Seward Lady Spartans advance to New York State final four

Florida - And then there were four. That’s the number of teams remaining in the hunt for the girls’ New York State Class C Soccer Championship. The Seward Lady Spartans joined that dwindling group by virtue of a 3-1 opening-round win against Haldane and a 1-0 victory over the Friends Academy at Hofstra University in the state quarter-finals. Last Monday at the Sports Dome in Milton the Lady Spartans had to overcome the absence of high-scoring forward Theresa Space who was forced to leave early in the game with a leg injury. The gritty senior returned briefly, but was forced to sit out the remainder of the game with about 20 minutes gone in the first half. Not to worry. Freshman Vivien Greiser floated a long crossing pass that was bobbled by the Haldane’s keeper and veteran Angela Flores calmly booted it home. That 1-0 lead lasted until Haldane of Cold Spring tied it 24 minutes into the first half. Ten minutes later Seward’s sophomore midfielder Mallory Matuseski was able to control a loose ball just outside the penalty area and boot Florida back in front to stay. Just before half-time Flores was in the right place at the right time again. She was able to slide the ball to freshman Michelle Dugan who notched the important insurance goal, and that’s the way the score remained throughout the final 40 minutes. Last Saturday at Hofstra, Seward was forced to play again without 43-goal Space. Her absence affected the rhythm of play for the Spartans. Not quite enough, however, for coach Joe DiMattina’s team to eke out a narrow 1-0 win and send the Lady Spartans to the Final Four. The semi-final game will be played today at Union-Endicott High School near Binghamton. A win there would send them to the finals the next day at Binghamton High School. But that’s getting ahead of the story. For now shine the spotlight on a few heroes, actually heroines, of the win against the Friends Academy from Long Island. Spartan goalkeeper Alina Greiser, a freshman, coolly turned away everything the Friends had to offer, and the defense in front of her led by Larissa Brodman rose to the occasion time after time. Offensively, another freshman Michelle Dugan was wearing the mantle of game-winner. After a scoreless first half and almost thirty minutes of the second half, the hustling Dugan gathered in a pass from Angela Flores and sent the Spartans on their way to the Final Four. Those other freshmen like Jillian Collova, Vivien Greiser and eighth-grader Jessica Hoare are the future, but they also have played key roles in the present. If Space is still out, those youngsters, together with their older teammates, will have to perform at their best if the Lady Spartans expect to reach that ultimate goal of “State Champions.”