Churco saves not enough to lift Montrose

BY SHANE HENNIGAN
Times-Shamrock Writer

With its leading scorer sidelined with an injury, Lakeland knew it needed to step up its play Monday afternoon against the Meteors.

Freshman Rhiannon Berghauser answered the challenge with an early goal and the rest of the team put in a solid defensive effort, as the Lady Chiefs remained unbeaten with a 1-0 victory over Montrose in a Lackawanna League Division III girls soccer match.

Lakeland (5-0) was without junior midfielder Taylor Flynn, the reigning Division III Player of the Year and an All-Region selection last season.

The Lady Chiefs, however, were still in attack mode and struck in the eighth minute. Berghauser took a cross from Lindsey Domonoski from 10 yards out and knocked it into the bottom right corner of the net to give her team a one-goal advantage.

From that point, Lakeland’s defense played up and made it difficult for Montrose (3-2) to get good opportunities.

The Lady Meteors got their best look in the 48th minute. Hannah Dieck blasted a free kick from 20 yards out but freshman goalkeeper Emily Sashko made the biggest of her four saves to keep the shutout alive.

In the 54th minute, Maria Good fired a shot that was stopped by Churco. That began a string of five shots in five minutes but Churco turned away all of them.

Lakeland appeared to get an insurance goal in the 68th minute. Churco deflected Jessica Beecroft’s shot away but Corah Krantz was there in the middle and knocked into the open net. But Krantz was whistled for offsides and the goal was negated.

Berghauser had another opportunity to score in the 75th minute, as she beat her defender and fired a shot from point-blank range. But Churco again came up with a save, knocking it over the top of the net and out of play.

Churco, an All-Region goalkeeper last season, finished with 10 saves.

“She stepped up,” Montrose coach John Cherundolo said. “She keeps us in the game, as seen by (Monday’s) performance. Overall, I thought we played pretty decent. They snuck one in early and we couldn’t answer.”

Montrose scrambled for one last chance with a throw-in as time was winding down. But Lakeland defended it well and kicked the ball out of the zone.

“We knew this was a big game coming in,” defender Cassidy Jenkins said. “We knew Montrose was an excellent team. We know that, this late in the season, pulling off wins is big. This gives us great momentum going forward.”

In other girls soccer play:
At Mountain View, Ali Virbitsky scored two goals and Makenna Whitaker had four assists to lead the Lady Eagles in a 6-0 win over Holy Cross.

Forest City collected an 8-0 win over Mid Valley.

Jamie Walsh had a hat trick to lead Forest City.

The Lady Foresters also collected a 3-2 win over Montrose.

At Forest City, Mackenzie Hartman and Jamie Walsh scored second-half goals to lead the Lady Foresters to a Division III win.

Hannah Dieck and Kaylee Russell scored for Montrose.