Girls Soccer Ends With Loss to Livingston

West Orange High School's girls soccer team's successful season was ended Friday afternoon by Livingston in the North Jersey, Section 1 Group IV quarterfinals at Livingston High. The Lancers took a 5-0 lead into halftime and cruised to their 19th win in 21 games.

The Mountaineers finished the season with a 16-4-1 record and a Super Essex Conference Liberty Division title. Livingston won the Super Essex American Division title.

"Livingston player by player is very, very technically gifted and they were definitely better today," said West Orange coach Lou Mignone. "I could have played maybe five or six  six in the back, however, by doing that playing against a strong attacking team like Livingston they would create scoring opportunity after opportunity. West Orange finished the season at 16-4-1. Livingston had a 5-0 lead at halftime on goals.

Sophomore Clara Scher scored the Lancers' first two goals and senior star Kate Schwindel scored the last two goals and sophomore Kristine Kelly scored between the two to lead the romp.

The Lancers, who raised their record to 19-2, will play the winner of Saturday's game between eighth-seed Ridgewood and top seed and defending sectional champion Morris Knolls. The semifinal game is scheduled for Monday or Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Livingston is out to win its first-ever state sectional title. The outcome of Friday's game was determined early. West Orange keeper Illissa Blackshear made 12 saves, and several other Livingston shot just missed in the first half when the Lancers built a 5-0 lead. Raven Edwards scored West Orange's goal late in the game.

"Our vision is to move up to the American Division at some point and become a powerhouse like the teams in that division," said Mignone. "We should be able to do that considering the size of our school."

Schwindel has 34 goals, and could have had three more. The Lancers pressed the field, getting one greast run into the West Orange side of the field after another.

"We are a very skilled team, we're a very focused team right now," said Livingston coach Paul Raiz. "They are very determined. The girls are playing great together. They love playing together. We're doing pretty well."

Scher scored at 34:06 and at 27:00 of the first half. Kelly then drove home a rebound of a Schwindel shot to make it 3-0 at 20:18. Schwindel then scored at 16:15 to make it 4-0 and scored again with 8:07 left in the half.

"We play more compact in the back, reducing their attacking space though it didn't work," Mignone said. "I felt by sitting and playing counter attack wasn't the way to go. It was nice soccer to watch on their part."