SCHENEVUS — Naomi Duncan knocked the wind out of South Kortright on Tuesday.

Following a slew of wind-aided missed opportunities from both sides in a Section Four Class D Tournament opener, Schenevus' Duncan sailed a shot over the outstretched arms of Rams goalie Karyn Tucker.

The goal, which caught the top-right corner of the net with 19 minutes and 55 seconds to play, led the defending sectional champion Dragons a 1-0 girls soccer victory.

"Pretty much the wind, I think, was part of it," said Duncan, who converted the winner from the back-right edge of the box off an assist from Krista Jester. "It was blowing shots all over the place, so whenever you'd get a (chance at a) goal, you'd have to go quick to keep the defense off their feet.

"I was trying to lift it over the keeper's head."

Sixth-seeded Schenevus (12-5-2) advanced to the Class D quarterfinals on Friday, when it will visit Hunter-Tannersville at 3:30 p.m. The Wildcats received a first-round bye with the No. 3 seed.

"It's do or die every game," said Schenevus coach Kim Green, The Daily Star Coach of the Year in 2000. "I think that (her players) knew that they had to go hard and I think it's just another confidence builder for them to keep going."

The going got tough in a scoreless first half.

Although Schenevus controlled most of the half, it had trouble finishing off good scoring opportunities. Amanda Hoepker railed the post from inside the box twice, had another shot stopped by the outside of the net and put still another over the crossbar on a virtual breakaway. Jester also had two textbook corner kicks to the middle of the box, but her teammates failed to touch either.

"We did all right, but we didn't finish well," Green said.

Three players sustained what appeared to be minor injuries in the first half as well. Play stopped twice as South Kortright's Elisabeth Rappleyea and Julie Many were forced to take short breaks after collisions. The half ended with Jester limping to the sideline.

"Schenevus is a physical team, more physical than what we're used to and that kind of took us out of play a little bit," South Kortright co-coach Mike Peletz said.

The play of Kelly Bergeron and Co. also disrupted the Rams' gameplan.

Bergeron had the tough task of shadowing South Kortright leader Ashlei Kenchen for the majority of the game. Kenchen, a quick midfielder who scored twice in Saturday's Delaware League Championship loss to Stamford, managed numerous shots. Most, however, were too far out of range to threaten Schenevus keeper Sarah Bleich.

That can be credited to a heads-up Schenevus defense — highlighted by Elise Kruger's constant hounding of South Kortright infiltrators — which swarmed Kenchen virtually every time the ball came her way.

"We've been watching everybody along, seeing how everybody's doing and I put one of my better defenders on her, Kelly Bergeron, and she did a great job," Green said. "Kelly handled her fine and I just left it with her. I told her when it gets close to the box, mark tight and outside. If she gets it, you can let her turn, but be smart."

Schenevus doubled its defensive efforts on Kenchen after Duncan's goal.

"We doubled up on Ashlei Kenchen because she's one of their better players," Duncan said.

The extra attention and swirling wind added up to an undesirable outcome for Kenchen.

"I thought they gave me a lot of opportunities," she said. "I was open a lot in the first half. I had a lot of shots that went over the crossbar or wide. It was very frustrating."

Bleich added to the frustration, laying out for two of her 11 saves to complete her 11th shutout this season.

Tucker was almost equally effective, allowing one goal on 31 shots from Schenevus. Tucker finished with 19 saves.

SCHENEVUS 1, S.K. 0

Schenevus 0 1 — 1

11-South Kortright (8-10-1): None.

6-Schenevus (12-5-2): Naomi Duncan 1-0; Krista Jester 0-1.

Shots-corner kicks: S.K. 14-5; S 31-6.

Goalies: Karyn Tucker (SK) 19; Sarah Bleich (S) 11.