six minutes left, and the Red Rams moved into sole possession of first place in the OHSL Freedom division. J-D and CBA meet again on the Rams’ home turf Oct. 11.
Before all this, it had already proved an eventful week. Gordon had put on a tremendous individual show in last Tuesday’s 4-1 win over ESM, while the Red Rams got a test from Chittenango before beating the Bears 3-1.
ESM entered its game against CBA boasting a 3-0 mark, but Gordon hit them for a goal at the 10-minute mark, the only tally for either side in a first half where the Spartans dominated the late stages, but could not put anything past Henderson.
It was still 1-0 when, midway through the second half, Gordon beat two defenders and spun a shot past Casie Auricchio to double CBA’s margin. ESM answered two minutes later when Olivia Chopskie converted a penalty kick to make it 2-1.
With 9:58 left, Gordon earned the hat trick with a 50-yard run to the net, against speeding past multiple ESM players on her way to the net. Just to be sure, Gordon pounced on her own rebound of a hard shot with 2:12 to play for a fourth goal.
Nothing like this happened when J-D faced Chittenango. Instead, the Rams had to deal with a red-hot goalie in Sierra Shafer, who kept the Bears in the contest by recording 16 saves.
Still, in the second half J-D got away as Tessa and Maddy Deveraux both found the net, as did eighth-grader Allie Balotin. Holmes and DiGiovanni earned one assist apiece.
Just as J-D was devouring CBA, to the north ESM was doing the same to Phoenix in an 8-0 romp.
Seven of the goals came in the first half, Amanda Wall earning a three-goal hat trick, plus an assist. Chopskie had a goal and two assists, with Sarah Britton, Alex McEachron, Kailtyn Shaughnessy and Haley Wodarczyk also converting. Heather Hiltbrand added an assist.
