By Tom Murphy
Special to the Caledonia Argus

Caledonia 4, Lourdes 0

Arie Albert stopped 16 Rochester Lourdes shots on goal as she notched another shutout performance in the goal last week. Caledonia High Schoolís girls soccer team took a giant step towards securing seeding in the upcoming playoffs with a solid victory over Rochester Lourdes, 4-0.

Albert is not flashy but her numbers sure are as the number of scoreless games she has far exceeds the number of goals she has allowed. "It was a fantastic game for her," said coach Sue Link. "She can be over-shadowed at times, but she saved us in this game. Stopping that many shots on goal is a testament to her ability," she said. Link credited the freshmanís accomplishments to her poise. "She keeps her cool to a great extent. She is very focused."

Scoring leader Sarah Colleran put three goals in the net in this big game to show why she is the leading scorer in the section. "She is unequaled in her speed," said Link.

Kayla McCormick had a rare direct kick goal. That shot is taken from the spot where a penalty occurred on the field. "Her shot covered quite a distance," Link said. She said it had been years since one of her players had done it.

The remarkable statistic about the game was that Caledonia only had 12 shots on goal. "This win was huge for us. It will also help us in the playoffs to have some familiarity with our opponents," she said.

Girls top Cotter 2-0

Winona Cotter threw an unusual tactic at Caledonia last week when it loaded up its defense on its side to try and clog the Warriors fiery offense. "The game was played on one side of the field. There were so many players on one side," coach Sue Link said.

"It taught us we have to work on chipping the ball behind the defense if we are to be successful against this type of strategy," Link said. "By getting the ball behind their defense, we could go to it," she said.

"The 2-0 score was definitely not indicative of the game," Link said. Cotter only took five shots on goal while the Warriors bombarded Cotter with 34 shots.

Sarah Colleran had one of those goals and Bobbi Jo Schuttemeier had the other goal. "We also learned we have to score when we shoot," Link said.

Link talked about the play of Sara Kasten. "We positioned her at midfield where she did a great job for us. We found she works better from that spot because she has more room to maneuver."

Anna Wittry also drew the praise of her coach. "I brought her up from junior varsity and she had a good game. She covered a lot of the field."

Warriors drop St. Charles, 13-0

Everything was ëoní for the Warriors in a 13-0 drubbing of St. Charles last week. The Warriors had nearly 60 shots on goal.

"Everyone saw a lot of playing time," coach Sue Link said. "We were just ëoní for this game. We had good passing, too."

Sarah Colleran had four goals in this game. Erica Myhre had two goals as did Sara Kasten. Also getting goals were Mary Ellen Schiltz, Bobbi Jo Schuttemeier, Theresa Ellenz, Kalli Konkel, and Rachel Strub.

At one point, Link switched her offense players to defense and vice versa. "It was important for them to see the challenges faced by players on the other side of the ball," Link said.

Parentsí night

The girls soccer team is hosting a parents night this Thursday. It is the final home game. The opponent is Dover-Eyota.

"We want to recognize the parents of our athletes for all the positive things they do to benefit the program," said coach Sue Link.

She spoke of their volunteer efforts and the positive support the athletes receive at home. "It is good to have parental support," she said.

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