Lady Colts Unleash Offensive Fury on MacArthur

Just two days after scoring 14 goals against Holy Trinity, the Lady Colts managed to outdo themselves yesterday, scoring 20 goals against host MacArthur High School.

Diandra Hanna scored six of those 20, Erin Green added four, and six other players were able to get on the board as Calhoun trounced the Lady Generals, 20-11.

The Lady Colts excelled in every aspect of their game, as they constantly turned their defensive stops into transition goals.

"We really worked the ball around to all of the girls and had different looks," Green said. "Everything just kind of clicked today through transition with the defensive stops through the midfield and then the attacks on offense."

Green got the scoring going when she put one past MacArthur goaltender Kaitlin Cooksey just 90 seconds into the game. After that, the next ten minutes would become a showdown between Hanna and MacArthur's Candice Noakes. During that span, the two girls would score three goals each.

Ava Fitzgerald would also add two goals for the Lady Colts during that time, and Kelly Pearse would chip in one for MacArthur. 

But the scoring didn't end there. Hanna would add her fourth and fifth goals of the half, and also getting on the board for the Lady Colts were Danielle Kirby, Leah Sanders and Jessica Silverman, who scored twice. Adding goals for the Lady Generals were Nicole Mckee and Nicole Cooksey.

The half ended with Calhoun in the lead, 12-6. Kacey Solotoff, who played goalie for the first half, allowed the six goals, while stopping six shots. 

The abundance of goals was a pleasant sight for Calhoun coach James Raucci.

"I thought the girls did a good job of seeing the field," Raucci said. "I still think we need to anticipate a little bit better and control the ball a little bit more, but as far as attacking the goal and being aggressive, we looked really strong. Defensively we need to communicate a lot better, and learn how to react a little bit quicker."

The Lady Colts did not let up in the second half. They would score seven of the first eight goals to begin the half, with Green scoring three of them. Kirby would add her second goal, Hanna her sixth, and Megan O'Sullivan scored her first and second goals. Calhoun was in cruise control at that point, leading 19-7.

Noakes scored her fourth and fifth goals for MacArthur, while Kristina Coiro and Maureen Ryan also added goals. Calhoun got one more goal off the stick of Megan Murphy to reach the 20 mark. Hayley Soloman, who replaced Solotoff in goal for the second half, made seven saves while surrendering five goals.

Fitzgerald, who scored two goals in the game, credited the team's smooth transition game as the key to their success.

"We had really good transition up and down the field," Fitzgerald said. "We worked really well with communicating and we were able to ride the midfield really well, and we worked off cutters and set up a couple plays that worked out really well for us."

In total the Lady Colts had eight different goal scorers on the day, which was something that Raucci was pleased with.

"Seeing a lot of girls get on the field and have fun moving the ball around was nice," Raucci said. "It shows that we have a little bit of depth."

MacArthur head coach Janine Bridgewood was impressed with the display the Lady Colts offense put on against her team.

"Calhoun had a very strong attack," Bridgewood said. "They had a very good defensive unit that was able to stop our shots, and they were able to get the draw control which they needed to win the game."

The Lady Colts will look to make it three in a row when they host Syosset at 10 a.m. on Saturday.