By: Zachary Harnischfeger
GATES, N.Y.--- It was a wet and chilly Tuesday night as the Gates Chili Spartans went to battle with the Spencerport Rangers. After a slow start, the Rangers scored five unanswered goals in the second half to get the 6-0 victory.
“We thought in the first half we did a lot of good things,” Spencerport Rangers head coach Jamie Schneider said. “But we didn't find the back of the net enough. We created those chances. We just needed to be a little bit patient and be a little bit more polished in the final third of our movement, our touches, and then the actual finishing opportunity. They came out and found that right away so that was impressive."
Both offenses couldn’t get a lot going in the first half of the first half. The Rangers broke the stalemate with a goal by Jayda Solomen at the 23:29 mark to make it a 1-0 game. This was Solomen’s fourth goal of the season.
The Rangers defense didn’t allow the Spartans to score, and Spencerport’s offense exploded in the second half. Just 1:24 into the second half, freshman Ryan Smith netted a goal to extend the lead to 2-0.
“Our success comes from communication,” Smith said. “People have been playing together for a while so everyone just knows where they are.”
One minute later, Lindsay Lenhard scored a goal to make it a 3-0 game. This was Lenhard’s 22nd goal of the season. Carley Oakten added to the lead with a goal at the 29:49 mark in the second half, making it 4-0.
Later in the second half, Lenhard scored her second goal when the ball bounced off the hands of Gates-Chili goaltender Cassaundra Carpenter and into the net. This was Lenhard’s team-leading 23rd goal of the season. At the end of the second half, Smith added her second goal of the game, sealing the 6-0 victory for the Rangers.
“It's senior night, our last home game and my last home game so we’re going to come out and try to do our best and try to get the result,” Lenhard said. “The team just needs to keep the momentum going, especially into sectionals. We have to take it game by game and Canandaigua will be a tough opponent. We are going in there not expecting anything and keeping our head down and capitalizing on our opportunities.”
The Rangers improve to 14-0-1 with the win and will look to remain perfect as they host Canandaigua on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
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