Like it’s been most of the season, goals came in short supply for the W.F. West girls soccer team in its regular-season finale against Rochester. But the Bearcats have become experienced at pulling results out of such matches, and did so again Thursday in a 1-0 win.
“We played well,” first-year WFW coach Kevin Schultz said. “This regular season finished the way the season’s gone all year. We were solid defensively and didn't really give them any chances at all.”
It’s the ninth clean sheet Staysha Fluetsch and her defense have posted, setting a new program record for shutouts in a season.
That defensive effort has come in clutch for W.F. West, scored just 16 goals as a team in 12 league matches, but still racked up an 8-4 league record.
“We feel strong in our defense,” Schultz said. “We don’t throw extra numbers behind the ball, we come out and try to keep possession and look for chances to get up front. I think one of the things we’ve done a good job of is applying pressure when we lose the ball.”
Thursday, the one necessary spark of offense came in the 30th minute, when Wyatt Rogerson got free and sent a through ball in to Emily Mallonee, who scored to give the hosts a 1-0 lead going into the break.
The Bearcats finished with 14 shots as a team, while Fluetsch made three saves on the other end.
The regular season ends with the Bearcats in second place in the 2A EvCo. They’ll host R.A. Long — the No. 3 out of the 2A GSHL — next Tuesday, in a rematch of a a 6-0 loss early in the non-league season.
“That definitely wasn’t our best game, definitely some mental mistakes,” Schultz said. “I told the girls, we’re a different team now then we were then.”
Rochester, meanwhile, misses out on the district tournament and ends its season with a 4-12 record. The Warriors graduate four seniors: Grace Weddle, Macey Fluetsch, Myla Peck and Sara Haury.
