Girls Soccer Team Defeats Archrival New Rochelle, 3-0

The Scarsdale Raiders Varsity A girls soccer team defeated their archrival New Rochelle 3-0 on Monday night, September 18 at Scarsdale High School before a crowd of raucous fans of both teams.

Heading into the game, the 4-1 Hugenots were coming off an upset win against highly ranked Suffern. The Raiders were 1-1-1 and recognized that the New Rochelle game would be critical in determining their path for the rest of the season.

The game started with New Rochelle having the edge in possession but unable to penetrate the Raiders' defense. The tide turned at about the 15:00 mark of the first half, when sophomore forward Olivia Bryant received a pass down the left side, outmaneuvered two New Rochelle defenders and scored on a bullet shot into the top right corner of the goal. The play seemed to inject energy into the Raiders and from that point forward they dominated possession for the rest of the half, putting constant pressure on the Hugenots' defense. This led to two additional goals, one by Dana Papandreadis and the other by Riley Edlitz, each of which was assisted by Bryant.

At halftime Coach Mindy Genovese implored her players not to let up, and the team responded. There was no additional scoring in the second half even though the Raiders continued to dominate possession and had a number of good scoring chances.

The entire team played well. Of particular note was the play of Scarsdale's defense, led by center back and co-captain Sam Mancini and stopper Allison Stafford. Mid-fielder and co-captain Carly Rubin was key to the Raiders' success in maintaining possession and staying on the attack throughout the game. Scarsdale repeatedly prevented New Rochelle's talented forwards and mid-fielders from maintaining possession down the field, continuously intercepting passes and winning 50-50 balls. This resulted in no scoring chances for New Rochelle over the course of the entire game and few if any shots on goal.

It was overall a dominating performance by the Raiders against a quality opponent and has raised expectations about the team's prospects for the rest of the 2017 season. The Raiders and Hugenots will meet again in early October and given the history of the rivalry, it's safe to assume that New Rochelle will be motivated to avenge Monday night's lopsided loss. After a weekday league game this week on the road against White Plains, the Raiders will play non-league opponent Mahopac on Saturday, September 23 at Scarsdale High School. Scarsdale10583.com will continue to report on the team's progress as the 2017 season continues to unfold.

Photos by Jon Thaler - see more here: