Rovers U12 soccer crash Lightning, 4-1

The Amherst Rovers defeated the Lakeshore Lightning, 4-1, in a U12 outdoor soccer game on June 16.

The teams seemed evenly matched. Lakeshore struck first but Amherst quickly answered. Amherst added one more goal to make it 2-1 at halftime.

The second half went much the same as the first - back and forth - before Amherst eventually took control. Lakeshore had chances to tie the game early in the half but Amherst got an insurance goal midway through and added another tally late.

Mia Lafornaya had a huge game offensively, netting two goals and an assist. On Amherst's first goal, she beat the defense up the right side and blasted it off the post. It came to a well-positioned Courtney Sugarman who put it by the helpless goalie. A few minutes later, she split the Lightning defense up the middle and blasted a shot off the post and in. Once again, Lafornaya outran the defenders and pushed it past the goalie as she was reaching for it.

Colleen Stelley scored Amherst's final goal from way out, putting it over the goalie's head on one bounce.

Joy Thompson nearly scored when a bouncing ball came to her right in front but it went over the top of the net. Julia Newton drove into the corner and then to the goal to spark some offensive pressure.

Allie Troncone showed some impressive speed when she outran Lightning players to a ball and got a shot on net. Audrey Parenti helped generate pressure by driving toward the net and getting several shots on net. Alyssa Flaschner blasted a shot off the post.

Defensively, Julia Struble made several key saves in the second half, deflecting the ball away with one hand and handling several tricky bouncers.

Sarah Snyder and Kali James put up a wall around Amherst's net, time and again turning away any Lakeshore players trying to get close. Chelsea Stachura blasted several balls out of Amherst's end. Jade Brooks repeatedly harassed breaking Lakeshore players and wouldn't let them get off a shot.

Meredith Parenti stole the ball from two Lakeshore players right in front of Amherst's net and took it back the other way. Tori Roetzer drove charging Lightning players out of bounds and was an effective last line of defense. Tavia Allen owned the middle of the field, taking it away from Lightning attackers countless times.