At any time, and with any provocation, the Jamesville-DeWitt girls soccer team can unload a tremendous amount of scoring power on any opponent – even one as familiar as Christian Brothers Academy.
Such was the case again Tuesday afternoon, as the Red Rams jumped all over the Brothers in a 15-minute second-half outburst, turning a tight battle into a 7-1 rout.
J-D, who sat at 11-0-1 and no. 8 in the state Class A rankings had beaten CBA 6-0 back on Sept. 15 at Alibrandi Stadium, but remembered that, in the aftermath of a similar rout in 2010, the Brothers had won the rematch on the Rams’ home field.
The odds of that happening again appeared quite long. CBA, coming off a 2-2 draw with East Syracuse-Minoa on Oct. 7 where Olivia Pitonzo had scored both goals in the first half, had seen its top goalie, Courtney Henderson, go down with a season-ending ankle injury late in September. Sophomore Lindsey Evans had taken her place.
Just 5:26 into the game, CBA had a brief reason to smile as Eva Gordon’s hard shot from the right side glanced off a J-D defender enough to fly past Rams goalie Abbey Smith. That lead lasted all of four minutes, though, as Emily Elbers flew a free kick into the top left corner of the net to tie it, 1-1.
Tessa Devereaux, closing in on 100 career goals, missed a penalty kick in the 28th minute, but six minutes later she took a pass from Jessica Holmes and cleverly dribbled around a charging Evans before depositing the ball in the open net to put J-D in front for good.
Still, at 2-1, the Brothers were not out of it – at least until the early part of the second half, when, off a corner kick, Ella DiGiovanni poked home a rebound, increasing the margin to 3-1.
So began a stretch where, over the next 15 minutes, J-D would score four more times.
In order, Maddy Devereaux ripped home a 20-yard shot from the point, Tessa Devereaux converted off a Holmes rebound, Allie Balotin found the net when Tessa’s attempt at the hat trick slipped out of Evans’ hands, and Holmes herself put home the final goal in the 59th minute.
J-D followed that up with Thursday’s 6-0 shutout of Mexico, and again the Rams followed up modest first-half production with a big late surge.
Tessa Devereaux maintained her torrid pace, scoring twice and adding a pair of assists. Maddy Devereaux also got two goals, while Holmes had a goal and assist and Olivia Ferlenda also converted.
As the Red Rams rested, CBA played Saturday against Rochester Aquinas and beat the Little Irish 3-2. Marisa Romeo scored twice, while Olivia Pitonzo notched the other goal and Gordon added a pair of assists. Evans picked up seven saves.
