Girls Varsity Soccer

Blue Devils lose in district semifinal 3-1

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

ERIE — The Cambridge Springs girls soccer team lost its District 10 Class 1A semifinal game against Mercyhurst Prep 3-1 on Saturday at the Hagerty Family Events Center.

Mercyhurst Prep scored with about five minutes left in the first half. Cambridge quickly answered as Kaeylynn Astor took the kickoff into the teeth of the defense before passing off to Kylie Beck who buried a goal to tie the game.

“It was a tough battle. The game was closer than the 3-1 score may indicate,” Cambridge Springs head coach Geoff Bristow said. “It was scoreless till about five minutes left in the first half. Up till that point the game was really played in the middle of the field. We had some really nice scoring chances early we couldn’t put away.”

The Lakers scored twice in the second half and held the Blue Devils scoreless to win 3-1.

The loss ended a seven-game winning streak for the Blue Devils.

“It was a down then up season. We struggled early on, but maybe if we pulled it together earlier than we did we end up on the other side of the bracket and play Mercyhurst Prep for a district championship.”

Mercyhurst Prep will play Seneca in the district championship on Tuesday.

“We ended on a really nice winning streak. This is my 18th year of coaching and this very well be the best team I’ve coaches in terms of chemistry, playing together and team work,” Bristow said. “It’s unfortunate we met Mercyhurst Prep. They bumped down to Single A this cycle.

“You’re always filled with a lot of emotion at the end of the season. I’ve coached a lot of these kids since they were in third grade so I will really miss this senior class.”

The senior class includes Makenzie Yanc, Laura Bidwell, Beck, Isobel Yasenchak, Ava Greenawalt, Finley Rauscher, Morgan Harris, Ella Worley and Maggie Braymer.

Blue Devils look to avenge earlier losses against Lakers

By Alex McGinley

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

After beating Wilmington 5-0 in the District 10 2A quarterfinals, the Cambridge Springs girls soccer team will be playing against a familiar opponent in the semifinals.

The No. 4 seed Blue Devils will take on fellow Region 3 opponent Mercyhurst Prep at noon today at the Hagerty Family Events Center in Erie. The Blue Devils played the Lakers twice during the regular season and lost both matchups. However, the Blue Devils enter today’s game on a seven-game win streak.

“My expectations are for a close, hard-fought battle,” said Cambridge Springs head coach Geoff Bristow. “We’ve played them twice already this season, and both times we were ahead in the second half only to see Prep score late goals to come from behind for wins. I expect us to be better prepared this time to hold them off if we can be fortunate enough to take a lead into the second half again. We’re playing better team soccer now than we were three weeks ago when we last played them, and my hope is that we’ll continue playing at the high level we’ve shown through the current seven-game win streak.”

Offensively, the Blue Devils are led by Mackenzie Yanc, Maggie Braymer and Isobel Yasenchak. Nola Zook, Ella Worley and Finley Rauscher spearhead the Blue Devils’ defense while Elora Dillinger can be relied upon in front of the net.

The Lakers entered the district tournament as the No. 1 seed after winning the Region 3 title with a record of 12-5-1.

Marisa Schnars leads the Lakers with 22 goals on the season while Molly Taylor has added 11 goals and 18 assists.

The winner will play either Girard or Seneca in the district championship on Tuesday.

Blue Devils blank Greyhounds 4-0 in quarterfinal round

By Alex McGinley

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

Facing a start time of 8 p.m., the Cambridge Springs girls soccer team already had to deal with playing a game later than usual. However, the game was delayed about 45 minutes due to the Sharpsville- Iroquois boys game going into double overtime.

The Blue Devils’ patience was rewarded as they defeated Wilmington 5-0 in the quarterfinal round of the District 10 1A tournament on Tuesday night at Bender Field. With the win, the No. 5 seed Blue Devils will take on No. 1 seed Mercyhurst Prep on Thursday. The Blue Devils are also currently riding a seven- game winning streak.

“Right now, I could say ‘Hey it was worth the wait and it wasn’t that difficult,’ but yes it was,” said Cambridge Springs head coach Geoff Bristow. “Psychologically, we were ready to come onto the field and then that game went into overtime. We were all warmed up and then we had to sit and wait, but once the game started, our girls were so pumped up and they’re just on a roll right now and they’re feeling the energy and they’re feeling confident in themselves.”

The Blue Devils attacked the Greyhounds’ net from the start. Cambridge had many scoring opportunities during the opening 15 minutes, but the ball couldn’t find its way into the net. With about 26 minutes left in the half, the Blue Devils finally broke through. Maggie Braymer broke free from two defenders and shot the ball into the net to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead.

About seven minutes later, Makenzie Yanc snuck the ball into the goal to give her team a two-goal lead. Kylie Beck notched the third goal of the half after she capitalized on a Greyhounds turnover near the net.

“The pressure early in the game to get those early goals is exactly what we needed,” Bristow said. “It’s a good team over there. They passed the ball really well when they had it, but we would just not let them get through and we took advantage of our opportunities, just some outstanding goals. Just an outstanding effort by Maggie Braymer and Makenzie Yanc on those first two goals where they wanted it more than the rest of the other team and were able to put the ball into the goal and really give us that cushion that we needed.”

The Blue Devils were able to add two more goals during the final 40 minutes. Early on in the half, Isobel Yasenchak converted on a throw-in from Yanc. Then, with about eight minutes left, Yanc tallied her second goal of the contest off an assist from Braymer.

The Blue Devils will face a familiar opponent in the Lakers. As region opponents, the two teams met twice during the regular season with the Lakers winning both times.

However, Bristow is confident his team can produce a different outcome in their third matchup. The two teams will meet on Thursday at a site and time to be determined.

“We think that we can take them,” Bristow said. “We think we have a chance to compete with them and play at the same level. We got leads early on them both games, but then we would lose it late in the game. We have been playing much better late into the game then we were back then and we feel like if we can get on top of them, we can hold them off. It’s obviously a very good team, a very skilled team and it’ll take everything we got to compete with them.”

Ending on a high note

Blue Devils overcome rain, down Yellow Jackets

By Alex McGinley

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

SAEGERTOWN — During its match on Wednesday, the Cambridge Springs girls soccer team had to battle more than just its opposition.

Cold and rainy conditions persisted throughout the entire game. However, the Lady Blue Devils didn’t let the inclement weather affect them as they posted a 5-0 shutout against Region 3 opponent Girard during their final regular season game.

“The team played awesome today,” said Cambridge Springs head coach Geoff Bristow. “I’m so proud of this group. As the season’s progressed, we’re playing better and better. That’s a good team over there, the Girard team. We played them before and it was a battle and we got a couple of fortunate bounces, but that could’ve gone either way. We expected the same thing today under these conditions.”

The Blue Devils made it clear from the start that they would come out to play despite the conditions on the field. In the opening minutes, the Blue Devils had four chances to score via corner kicks, but the ball never found the back of the net.

A few minutes later, Makenzie Yanc got things started for the Lady Blue Devils after she scored off an assist from Maggie Braymer. Shortly after Yanc’s goal, Kylie Beck snuck the ball past the Yellow Jackets’ goalie to give the Blue Devils a 2-0 lead. About 10 minutes later, Mallory Zook fired the ball into the net to make it a three-goal game. Later in the half, Ella Worley was fouled and awarded a penalty kick. Worley subsequently buried the ball into the net for the Blue Devils’ fourth goal of the half.

“We were ready to play,” Bristow said. “This team was disappointed with some performances earlier in the season and we knew that we were better than that. They feel like they have something to prove and I think it was just heads up play and getting the ball where it needed to be and getting some shots on target. When it’s a day like this, you just have to hit the target. When you hit the target with the ball low on the ground, it’s gonna go in.”

The Blue Devils added one more goal in the beginning of the second half after Yanc netted her second goal of the contest.

For the rest of the half, the Blue Devils’ defense kept a zero on the board even after the Yellow Jackets had a couple of opportunities at the net.

Goalies Elora Dillinger and Triniti Caldwell split time at the net for the shutout after Dillinger was the in net for the first half while Caldwell took over during the final 40 minutes. However, Dillinger and Caldwell didn’t have a lot of opportunities to earn saves as the Blue Devils dominated possession throughout the entire game.

“Defense was outstanding,” Bristow said. “Nothing got behind them and it is so easy to misplay a ball in these conditions. Every time we played a ball, we had somebody backing up and even though a couple times, we did misplay it, there was always somebody there and they never got the ball in behind us. Never got a significant scoring chance on us and I just can’t say enough about Nola Zook, the center back. She is just outstanding. Almost never misplays a ball.”

After concluding their regular season schedule on Wednesday, the Blue Devils ended with an overall record of 10-5-1 with an 8-4 mark in region play. The Blue Devils finished in third place in Region 3 with Mercyhurst Prep and Seneca being the only two teams above them.

Next up for Cambridge is the District 10 1A playoffs, which start next week. The Blue Devils will play an opponent to be determined at a neutral site.

“I feel like we’ve got a shot to beat anybody that we play,” Bristow said. “There’s definitely some outstanding teams above us in the standings, but I feel like if we play the way we’ve been playing in the last couple of weeks, I feel like that we can challenge anybody in single A. I’m looking forward to it.”

Heating up

Blue Devils brave weather, shutout Tigers 5-0

By Alex Topor

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

SAEGERTOWN — Cambridge Springs beat Maplewood and the elements in a 5-0 Region 3 girls soccer game on Monday at the PENNCREST Athletic Fields in Saegertown.

The team’s battled the weather as well as each other. The temperature was about 45 degrees with gusty winds when the game started. Mother Nature also added intermittent sleet in the second half. Cambridge Springs head coach Geoff Bristow made sure his girls adjusted for the conditions.

“We knew with the conditions today it can be tough, when it’s cold, windy and wet,” Bristow said. “I told the girls about 10 times before the game ‘make sure your shots are low. Low and hard shots are going to be hard for the keeper to get.’ We kept firing them over the goal, but with a little bit of composure from Maggie Braymer and Makenzie Yanc — the next thing you know we got a few in and everything calmed down.”

The Blue Devils dominated possession from the start. The ball rarely left Maplewood’s side of the field and if it did, one of Cambridge’s defenders was quick to send the ball back into the fray.

Cambridge had numerous opportunities at the goal but shots sailed over the goal or to the side more often than not. After about 15 shots, Cambridge Springs senior Maggie Braymer hit a ball low and to the left to score and break the game open.

Braymer scored her second goal about two minutes later on a high arcing shot that slipped through the goalkeeper’s fingertips.

“The Maplewood team pretty much had all 11 players in the penalty area,” Bristow said. “I think one of the reasons we were hitting the ball high was because there was a whole bunch of legs between them and the goal, so they were just looking for places to get a look at the goal.”

Senior Kylie Beck scored on a rebound from the goalkeeper at the 35 minute mark. Just before halftime, Braymer passed to Makenzie Yanc directly in front of the goal and Yanc booted it low in the corner. Cambridge led 4-0 at halftime.

“I was really happy with my girls because they were playing closer to their potential,” Maplewood head coach Ted Eriksen said. “Cambridge kept the pressure on us so hard in the first half, when you play in your end that long sooner or later they’re gonna score on you. They’re a very good team.”

In the second half, Cambridge took advantage of its lead and allowed several starters to sit and get some much needed rest before a playoff push.

Freshman Michayl White scored in the 63rd minute to give Cambridge its fifth goal of the game.

Offensively, Cambridge Springs outshot Maplewood 38-3. A major reason for the discrepancy in attempts was the Blue Devils’ defensive effort. Junior Nola Zook anchors the defense with Ella Worley and Finley Rauscher on the sides. The defense communicates well and keeps the ball in front of them.

Bristow recently made a formation change that switched from four to three defenders. Since the change, Cambridge has won five straight games by a total margin of 20-2.

“It’s so nice to have players of the caliber of Nola Zook in the middle and the back. I don’t know that we’ve ever had a consistent and good center back as her. I have confidence in her and on the one side we have Ella Worley and Fin Rauscher on the other, it’s a really solid three.”

Cambridge Springs is now 9-5-1 overall and 7-4 in Region 3 games. Cambridge Springs is peaking at the right time and Bristow is happy with the team’s confidence as of late.

“We have a couple of key players down and out, but at the same time we’re playing better and playing with more confidence,” Bristow said. “Early in the season we lost a few games after being in the lead, comfortably in the lead a few times, then losing it and it destroyed our confidence.”

The Blue Devils’ final regular season game is Wednesday when they host Girard.

Maplewood is 2-12 overall and 1-10 in region action. It’s been a tough season for Eriksen and the Lady Tigers as they fight a small roster, but he is happy with their improvement.

“Our season was up and down and the lack of numbers was an issue at times, especially when the weather was hot. We avoided injury and their conditioning was good,” Eriksen said. “They stayed healthy and kept plugging away. They got consistently a little bit better.”

Maplewood will conclude its regular season at Seneca on Wednesday.

Cambridge Springs earns big Region 3 win

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

SAEGERTOWN — The Cambridge Springs girls soccer team beat Seneca 2-0 in a Region 3 game on Saturday.

Maggie Braymer scored two firsthalf goals with one assist from Makenzie Yanc to give the Blue Devils a lead they didn’t relinquish.

“The first goal was 13 minutes into the game when Makenzie Yanc put a long throw-in behind the defense and into the path of Braymer who calmly slid it past the goalkeeper,” Cambridge Springs head coach Geoff Bristow said. “The second goal at 25 minutes was a heads up play and great individual effort by Braymer who intercepted a pass from the Seneca goalkeeper, and then quickly passed the ball into an open goal just as the Seneca defense collapsed on her.

In the second half, strong team defense kept the Bobcats from scoring and allowed one shot.

“Our three back-line defenders — seniors Ella Worley and Finley Rauscher with junior Nola Zook in the middle — were outstanding and did not allow Seneca to get the ball behind us all day,” Bristow said.

Cambridge Springs is 8-5-1 overall and 6-4 in region action. Earlier this season, Seneca beat Cambridge Springs 1-0 and only had one loss entering Saturday’s game.

The Blue Devils will host Maplewood today.

Blue Devils demolish Braves

ERIE — The Cambridge Springs girls soccer team beat Iroquois 8-0 in a Region 3 game on Thursday.

Seniors Isobel Yasenchak and Makenzie Yanc each scored two goals in the first half to give Cambridge a 4-0 lead at the break. Yanc ended with three goals and one assist.

“The early goals allowed us to rest some starters and give valuable playing time to younger players,” Cambridge Springs head coach Geoff Bristow said. “We’re in the middle of a stretch of eight games in 16 days and we need to save some strength for a final push with three important region matches between now and Wednesday next week.”

Maggie Braymer scored twice and Kaelynn Astor scored once in the second half. Cambridge out-shot Iroquois 25-1. Mallory Zook, Astor and Braymer each added one assist.

Cambridge Springs is 7-5-1 overall and 5-4 in region action. The Blue Devils will host Seneca on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Yanc’s two goals lead Blue Devils past Knights

By Alex McGinley

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

SAEGERTOWN — The Cambridge Springs girls soccer team earned a hard-fought Region 3 win by a score of 2-1 over Eisenhower on Tuesday. The Blue Devils earned both of their goals from Makenzie Yanc in the second half.

With the win, the Blue Devils have split the season series against the Knights after losing the first matchup on Sept. 15.

“This win feels very good,” said Cambridge Springs head coach Geoff Bristow. “It’s always a battle when we play Eisenhower. The two teams are very even. You can tell most of the game was played in the middle of the field. We lost to them earlier in the season, so we knew that we needed some revenge back here at our home field.”

Tuesday’s game was a tale of two halves for the Lady Blue Devils. In the first half, both teams registered five shots on goal, but only one found the back of the net. Twenty two minutes into the game, Cassie Smelko fired a long-range shot past Blue Devils goalie Elora Dillinger to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.

The Lady Blue Devils wasted no time getting on the board in the second half. A minute into the half, Yanc was racing down the opposite goal when a defender fouled her as she was about to fire a shot. As a result, Yanc was awarded a penalty kick. It seemed as if Knights goalie Tracey Jakubczak made the save to the left, but the ball went off her hands and slipped into the net to tie the game at 1.

“Not gonna lie, my heart was kind of pounding,” Yanc said. “I thought she was gonna get it, but when it slid by her, I was like thank goodness.”

Nine minutes later, Yanc provided for her team again. Yanc was able to get free and juked Jakubczak for her second goal of the match to seal the win for the Lady Blue Devils.

“In the moment, I was like ‘I gotta get this in, I gotta get it in’ and then when it went in, I was just so relieved and just happy,” Yanc said.

“She’s a senior who has worked hard for four years,” Bristow said about Yanc. “She’s such an outstanding competitor. She got knocked out of the last game with an injury and couldn’t finish it out, so this time she was determined to come here and win this game. She just fought hard and sacrificed herself to get herself in the position to score those goals.”

In the second half, Cambridge went from using two strikers to adding one more for a total of three, which made it easier for it to have more opportunities at the net. During the final 40 minutes, the Lady Blue Devils registered 11 shots on goal, compared to just one for the Lady Knights.

“We adjusted at halftime,” Bristow said. “They play a very good offsides trap with a very high flat backline and we were able to beat that, just made the adjustment at halftime to be able to get through balls between those defenders in behind them and that’s what resulted in the two goals.”

Dillinger earned the win at the net for the Lady Blue Devils and saved five out of six shots. The only one that went past her was the long shot by Smelko.

Besides giving up the one goal, Bristow thought Dillinger and the defense backing her up played well.

“Elora did great,” Bristow said. “The one ball that went in just had an arch that she just couldn’t get to, but other than that, she handled herself well, did not make any mental errors and was able to keep the ball in play for us, sending out some nice punts to give us a chance to score.”

After Tuesday’s win, the Lady Blue Devils improve to 6-5-1 overall with a 4-4 record in region play with four games remaining. They will go on the road to take on Iroquois in another region matchup on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Blue Devils come back to defeat Eagles in Crawford County matchup

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS — The Cambridge Springs girls soccer team defeated Crawford County rival Conneaut 3-1 on Saturday.

The Lady Eagles got on the board five minutes into the game on a goal by Kylie Mattera. 10 minutes later, the Lady Blue Devils tied it up after Morgan Harris found the back of the net off an assist from Makenzie Yanc. In the 24th minute of play, Yanc found Harris on a throw-in. Harris then passed to a wide open Mallory Zook, who buried the ball into the net to give the Lady Blue Devils the lead. Yanc then converted on a penalty kick in the 58th minute to round out the scoring.

Overall, Cambridge earned 11 shots on goal while Conneaut had just four. Eagles goalie Savannah Burns saved 18 out of 21 shots.

“I was pleased with how the girls responded after going down by a goal early in the game,” said Cambridge Springs head coach Geoff Bristow. “We shook that off and had a number of good scoring chances turned away by good defensive plays. We finally broke through and scored two before half. We’ve struggled holding halftime leads this year, having lost four games after taking one or two goal leads late into the game. We decided to put pressure on to push for the third goal and it paid off with a penalty kick for the two-goal lead. Our defense held from that point and it felt good to finish out a game with momentum and solid defense that would allow CASH to get the ball behind us.”

Cambridge Springs improves to 5-5-1 on the season. The Blue Devils will host Region 3 opponent Eisenhower on Tuesday at 4:15 p.m.

Conneaut’s record is now 8-3-1. The Eagles will travel to Corry for a Region 5 matchup on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

Blue Devils blank Yellow Jackets

GIRARD — The Cambridge Springs girls soccer team beat Girard 2-0 on Saturday in a Region 3 matchup.

After battling to a 0-0 tie at halftime, Isobel Yasenchak and Makenzie Yanc each scored an unassisted in the second half. The shutout goalkeeper was Elora Dillinger.

“Cambridge Springs took control five minutes into the second half with a goal scored by senior Isobel Yasenchack whose 20 yard shot was deflected sending it high and arcing over the Girard goalie. Then, 10 minutes later, Makenzie Yanc scored on a direct free kick from just outside the penalty area,” Cambridge Springs head coach Geoff Bristow said. “We controlled possession for the remainder of the game and prevented Girard from getting any second half shots on goal.”

Cambridge is 4-3-1 overall and 3-2 in Region 3 action. Cambridge will play at Mercyhurst Prep today.

Scoring in a hurry

Blue Devils open hot, rout Tigers 5-0

By Alex Topor

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

TOWNVILLE — Over the past several years, Cambridge Springs has struggled to score when the Blue Devils hit the road and play Maplewood.

That wasn’t the case Wednesday. Cambridge scored four goals in the opening 20 minutes in a 5-0 win at Maplewood Elementary School.

“Every time we come here we struggle to score. No matter what our record and no matter what their record is, we struggle to score on this field. It happens every year,” Cambridge Springs head coach Geoff Bristow said. “Thinking we may have superior skill and numbers, we were determined to come in and take advantage of that and get some early goals to avoid the panic of ‘oh no, we’re not scoring.’” At the 6-minute mark, Cambridge’s Maggie Braymer scored off a pass from Isobel Yasenchak. About four minutes later, Braymer scored an unassisted goal. “We just started really slow. We gave up a couple goals we shouldn’t have,” Maplewood head coach Ted Eriksen said. “We weren’t marking tight enough or playing strong in our own end. If you give them an opportunity to score, they will do it. They have good athletes and will take advantage of your mistakes. I expected it to be a tough game. It always is.”

The Blue Devils added two more quick goals. Morgan Harris scored an unassisted goal at the 10-minute mark. Hannah Berlin scored off another Yasenchak assist at the 18 minute mark to give the Devils a comfortable lead.

Cambridge Springs dominated possession and kept the ball on Maplewood’s side of the field for most of the first half. Cambridge outshot Maplewood 11-1 at the halfway point.

“We’re happy with that performance. The Maplewood team is a little bit down with their number of players and we were able to move the ball pretty well and get a couple of early goals,” Bristow said. “What I was looking for in this game was for the players to keep their heads up, keep the ball on the ground and look for easy shot opportunities rather than forcing something that’s not here. It took a bit but we unlocked their defense and connected with passes that set up easy shots.

“From that point on we did some strategic subbing, got some players some playing time. The other team played tough in the second half and it was a lot harder to score.”

In the second half, Maplewood passed and possessed the ball better. The Tigers did not translate the possession time into any goals, though.

“Cambridge is a well coached team. Geoff Bristow does a nice job with them. Especially defensively, they’re always tough to score on. I’m not surprised we couldn’t collect a goal off them,” Eriksen said. “When we had a larger team we played a lot of tie games and 1-0 losses, but they have some good athletes.”

Lexi Clayton added a second half goal for a 5-0 Cambridge Springs lead. With the win, the Blue Devils advanced to 3-3-1. Cambridge did so without Makenzie Yanc — an all-region forward — who was sidelined with an injury.

“To lose a player of her caliber hurts any team, but if there was anytime we can absorb that, it would be this year,” Bristow said. “We changed our formation a bit to get an additional person up front to overcome the loss of possession we have with her.” For Maplewood, the team fell to 2-5.

“I was happy with what they did in the second half. They started shifting and moving as a unit,” Eriksen said. “They played in the other team’s end some. We’re just taking it one step at a time.”

With the win, Cambridge Springs is 8-0-3 in the last 11 games against Maplewood.

Spa crushes Iroquois

CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS — The Cambridge Springs girls soccer team dominated Region 3 opponent Iroquois 7-1. The win improves the Lady Blue Devils’ record to 2-3-1 overall and 1-2-0 in region play.

Morgan Harris, Maggie Braymer and Isobel Yasenchack each scored twice for the Lady Blue Devils. Kaelynn Astor also found the back of the net once. Braymer, Yasenchack and Mallory Zook each earned an assist. The Lady Blue Devils compiled 22 shots, compared to one for Iroquois.

“CSHS came out strong and scored two goals in the first three minutes, which set the tone for the rest of the game,” said head coach Geoff Bristow.”

Cambridge will next play on the road against PENNCREST rival Maplewood on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Spa loses in overtime

SAEGERTOWN — The Cambridge Springs girls soccer team lost to Region 3 opponent Mercyhurst Prep 3-2 in overtime on Wednesday. With the loss, the Lady Blue Devils are now 1-2 on the season.

The Lady Blue Devils led 2-0 after goals by Makenzie Yanc and Maggie Braymer with 16 minutes left in the game. However, the Lakers scored three unanswered goals to win the match.

Cambridge Springs will play in another home game on Saturday against Hickory at 11 a.m in a non-region tilt.

Cambridge shuts out Meadville

The Cambridge Springs girls soccer team shut out Meadville 4-0 in a non-region game at Bender Field.

Scoring for the Blue Devils was Makenzie Yanc, Maggie Braymer, Morgan Harris and Nola Zook.

“Cambridge’s experience was too much for my young girls to handle,” Meadville head coach Doug Kuhn said. “With 23 shots to one for Meadville, we need to work more on our offense.”

Meadville will play at Harbor Creek on Monday while Cambridge Springs will host Warren on Monday.

Cambridge Springs girls soccer team ready for a challenge

By Mary Ann Mook

SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE

Things are changing in Region 3 girls soccer this year, and that’s got Cambridge Springs coach Geoff Bristow on his toes.

This big news is that Mercyhurst Prep is moving into Region 3.

“They are a perennial powerhouse in Region 3, and Girard is also added, so our competition increases,” Bristow said, “but I feel like we have solid soccer players in every position.

“I feel confident in our ability to compete with the addition of these teams in our region.”

Bristow said Cambridge, which includes players from Saegertown High School through a cooperative agreement, has an experienced team.

“We lost in the first round of playoffs last season, and that left a bitter taste in our mouths,” Bristow said. “We plan to come back and have a rebounding year.”

One of the challenges for Bistrow is losing Madison Yanc, a four-year starter in goal. She is a former region player of the year and made the all-region first-team three times. Yanc is currently enrolled at Edinboro University to play basketball.

“So, we’ll have a new goalkeeper,” Bristow said.

In addition to Yanc, the team lost Paisley Mangold and Aly Acosta-Reyes to graduation.

But the team has depth. This year’s roster, with 24 players, is the largest Bristow has had in several years.

Seven players return as seniors: Makenzie Yanc (midfield/forward), Kylie Beck (midfield), Isobel Yasenchak (midfield), Ava Greenawalt (midfield/defense), Finley Rauscher (defense/midfield), Ella Worley (defense) and Maggie Braymer (forward/midfield). Seniors Laura Bidwell (midfield) and Morgan Harris (forward/midfield) also made the roster.

Yanc is a returning first-team all-region player. Yasenchak and Zook each made the second-team last season.

Juniors returning from last season are Moira York (defense), Danica Escalante (midfield), Lexi Clayton (midfield) and Nola Zook (defense). Another junior is Lilly Pavsity (defense).

Also, junior Elora Dillinger is one of two players who could get the nod as starting goalkeeper.

The other goalkeeper is sophomore Triniti Caldwell. Other sophomores competing for playing time are Mallory Zook (midfield/ defense), Lily Schultz (midfield), Hannah Berlin (midfield), Adrian Cole (defense) and Kaelynn Astor (midfield).

Three freshmen in Quinn Eaglen (midfield), Morgan Dunton (midfield) and Michayl White (midfield/forward) are hoping for some varsity time.

In addition to Cambridge Springs, Mercyhurst Prep and Girard, Region 3 includes Seneca, Eisenhower, Iroquois and Maplewood.

Bristow enters his 14th year as head coach. His assistants are Alex Escalante and Tara Krzysiak.

Bristow said this season will be a challenge. But he believes the team is up to the task.

“We need to pull it all together and avoid injuries,” Bristow said. “If we can do that, I think we can compete with anybody in the district.”