Lady Hornets In Quarter Finals

By Laurie-Jean B. Gauthier

Freshman Jenna Connolly’s first varsity goal was "huge" not only for her, but for the number nine seeded Whitcomb Hornets who shut out number eight seeded Poultney last Wednesday, Oct. 24 in playoff action on the road. Connolly scored the only goal of the game at 22:01 of the second half, when she chipped it in past keeper Cassie Decker from just outside the penalty box after it bounced back to her off a Poultney defender for a 1-0 upset victory.

It was anything but easy for the Hornets, who were the recipients of several game-stopping injuries that Poultney dished out in a contest best described as combative and "incredibly physical." It probably seemed like coach Gary Zisselsberger was on medic duty, rather than coaching, as he was called out onto the field four times to tend to his injured players! Zisselsberer said, "It was a tough game, pretty even," with both teams playing good tough defense and having the chance and opportunity to score. Neither was able to put the ball into the cage during the first half.

Quarter Final Loss

The number nine Whitcomb Hornets fell in the quarter-finals to the top-seeded Presidents in Black River on Monday afternoon. The Hornets were granted an extension to their season when the quarter-finals were postponed due to inclement weather last Saturday, but that’s as far as they went, as the now 15-0 Presidents vetoed the Hornets out of the post season with a 6-1 victory.

President’s junior captain and leading scorer Courtney Rohrig (with 34 goals at the start of the game and 37 at its conclusion) and sophomore Hannah Josselyn, (with four assists and one goal in this outing) were the two Presidents "most likely to succeed" and they did just that. And quickly, also. At 1:16 they tallied their first of four first half goals as they out-shot Whitcomb 10-1.

Their second goal came off a corner that Josselyn arched in high, where awaiting Rohrig headed it in just past the 5 and 1/2 minute mark. And it was a 5-0 corner kick advantage that Black River had over the Hornets in the first half as well. Late in the half a nice pass from Josselyn to Rohrig again connected, as Rohrig slipped one past Hornet keeper Laurel Adams for the third tally. The Presidents scored once more before the half for a 4-0 lead.

Black River continued to score in the second half when Josselyn made a deposit that this time Rohrig set up. Whitcomb erased the shutout bid when freshman Jenna Connnolly scored her second varsity goal, unassisted, at 28:34. The Presidents completed the scoring, for the 6-1 victory.

Black River finished the game with 19 shots and eight corner kick attempts, while Whitcomb ended the game with five shots and no corners. Whitcomb goalie Laurel Adams finished with 13 saves. The Hornets end the season eight and eight. Black River now faces the number four Danville Indians in the semi-finals.

Whitcomb neighbors, the number three Chelsea Red Devils and the number seven Rochester Rockettes, are the other two remaining teams headed to the semi-finals. The Rochester Rockettes upset the number two seeded Blue Mountain Bucks last Saturday to advance, while Chelsea took four overtimes to eliminate their neighbors, the number five Williamstown Blue Devils in action on Monday.

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