6/3/01
Spartans defend title as Coar scores twice
by Kevin Tresolini - Staff Reporter
NEWARK -- St. Mark's High struck quickly and repeatedly Saturday night, turning its quest for a second straight Delaware High School Girls Soccer Tournament title into a rousing success.
St. Mark's scored in the fourth minute, then built on that for a 3-0 victory over A.I. du Pont in the championship game with an overflow crowd of 1,800 looking on at the University of Delaware.
Sophomore Kristen Coar assisted Michelle Huynh-Ba on St. Mark's first goal, then Coar scored the last two off free kicks in the 22nd and 48th minutes.
The Spartans (19-1) defeated A.I. for the second straight year in the finals. Last year they had fallen behind early 2-0 before winning 3-2, and they weren't eager to have to repeat that task.
"This year we jumped on them early," said coach Tom DeMatteis of St. Mark's, which had also handled A.I. 5-0 during the regular season.
"We got that second goal in the first half, and the second-half goal on the set piece really put the cap on it. A.I. battled like we knew they would. They're A.I. We felt if we did a good job on the big field spreading them out, checking to the ball, knocking it to feet, keeping our heads up on shots on goal to see where the keeper was, we'd be successful."
Coar, who transferred to St. Mark's this year from Caesar Rodney, had also scored the winning goal in Tuesday's 2-1 quarterfinal win over Newark.
Her fourth-minute cross slid through the penalty area for what seemed an eternity, begging for someone from St. Mark's to finish it or A.I. to clear it. The free and speedy Huynh-Ba was first on the scene, and her shot was true.
Coar made it 2-0 when she took a square pass on a direct kick from Shannon Bradbury, and crushed a shot 20 yards out from the middle of the goal. St. Mark's carried that 2-0 cushion into halftime.
A.I. (13-7) nearly scored early in the second half, when Jessica Natalie's cross was a tad high for a teammate's head at the far post. St. Mark's made the Tigers pay when Coar drove in a shot from 20 yards out on her direct kick.
Playing in its sixth straight state final, A.I. couldn't quell St. Mark's relentless attack, which featured quickness, crisp passing and some powerful feet.
"We knew we had the skill, but we felt we had to come out and play," said Coar, referring to St. Mark's falling behind Newark 1-0 early in the quarterfinals and going into halftime scoreless in an eventual 2-0 semifinal win over Archmere.
Sweeper Sherry Smith and stopper Kelly McCauley anchored the St. Mark's defense, which allowed just five goals all year. Sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Lewandowski made four saves.
"We knew we weren't going to shut them out," Tigers coach Scott Emert said. "They have a very, very powerful offense. It's tough to neutralize that, but I commend our defense because they worked hard. We planned on scoring a goal and had some quality chances, but luck wasn't on our side."