Jamestown uses strong first half to defeat Cayuga

The Jamestown Jayhawks took advantage of an own goal by the Spartans and being up two players for the first 45 minutes of today's contest, and where able to withstand the flurry of rushes the Spartans put on them in the second half, to win 3-1.  The Jayhawks got onto the scoreboard in the first 3 minutes as a direct result of a mishit ball on an attempted clear by the Spartan defense.  Their second goal came off a counter attack where the Spartans allowed Nicole Mahoney to get in behind the defense on a through ball from Linnea Anderson.  This would be the first of two goals scored by Mahoney on the day, with her second one coming on another counter attack with 9 minutes remaining in the match, assisted by Danelle Shelters.  The Spartans found themselves right in the game just two minutes prior to the Jayhawks final goal, on a beautiful strike from Katie Byrnes, with Erin Butler collecting the assist from the perfectly played drop pass to Byrnes. 

"Starting the game down 2 was something we were prepared for as we had two young ladies who could not leave class prior to the game and we do not sacrifice academics for athletics at Cayuga.  I think the 9 on the field were a bit flat after the own goal and played too many second balls instead of being aggressive to the 50/50 chances.  We left too much space in the middle of the field in the first half, and Jamestown certainly won the possession game," said Coach Renaud.

"The second half was a complete 180, as we dominated possession and had the ball in our offensive third for the majority of time remaining in the match.  Prior to Katie's goal we had three real solid chances on net from Theresa Miller (Poplar Ridge, NY), Tia Segretto (Jordan, NY) and Katie Byrnes (Jordan-Elbridge, NY), but Pleszewski had perfect positioning on each strike allowing her to make two clean saves and push the other off for a corner kick.  Their last goal was a direct result of Coach Simmons and I pushing everyone forward in attempts to get the equalizer, and we simply go caught at the midfield line, allowing Shelters in 1 v 1 with Breanne Becker (Lusby, MD).  We simply needed a full 90 minutes of pressure play to win today."

The Spartans finished out their home slate and will close out the season at #4 Nationally Ranked, Finger Lakes Community College, on Friday, 10/12 at 4 p.m. and then finish off the season Tuesday, 10/16 at 4 p.m. on the road to Niagara Community College.

Statistics:  Shots- Jamestown 36, Cayuga 13; Saves- Jamestown 7 (Pleszewski), Cayuga 19 (Becker); Fouls- Jamestown 7, Cayuga 7; Offsides- Jamestown 4, Cayuga 1; Corner Kicks- Jamestown 8, Cayuga 1