It’s been another long season for Oxford Girl’s Soccer.
Heading into district playoffs finds the Lady Wildcats receiving much of the same results as throughout the season: losing two more divisional games each to Holly and Linden.
On May 26, the Wildcats played the Linden Eagles for the second time this season, but again came out on the short end of a 3-0 decision. Goalkeeper Kelly Henry played in her second game at the Varsity level with regular stopper Nicole Carter out of the lineup again with back troubles. Despite losing the game, Henry was named Coach Val Cerato’s ‘player of the game,? for her efforts; along with Shana Jones, who was playing with an injured ankle.
‘She was really solid, she stopped a lot of shots,? said Cerato of her goaltender.
The Eagles once again clinched first place in the Flint Metro League with the victory for the fourth year in a row.
May 27 brought the much-anticipated matchup against the Holly Bronchos, but with a severely shortened roster, the Lady Cats were not able to pull the victory, losing the game 4-3 despite outshooting their opponents 16-10.
With Lisa Reile injuring her ankle late in the first half; and Nicole Carter, Kehley Hicks, Anneliese McKeown and Christine Fortier out of the lineup for Oxford, other players were expected to step up their game. Showing that they were not ready to quit, Kira Griffin, Otiela Theobald and Courtney Vassal all played through injuries and illness in the last game of the season. Griffin and Theobald, along with freshman Sam Bono, received ‘player of the game? honors for their contributions.
One Holly player, Rose Nester, scored three of the Bronchos goals. Oxford’s were scored by Melissa Brownrigg, who netted her first of the season; Shana Jones, who also scored her first of the season off a 20-yard free kick; and once again, Sam Bono, who leads the team in goals scored.
Throughout the game, several of the referee’s calls were debatable, according to Coach Cerato.
In one instance, Oxford captain Sam Marshall, in her last game as a Cat, received a yellow card when the referee mistakenly thought she was yelling at him. In another situation, according to Cerato, the referees missed a call when an Oxford player was taken down inside the Holly goalbox.
‘It just seemed that in this particular game that a lot of the calls went the other way,? recalled Cerato. ‘They scored on a PK for something in the box, and then one of our girls got taken down in the box and it wasn’t called, so we never even had the opportunity.?
Cerato also felt that one of the goals scored against her team should not have counted. After a shot on goal, the officials ruled a goal, claiming that goalkeeper Kelly Henry pulled the ball back from inside the net after it was in.
‘The ball has to cross the goal line, not the keeper’s body, and I’m sure he’s well aware of that, but apparently he thought that the ball had crossed the goal line,? said Cerato after the fact.
Though the 2004 regular season did not bring much luck for the Lady Cats, everybody starts anew this week as the district playoffs begin. Oxford has its first game scheduled against Pontiac Central at Whistner Stadium in Pontiac. The Wildcats have called up several players from JV for the game, including Kelly Henry, Ashley Marshall, Nicole Bennett, Katie Miner and Tori Lopez.
When asked if she expected to have a full roster for districts, Coach Cerato replied, ‘That’s the $64,000 question.?
Mike Stechschulte is a junior at Oxford High School who plans to major in the field of journalism.