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for larger version       St. Francis Girls Win Spring 2005 Championship
Both teams came out with a lot of energy from the opening whistle. From the start it looked to be a defensive struggle. Neither team allowed a good scoring opportunity until the 12 minute mark of the first half when St Francis was awarded a penalty kick as a result of strong pressure in front of the St Thomas goal. Caitlin Corcoran executed a perfect kick into the upper right corner of the net and St. Francis took the lead that they would never relinquish. The rest of the first half showed just how strong the St. Francis defense could be. Led by a rotation of Danielle Farragher, Megan Dunn, Sarah Werner, Chantal Lizzi and Christina Rocks, St. Thomas More had very few scoring chances and virtually no sustained offensive pressure. Even when the ball found its way toward the net, goaltender Christine Cappiello denied any quality scoring chances by punting it down the field and out of harms way. But what really makes the St Francis team so tough is how they control the play in the middle of the field. The hard work that it takes to be successful is often overlooked. All season long midfielders Frances Amodeo, Iga Cuglewska, Liana Denaro, Kacie Mainieri, Marie Mattes, Grace McCaffrey, Kailin Twomey and Jillian Urcelay created plays by swarming all over the field to set up quality scoring chances with strong crisp passes. It was no different in this game. With the defense and the midfielders controlling the tempo of the game the offense was able to take over in the second half. Elizabeth Cholakis scored a goal at the 5 minute mark that gave the team an enormous lift in momentum. For the rest of the game St. Francis kept the pressure on. Jillian Carmody hit the cross bar with a beautiful shot. Lauren Houck set up a scoring play with Frances Amodeo that was stopped by the goaltender and when the tireless Vanessa Ramos scored the season’s final goal with a minute left in the game the celebration began. Congratulations to the St Francis Bantam girls. This championship was truly a team effort.
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