Only eight girl’s soccer programs in history have won three consecutive state titles in any class and the Spencerport Rangers took another step toward becoming the ninth with a 3-0 victory over Amherst in the Class A Western Regionals.
The game was scoreless at halftime despite a Leah Wengender direct kick that glanced off the top of the crossbar in the seventh minute and a Tigers attempt that needed a diving stop by Rangers goalkeeper Cat Wall in the 34th minute.
It took the Rangers fewer than four minutes into the second half to take the lead as Wengender and Erin Coykendall combining on a perfect give-and-go with the former finishing into the lower right corner of the net at 43:16.
“First half I think we were just getting used to how the other team plays since we’ve never seen them before, so it took a little bit to get used to it,” Wengender said. “Me and Erin have been playing together since we were nine years old and have always been up top together; it’s such good chemistry and we’re such good friends off the field and it helps so much.”
Wengender gave the Rangers a two-goal cushion in the 71st minute as she raced in on a break and scored into the lower left corner after a pass from Coykendall.
Four minutes later junior Maddie Tortora fed Coykendall for the final goal.
“We’ve only let in six goals the entire season and every great team needs a good defense and our defense is great,” Wengender said.
“I think what this team does is they know they have to earn every win; they never take anything for granted so 80 minutes means 80 minutes until we get the results,” Rangers head coach Jamie Schneider said. “They know how to handle that.”
Spencerport will battle Jamesville-DeWitt of Syracuse in the semi-finals Saturday, November 10 at 5:30 p.m. at Tompkins County Community College with the winner advancing to the Class A final against the Vestal vs. Valley Stream South winner Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at Cortland High School.
