DelawareSports.com
6/3/00
Bits and Pieces with Marshal Manlove
The State Soccer Championship
June 3, 2000 7 p.m. at Newark High
by Marshan Manlove - editor
The rematch of last year's championship should prove to be an exciting battle between A.I. duPont and St. Mark's.
Another tough call to make here as the regular season match between these two teams was a 3-2 win for A.I., and the Spartans only loss of the year.
The difference in this game is that last year's player of the year, Beth Belanger, will be on the sidelines still in a cast because of a double compound fracture in her leg.
Junior Katie Mazzio is probably the best player in the state even though she wasn't awarded that honor this year. She is fast, skilled, and hustles to every ball. She competes in cross-country and indoor track to boost her stamina especially for soccer, and her hard work pays off.
Underated, perhaps, on this team, is senior Kristin Goldrick. The tri-captain also has killer skills and she scored twice in the semifinals against Tatnall.
With Belanger's injury, sweeper Kristin Hanna and midfielder Tracey Withrow moved forward to provide more offense. Hanna's departure from the back row gives St. Mark's the edge defensively.
The Tigers battled through adversity all year with injuries and grades and suffferend another injury recently when sophomore Kelly Gast tore her ACL and will miss the championship game. Gast is another Tiger runner who wears out offensive opponents with her endless supply of engery.
The Spartans have probable Player of the Year Ashley Dilworth, who scored 100 goals in her career. The senior with the long blond hair is an All-American and one of head coach Tom DeMatteis' big guns on the front line.
Sophomore Shannon Bradbury is a probable first-team all state member who can strike with equal velocity and accuracy with either foot as she proved against Newark in the semifinals.
The Spartans also rely on two speedy wingers, sophomore Michelle Huynh-Ba, who was a goal scorer in the finals last year, and freshman Melissa Samio. St. Mark's will need to neutralize Katie Mazzio's quickness and force her to lose what can be a quick temper.
Withrow and Hanna have powerful right legs, and can score from 25-30 yards away as easily as some can from PK range. Dilworth, Bradbury, Huynh-Ba all finish what they start as well, so this could be a high scoring contest.
The Tigers are unfazed by Belanger's absence on the field and play with the same confidence that has made them four-time state champions. But she will absolutely be missed in this final game of the 2000 year. The Spartans are loaded and ready to begin a dynasty of their own behind a coach who has nine boy's state championships under his belt.
Look for leather and bodies to be flying all over the Newark high school field in the last high school championship game of the 99-00 season.
Category
Speed
Stamina
Skills
Defense
Coaching
Intangibles
A.I. duPont
Even
Edge
Edge
St. Mark's
Even
Edge
Edge
Edge