HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SOCCER — DELAWARE LEAGUE PREVIEW

By Dean Russin

Sports Editor

The Delaware League will see if Ray Preston knows what he’s talking about at 4:15 p.m. today.

That’s when undefeated league powers Downsville and South Kortright go head-to-head in a girls soccer match that should decide the winner of the Mountain Division, even though five weeks of regular-season play remain.

While South Kortright has home-field advantage in its only regular-season game against the Eagles today, Downsville looks unbeatable on paper. According to 26th-year Davenport coach Preston, the same holds true on the field.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]"There’s not a team in our area that can play with them," said Preston, whose Wildcats are the two-time defending league champions and won the Section Four Class D title last year. "They’re just blitzing everybody around here. There’s nobody around here that can play with them."

The Eagles have scored 50 times in a 9-0 start, allowing seven goals along the way. Only Midstate Athletic Conference affiliate Walton has been within two goals of the Eagles, who beat the Warriors, 3-1, in the championship game of the Downsville Tournament on Sept. 10.

"We’re really attacking from all over the place," third-year Eagles coach Burt Reed said.

And how.

As of Tuesday, Downsville had two players — seniors Alexa Henderson and Courtney Hoyt — among the top-five area scorers and a total of 11 with goals or assists.

"Downsville’s the favorite," Stamford coach Jeff Gearhart said. "They’ve got weapons and a ton of talent there right now."

Henderson, who missed three early weeks last fall with a deep bruise to her left knee, is the overall area leader with 49 points (18 goals, 13 assists). She has at least two points in every match thus far, with her lowest output a two-assist game in Tuesday’s 4-1 victory over Tri-Valley League member Morris. That marked the first time this season Henderson failed to score a goal.

"Being healthy is the biggest thing," Reed said. "Alexa only played five or six games last year and she finished with 16 goals. You kind of have to put those numbers into perspective; if she was healthy, she would have had 30."

But had Downsville avoided major personnel losses last season, the team may not be as good as it is this year. Henderson’s injury and early mononucleosis-induced exits of twin-sister Alana and defender Linnea Mattson forced others to mature quickly at both ends of the field, Reed said.

"Macy Davis and Stephanie Shellman developed nicely," Reed said. "They had to step up and play with Courtney and fill that hole. It gave us more depth this year. I have 18 to 19 girls playing 25 minutes a game and we’re not missing a beat."

Alexa Henderson’s return has put Hoyt behind her pace of 1.45 goals per game in 2004, when she scored 29 times in 20 outings to lead the team. Hoyt has 10 goals (1.1 per game) thus far but already has 14 assists. She finished last season with 20 assists for a team that went 13-6-1.

Sophomore forward Davis, who finished with 10 goals and 10 assists last fall, has seven goals this season. Classmate Shellman proved to be another offensive threat with a two-goal, one-assist game in a 6-1 victory at Davenport on Sept. 12.

"Their chance at winning states is very good," Preston said of Downsville, which has Andes (0-6), Gilboa (4-3), Jefferson (4-3), Roxbury (2-5), Stamford (2-5) and Windham (0-9) left to play. The Eagles already manhandled Davenport (4-3) and Margaretville (6-4) by scores of 6-1 and 7-2, respectively.

"Downsville is very, very strong," Preston said. "I was very impressed. They have the ability to get to the state championship."

The Eagles (3-0 DL) do have to get past South Kortright first, though.

"(Preston’s) entitled to his own opinion," said Mike Peletz, who is in his fifth year of co-coaching the Rams with Janet Pittelli. "He played Downsville and lost, 6-1. He played us and lost, 3-2. Ray Preston, you’ve got to respect his opinion. He’s been a coach for a long time and he’s seen a lot of soccer, but what he doesn’t see is the heart that the girls have.

"He’d have made that same comment back in 2002 — that we wouldn’t have beaten Margaretville," continued Peletz, referring to SK’s 1-0 Delaware League championship upset over the then-undefeated Blue Devils. Margaretville finished the 2002 season as Class D state champions, at 21-1-1.

Peletz said today’s game against Downsville is much different, though.

"That year, we had a different team," Peletz said. "That was really a rebuilding year ... and we were playing an undefeated team as an underdog. This game, I don’t see where either team’s an underdog. It reminds me more of last year’s Davenport game (a 1-0 victory for the Wildcats) in the sectional finals. Both teams are strong on both sides and pretty equal."

South Kortright (9-0, 4-0) has plenty of offensive pop this season. Cousins Jessica and Courtney Laing lead the team with 13 and 12 goals, respectively. Additionally, senior Kassie Tiller has seven goals, and six others have scored for the Rams this fall.

The Laings and Tiller are holdovers from the 2002 DL championship team, as is senior defender Missy White.

"We have a good group of girls who have played together for a number of years," Peletz said. "It’s not like all of a sudden they’re playing together. ... If we’re going to win (today), we’re going to have to play as a team, not with one or two girls. Downsville has all these other key players, and again, it’s not one, two or three players who make the team."

Jefferson could be the wild-card in the Mountain Division.

First-year coach Roy Bower inherited a team that returns five seniors, paced by scoring leader Meghan Hait (six goals, four assists) and goalie Leta Sobierajski. The Jayhawks opened league play with a 4-1 loss to the Rams on Sept. 12, but forced SK into overtime five days later in the Stamford Mayor’s Cup final. SK won, 5-3. Jefferson (2-1 DL) plays at Downsville on Sept. 30.

Likewise, Gilboa (2-2 DL) may have upset potential. The Wildcats, led by three goals apiece from Nadine Gurley and Casey Aplin, have been in every game this fall. Their four-game winning streak ended with a 3-2 loss at Jefferson on Tuesday, and their other two losses — to Roxbury and Davenport — were 1-0 and 2-0, respectively.

Roxbury (1-1 DL) and winless Andes (0-4 DL) have combined for five goals this season. The Rockets’ league victory came Monday at Windham, which is 0-9 overall. They also beat Gilboa, 1-0, in the first round of the Minekill Tournament.

Six of Andes players have yet to enter their freshman years.

Margaretville, led by senior standout Claire Cella is the team to beat in the Upper Division. Cella, who took the league by storm as a freshman for the 2002 state champion team, has 19 goals and two assists thus far.

The Blue Devils (3-1 DL) shutout Stamford, Andes and Windham by a combined score of 21-0, but were routed, 7-2, by visiting Downsville last Thursday. Margaretville responded with a 1-0 triumph at Davenport (1-3 DL) on Monday.

Senior forward Courtney Adam, a Daily Star First-Team All-Star with Cella, Jessica Laing and Hoyt last season, is the undisputed leader of Davenport, which finished 21-1 in 2004. The Wildcats beat Downsville, 3-2, and South Kortright, 1-0, to win the Section Four Class D championship last season before falling to McGraw, 5-3, in the state quarterfinals.

Fourth-year starter Kayla France, a senior forward, and third-year starting goalie Courtney Brower lead Hunter-Tannersville (3-3, 1-2). France has five goals this season, all coming in three victories over Windham. The Wildcats lost their other two games, 4-0 and 7-0, at South Kortright and Downsville, respectively.

Although Stamford is struggling with one member in its junior class and two freshmen, the Indians (1-2 DL) have only been blown out once this season — a 7-0 loss to Margaretville on Aug. 27. Seniors Alisan Kochersberger (two goals, two assists) and Laura Beck (three goals) are the top offensive returners for the Indians, who won back-to-back league titles in 2000 and 2001.

"We’re still a little bit young at times," said Gearhart, who has nine sophomores on his squad.

Crystyn Begley has both Windham (0-2 DL) goals this season, in a 4-1 loss to Franklin of the Tri-Valley League and a 5-1 loss to H-T in the Hunter-Tannersville Booster Club Tournament.