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Division 1 setback

Southwestern rallies past Fredonia

By Christian Storms 5 min read

FREDONIA -- Soccer is a team sport, but sometimes individual players have to take matters into their own hands for a result on the scoreboard.

That was evident with the three goals in Tuesday's Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 contest between Fredonia and Southwestern at Fredonia State. However, it was the visiting Trojans and Marlana Cresanti who had three stellar finishes for a hat trick that secured the 3-1 decision.

"They didn't make it easy for her," Southwestern head coach Derek Houser said about Cresanti's performance. "Especially as the game went on she had one, two, three people on her the whole time and to get some of those goals with that attention -- your big players have to come up big in your big moments and she did for us offensively. She led by example today and she is the very definition of that in practice and it translated on the field today."

Cresanti's most impressive tally came at the end of the first half when she dribbled past a Fredonia defender in the final minute and sent a perfect shot that looked like a cross, but instead was perfectly placed to catch the far post for a 2-1 lead with 28 seconds left in half.

"Honestly, we had our backs against the wall for six or so minutes there at the end," Houser said about the late first-half goal. "They had to be feeling really good about what they were doing 1-1 and then all of a sudden with 20 seconds left it shifts the game. It allowed us to come out a little more relaxed to get the third one which is what we really needed to do."

The contest was tied for most of the first half when Fredonia's Cece Tonelli showed why she is one of Section VI's best, dribbling past excellent Southwestern defending to create her own opportunity which she rifled an in initial shot that was taken away, but with her speed she was the first to the rebound to level the game in the 14th minute.

"Cece is a dangerous player," Fredonia head coach Kyle Marvin stated. "She changes the game for us. Not only is she fast and able to get behind defenders, but she can also create her own scoring chances. She is someone that we play through and expect to get goals out of with her abilities."

It was clear the Fredonia offense would go through Tonelli and Southwestern was prepared for it, but the Hillbillies still managed to find ways to get her the ball.

"We've talked about how we can't just rely on Cece to score goals for us all the time," Marvin added. "Of course we would love that, but we need other players to step up and we certainly have other players that are capable of scoring. We just need to find the right combinations of getting those players up and in scoring positions."

Other than the goal in the 14th minute, Southwestern's defense kept the Hillbillies at bay and Braelynn Dykstra made nine saves when she was needed.

"She is the type of player you have to talk about what you're going to do ahead of time or she will make you pay for it," Houser said about planning for Tonelli and the rest of the Fredonia offense. "The simple version is that Kenzie Rogers really kind of spied her and was all over her and made life hard, but as a unit I thought we played very well defensively. Charlotte Beaver, Liv Goeckel and Carly (Charles) along with Kenzie they just battled. They were where we needed them to be and not giving away free and easy."

Fueled by Cresanti's late goal, Southwestern tilted the field early in the second half and really put the pressure on the Fredonia defense. The Hillbillies held them off the best they could and relied on 11 saves from Naomi Muck.

"Southwestern is athletic and they have players that can finish," Marvin said about his defense. "I think our defense battled today. We tried to force them to take shots from farther out. When they did get in, Naomi made some great saves to keep us in the game. Obviously, they had some shots that she wasn’t going to get, but overall we made some tough defensive plays that we can build on throughout the season."

However, the constant pressure finally paid off when Cresanti created her third goal -- similar to the first in the 11th minute -- striking a turnover into the back of the net off just one touch. Cresanti's final strike in the 48th minute stood for the 3-1 league victory for Southwestern (1-1-0, 1-0-0).

"I knew going in this would be a very challenging game," Houser stated. "Fredonia has come a real long way over the last couple of years. They have played well in their first couple of games and you knew it was going to be a battle. It feels good to go out and earn a win on the road, getting that first league win, there is a lot more we need to do, but it's good to get that first one out of the way."

Fredonia (2-1-0, 0-1-0) will look to bounce back when it entertains Portville on Thursday night.

"Every game in this division is a battle," Marvin added. "You have to be focused the entire game and the details matter. Every team we play, it is a tough competitive game and we have to show up if we want to win."

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