Kendall girls soccer team goes all the way to semis

One year ago, the Kendall girls soccer team won a Section Five title, won the state qualifier and lost in the quarterfinals to Allegheny. This season, the Eagles again won a Sectional title; won their state qualifier and this time beat Allegheny 3-1 to advance to the state semi-finals. Elmira-Notre Dame was the opponent and Kendall fell 3-2 on a snow-covered and muddy Brighton high school field.

Elmira took a 1-0 lead in the third minute and made it 2-0 in the 21st minute before Laura Gaesser brought Kendall back to within one with a goal in the 31st minute and that's how the teams entered half time.

"At halftime, I knew it would be important to score the next goal," said Section Five Head Coach of the Year and Kendall head coach John King. "I thought we had the momentum and were showing a lot of determination with the conditions."

Elmira would get the next goal and take a 3-1 lead in the 68th minute. Kendall then turned up the pressure and did pull within one when Gaesser took a direct kick from 30-yards out with 57 seconds left in regulation and skipped it past the goalkeeper to close the gap to 3-2. But the Eagles could not get the tying goal in the final minute.

Elmira managed 18 shots and had four corner kicks in the game. Kendall had 11 shots and did not have a corner kick. Eagles senior Jen Overfield was the recipient of the Sportsmanship Award given after the game. The Eagles are losing just six seniors (Gaesser, Overfield, Briana Johnson, Jessica Bolton, Lauren LaPenna, Regina Catalino) and will be prepared to make the next step into the state finals next season.

"This season was unbelievable with everybody being so tight on our team," said Gaesser who finished her high school career with 120 goals shattering the previous team high of 81. "Even with the younger players, we were all great friends. I'm proud to be a part of the first Kendall team to make it this far."