Ridgway girls soccer dominates Smethport, 4-0

September 19, 2012

Alyssa Mitchell fights for possession for the Lady Elkers against Mikayla Brinker of Smethport Wednesday afternoon during a 4-0 Ridgway win.

Ridgway had most of the possession, most of the chances and all of the goals against Smethport Wednesday.
The Lady Elkers kept the ball in Smethport’s end for much of the second half as Ridgway won 4-0 over the Lady Hubbers at Francis S. Grandinetti Elementary School.
Ridgway was faced with a Smethport defense which played to defend its goal and poured more personnel into the defensive third.
“They knew we had more of an offensive threat this year,” Ridgway coach Greg Maddalena said. “They packed it in. I said ‘Girls, you’re really going to have to work hard.’ I want to keep them wide, cross it in and attack.”
The Lady Elkers had three corner kicks in the first 10 minutes of play and broke through on the scoreboard with 27:19 left in the first half. Angela DeAngelo fired a shot from outside the penalty area on the right wing which went in the upper right corner of the net for a 1-0 Ridgway lead.
Ridgway continued the pressure for much of the first half and doubled its lead with 15:39 left in the half. Midfielder Ashley Imbrogno fed a pass to Jenna DeAngelo. DeAngelo ripped a shot into the upper right corner as well to double the Lady Elker lead to 2-0.
Jenna DeAngelo and Abbie Lampman also had good efforts at goal as the first half wound down.
Ridgway striker Rhianon Fowler ended the first half with an exclamation point as she added a goal with 22.4 seconds remaining for a 3-0 lead entering halftime.
“It’s hard to score when they pack more in on the defense,” Maddalena said. “The girls stepped up to the challenge, scored a couple goals and we shut them out.”
In the 13th minute of the second half, Imbrogno hit a shot off the post and Fowler ripped a shot just wide three minutes later.
Fowler would add her second goal off an assist from Olivia Cerroni with 17:38 remaining in the game to push the Ridgway lead to 4-0.
The Lady Elkers had around 80 percent of the possession in the second half as the Lady Hubbers rarely could push the ball past the midfield circle.
“They can’t score if they don’t have the ball,” Maddalena said. “Look at how much possession we carried in the second half. That’s the game. We’re taking it one game at a time and we’re not overlooking anybody.”
Ridgway (6-1) is scheduled to play at St. Marys next Monday for a 4 p.m. matchup. The St. Marys game is the first of five straight scheduled road games for the Lady Elkers. Ridgway’s next home game is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 5 against DuBois Central Catholic for a 4 p.m. matchup.
“The girls are playing, they’re loving it,” Maddalena said. “It’s just a good feeling. We have stuff to work on, we’re far away from being perfect, we all know that. They believe in themselves, they know they can win even if they’re down, they know they can come back. Everything’s just positive on this team, it’s just fun to coach.”