When the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk girls soccer team gives a peak performance, few Section II teams can compete with it.
The trouble is, the Lady Indians haven’t sustained a high level of play through a whole game recently.
Fortunately for RCS, its inconsistent play hasn’t cost it many wins. The Lady Indians sit in second place in the Colonial Council entering Wednesday’s game at Lansingburgh, one game in the loss column behind league-leading Schalmont.
We have a pretty young team and a pretty inexperienced team, but they’re hard workers, said RCS coach Danielle Hummel.
The Lady Indians’ lone league loss came last Tuesday at Schalmont, and inconsistency was to blame. RCS (6-1 league, 8-2 overall) jumped out to a 3-0 lead, only to watch as Schalmont (8-0, 9-3) rallied with four unanswered goals to pull out a 4-3 overtime victory.
`We stopped playing,` said Hummel. `We had a three-goal lead, and we got complacent. We didn’t take care of business.`
Inconsistency reared its head again in RCS’s latest win, a 3-0 victory over Voorheesville last Saturday. The Lady Indians scored twice in the first two minutes, but then they didn’t score again until late in the second half, even though they held possession for much of the game.
`We were just playing the ball over the top and hoping someone would get to it, and that doesn’t work,` said Hummel. `We score goals when we want to. We had two goals in the first two minutes of the game, and then we got complacent.`
Voorheesville’s defense had a part in frustrating RCS. Though the Blackbirds (0-6, 0-8) spent much of the game chasing the ball, they had enough energy to prevent the Lady Indians from having a lot of clean looks at the goal.
`I’m dropping people back because we don’t have as much skill up front as we’ve had in the past,` said Voorheesville coach Joe Santos.
Senior Lauren Howley scored two goals to lead RCS. The Lady Indians’ other goal came off a deflection by a Voorheesville defender early in the first half. Brittany Holcomb stopped 16 shots for the Blackbirds.
`This is a much better team athletically and skill-wise, but the goals we gave up were all preventable,` said Santos. `With more experienced players, this wouldn’t have happened.`
RCS has some hurdles to clear in its regular season, including rematches with Schalmont and Mechanicville. But once it enters the Section II, class A playoffs, RCS must contend with such traditional powers as Scotia-Glenville and defending champion Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake.
Hummel said she likes her team’s chances, but only if the Lady Indians play as well as they are capable of playing.
`We can play with anyone. It just depends on what team shows up,` she said.
As for Voorheesville, Santos is looking for continued improvement in his players as they try to break into the win column.
`Over the years, we’ve lost some girls, and now we’re working with some girls who are learning the game,` he said.
The Blackbirds’ next opportunity comes Wednesday night when they travel to Cobleskill-Richmondville to face a Bulldogs squad that owns a 1-5 league mark (3-6 overall).“