Naz Topples Orchard Park
9/22/2009

September 20, 2009

Bill McKee’s Nazareth Lasers made the best of a change of scenery on Saturday night. The Blue and Gold travelled west on the New York State Thruway for a key non-league match with the Orchard Park Quakers of Section VI.

Emily Kelly converted a set piece, and the Lasers made the goal stand for a 1-0 victory over the Quakers.

Kelly’s goal came in the match’s 26th minute when Melissa Ercoli’s direct kick from the left flank found Kelly waiting on the far post. The pair has teamed for goals in consecutive matches.

From there, Nazareth’s defense took over as the Quakers applied pressure in the second half. Ercoli along with fellow defenders, Brianna Pettinaro, Haley Swanson, Lauren Kelly, and Sara Hart-Predmore were integral in the protecting the lead.

Janine Swanson was the ship’s rudder as the Lasers weathered an Orchard Park storm. Amanda Mietus came off the bench and provided valuable minutes alongside Swanson in the midfield.

The few balls that eluded the Naz defense found Megan Kane alertly waiting in goal. The senior keeper, in her first season between the pipes, is proving herself as a quick study. Kane made three pivotal saves early in the second stanza, but she needed help to complete the shutout.

In the game’s closing minutes, Kane left the line to smother a loose ball when an inadvertent foot struck her in the eye. Savannah Tucker logged her first varsity minutes in goal making one save to preserve the shutout.

Twice, fortune shined on the Lasers. Orchard Park appeared to net a pair of tallies – one in the first half and another when Kane was injured. Both goals were disallowed. The first was deemed offsides, and the second was ruled to have been in Kane’s possession when the Quaker forward made contact with the ball.  

Nazareth threatened late in the second half. Anna Brado won a ball in the right corner and crossed it to the box for an open Biannca Bullard. The senior forward tucked the ball just wide of frame.

Naz improves to 3-2 with the triumph. The win marks the second in a row for the Lasers over the Class AA school from Buffalo. Last season, Cece Gotham and Harley Cleary scored to lead Naz to an overtime win, 2-1.

Paul Gotham
Pickin' Splinters