By JASON LYNCH
Express Correspondent
On a picture perfect Friday at The Community School's Sagewillow field, Ellie Swanson's remarkable goal scoring stole the show Friday.
The speedy sophomore scored a single-game school record seven goals giving the defending league champ Cutthroats a comfortable 8-3 win over the visiting Bears from Bliss (2-1-0, 2-1-0 league) in the High Desert showdown.
Coach Kelly Feldman's Cutthroats (4-1-0, 3-0-0 league) won their fourth straight game for a head of steam entering another showdown today, Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at Sagewillow against Buhl (4-1-0, 3-1-0 league). Buhl lost 2-0 at Filer (4-1-0, 3-1-0) last Wednesday.
Youth has been served for the Cutthroats one third of the way through the 2010 season.
Fielding a starting lineup featuring five fantastic freshmen, Feldman said, "The new players are really making their mark already. With Hannah Dies up front, Jordan Fitzgerald, Katie Feldman and Whitney Engelmann in the midfield, and Erin Hennessy on defense, it is obvious that the freshmen help shape what we do as a team."
Still, Friday was the Swanson show. Last year she scored 12 goals in The Community School's 15-win season. This year she has 10 already. Her quick-fire strikes made the score 3-0 after eight minutes.
Crucial to the offense was the manner in which Katie Feldman controlled the midfield. Her superb passing to the wings and incisive through-balls to forwards kept Bliss from mounting serious pressure.
Feldman's steady play had another positive effect on her team's play, allowing senior Freya Dickey the freedom to play an excellent supporting role behind the forwards.
Swanson's five first-half goals (in the 3rd, 5th, 8th, 23rd and 30th minutes) would have iced the game early but Bliss managed two goals of its own—despite its problems in thwarting the fast-breaking Cutthroat attack. Bliss capitalized when it could, scoring twice on only four shots.
Linsay James netted a nice goal in the ninth minute and Demsie Butler knocked in a deflected goal in the 17th making the score 3-2 and reminding the hosts that it might not be one-way traffic all day.
As it was, Swanson's magic and a 20th minute strike by Hannah Dies, her fifth of the season, gave the home side a 6-2 halftime lead.
The second half featured more of the same. Changes made by coach Feldman still produced good attacking soccer. The girls didn't finish everything (19 shots to make 8 goals) but there may have been a reason.
Coach Feldman said, "The girls were a bit tired coming straight off of their fall camping trip. You could see we were slow getting back on defense and we're still trying to find our best combination of players in the back line. But, credit to Ellie. Scoring seven goals in one game is incredible. We are really happy in the end."
Swanson beat the previous single-game school record of five goals set in 2004 by Cassidy Doucette, in 2007 by Hannah Hennessy and in 2008 by Teagen Palmer.
Boys take down Bliss 3-0
Behind more solid goalkeeping from captain Tom Crosby and a bit of good luck, The Community School boys enjoyed a 3-0 league victory over Bliss Friday at Browning Field in Sun Valley. It was the first Cutthroat conference win.
Finishing continued to be a work in progress for coach Richard Whitelaw, whose team needed 18 shots to score two goals from open play. The Cutthroats found it hard going against a feisty Bliss team and the early exchanges brought few chances for either side.
With Cooper Hanley working hard in midfield and vibrant play up front from Cameron Jenner and Ben Kanellitsas, the game slowly started going the Cutthroats' way.
In the 20th minute Tim Kanellitsas made a terrific dribbling run down the right side and into the penalty area. His chipped cross was handled by a Bliss defender, who was sent off for his instinctive yet flawed reaction. For the rest of the game, Bliss had to play with 10. Sophomore Zach Lindahl put the ensuing penalty kick well over the crossbar.
Eight minutes later, the game still scoreless, Jenner was sent through on goal by a long pass from the back. Excellent goalkeeping by Bliss's Juan Rojaz kept Jenner from scoring but the deflected ball fell straight to the onrushing Ben Kanellitsas, who slotted home from 10 yards.
As the second half developed with the hosts leading 1-0, shorthanded Bliss kept playing well through the midfield and Cutthroat passes continued to go astray. Fortunately for the home team, Bliss couldn't turn its good play into a goal.
Whitelaw said, "It was a little nervy there in the second half because we didn't capitalize versus 10 men the way you'd hope. We could have done better at exploiting our advantage."
Bliss was made to pay in the 59th minute when one of its defenders brought Whitelaw's "Man of the Match" Cooper Hanley down in the penalty area, stopping a sure scoring opportunity. Up stepped Lindahl for a chance to redeem his earlier miss from the spot, and he made sure to finish the job this time for his first of the season and second of his career.
The Bears kept pressing for a goal. Trailing 2-0, they had the excellent Tom Crosby in their way and his seven saves (57 on the season) kept their hopes at bay. As the state's top-rated 3A goalkeeper through the month of August, Crosby's experience in goal is beginning to show.
Crosby notched his second straight shutout, and he also played a role in the third and final goal. A Crosby punt traveled nearly 60 yards before falling to the speedy Ben Kanellitsas, who played the bounce and crashed home a volley in the 72nd minute to seal the win.
The Cutthroats (2-2-0, 1-2-0 league) entertain Buhl (1-1-1) today, Wednesday at 6:15 p.m. and host Declo (1-4-0) Friday, Sept. 10. Declo has lost three straight games by a combined 23-0 score to Minico, Aberdeen and Wendell.
Whitelaw's squad travels to reigning State 3A champ Gooding Monday, Sept. 13. Gooding (3-1-0) handled Bliss 6-0 last Wednesday. League leader is Wendell (3-1-0, 3-0-0), which beat Gooding 3-1 and lost only to Snake River by a 6-1 score.
Community School sophomore Ellie Swanson (right) runs evenly with Carolyn Hernandez of Twin Falls during the Aug. 21 season opener at Sagewillow Farms. Swanson scored a school-record seven goals Friday against Bliss. Express photo by Roland Lane
