Sophomores came through in the clutch as Jacob Lenhard staked the boys to a 1-0 lead on their way to a 2-1 victory before Bre DeHond registered one goal and one assist to lead the girls to an identical 2-1 win in a soccer doubleheader with Webster-Thomas.
Spencerport controlled the ball for large portions of the first half and had at least four legitimate scoring chances, but settled for a 0-0 halftime tie in the opening boys contest.
A little over two minutes into the second half, senior Greg Ranieri lofted a pass over the heads of the Titans defenders where Lenhard one-touched a pass to himself and found the lower left corner of the net for a 1-0 Rangers lead.
“We had to change it up because sometimes things don’t work during a game and you have to find the opening,” Ranieri said about his assist. “I saw my man running and I was able to find him over the top and a great finish by him.”
Thomas tied the game at 1-1 less than ten minutes later, but the Rangers netted the game-winner at 59:20 as junior Vincent Ranieri crossed the ball to senior Frants Valodzka, who had his shot blocked by the defense. But the rebound went to Gianni Pellett who found the back of the net.
“Considering we’ve been winning by four, five goals for our past five games; good teams win ugly, so it (not converting in the first half) was frustrating but we found a way to win it,” Ranieri said.
“They came out hard and pushed us hard and fortunately we got the win,” first year head coach Jody Wyant said. “They’re used to getting on top, so I just told them at halftime that they just had to play faster and play with pace.
“We’ve found some success early and enjoyed that. It’s a roller coaster and we want to try to minimize the ups and downs.”
The Ranger girls followed much the same script in terms of ball control and frustration at not converting all but one of their multiple first half scoring opportunities.
They did jump out to a 1-0 advantage in the 24th minute as DeHond headed in a cross from the right corner by classmate Erica Beaty.
Thomas had a few more scoring opportunities through the opening portion of the second half, including a pair of saves in the 52nd and 55th minutes by Spencerport senior goalkeeper Cat Wall – two of her five saves during the contest.
The Rangers earned a two-goal cushion at 73:20 as DeHond raced down the right sideline and sent a perfect cross to sophomore Lily Brongo, who redirected it into the back of the net.
“There was a throw-in, Maddie (Brongo) headed it, I got it and dribbled through everyone, saw Lily and passed it and she got it far post,” DeHond said.
The Titans made things interesting with a goal in the 74th minute to cut the Rangers lead to one, but were held in check the rest of the way.
“We could have had a few more goals, but they’re a good team keeping their shape well and their goalie was good,” Spencerport head coach Jamie Schneider said. “We created a lot of good chances and you can’t finish all of them.
“I thought that was our most complete game thus far on both sides of the ball.”
The girls improved to 4-1-1 with the victory.
