’Skins knocked out of states by Candor

Sophomore Cleveland scored three times as Candor beat the two-time Section Three champion Redskins, 3-0, in a Class C state quarterfinal at Chittenango High. The two-time Section Four champion Indians, who avenged last season’s 1-0 loss to Cooperstown in the state quarterfinals, advanced to the 2006 state semifinals in Cortland despite getting outplayed in the early stages Saturday.

"The way we were playing and the way they were playing, I would have been happy to be down, 1-0, at halftime," said an almost-apologetic Candor coach Kurt Bastian. "Cooperstown played very well today and we didn’t play well at all, but we got the breaks. That’s the way it happens sometimes in soccer."

Cooperstown (14-5-4) tested Candor keeper Lori Wagstaff early and often, but her biggest challenge came after a defender tripped senior Lindsay Soraci inside the goalie box with 16 minutes, 58 seconds left in the opening half.

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Wagstaff, who suffered a severe concussion earlier this season and wore a helmet Saturday, blocked the ensuing penalty kick by Soraci. As Wagstaff struggled to corral the rebound, Soraci charged in and appeared to score for a 1-0 Cooperstown lead. However, referees ruled that Wagstaff had control of the ball just before Soraci shot and waved off the goal.

"I thought it was a bad call, but we had other opportunities, too," said Cooperstown coach Jennifer Pindar, whose leading scorer, junior Anna Kieler, banged a long direct kick from the right sideline off the crossbar less than a minute later. "That’s the game of soccer _ you can dominate, but everything can turn around fast."[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Conversely, Candor (19-2) capitalized on its first good scoring chance with a little more than 14 minutes left in the first half as Cleveland caught Redskins goalie Jen Wehner leaning the wrong way for an unassisted goal.

Cleveland then converted a defensive miscue by the Redskins midway through the second half, intercepting a back-pass to Wehner for another unassisted goal. Less than three minutes later, Cleveland struck again. She got behind the Cooperstown defense on a midfield throughball and lofted a shot over Wehner (seven saves) for the final margin.

"Cooperstown was pushing up its defense looking for a goal, and we caught them too far up," said first-year Candor coach Bastian, who lost top-scorer Stacy Brace to a concussion in the first half.

Wagstaff finished with 10 saves, including two from point-blank range by sophomore Laura Rowley and Kieler in the second half.

"She only returned from her concussion four games ago," Bastian said of Wagstaff, "and we wouldn’t be going to the final four without her."

Despite the loss, Pindar praised her team, which started the season 1-2 and advanced to the state quarterfinal by winning back-to-back shootouts in sectional play.

"Even when the score was 3-0, we kept playing hard," she said. "We’ve had two amazing seasons, and I want the girls to be proud of that."

Candor 3, Cooperstown 0

CLASS C STATE QUARTERFINAL

at Chittenango High

Number before team indicates section

Cooperstown 0 0 _ 0

Candor 1 2 _ 3

3-Cooperstown (14-5-4): None.

4-Candor (19-2): Kristen Cleveland 3-0.

Shots-corner kicks: Coop 11-7; Can 11-1.

Goalies: Jen Wehner (Coop) 7; Lori Wagstaff (Can) 10.