O’Neill goalie Hailey Hall had three saves in the September 18 Raider win over the Newburgh Free Academy Goldbacks. In contrast, NFA’s goalie, Avery Claudio, had 15. It was a hard-fought battle for both teams – the final score was 1-0.

That lone goal came from Raider Kaelyn Mitroka, on an assistant from Anna Tilman, with about three minutes left in the first half of the game. About a minute later, before the half ended, Mitroka took another shot that looked like it would go in but bounced off the top of the goal.

Mitroka was a thorn in Claudio’s side the whole game – most of the action throughout the game was right in front of her.

Claudio is a sophomore who is quick and can easily boot the ball halfway down the field. She had to jump and dive in her various saves. She took a couple of hard shots from the ball, and got tangled up with Raider players more than once. In front of her, Nely Diaz, an eighth grader, worked hard keeping the ball far from the goal. Claudio’s voice was the loudest for the Goldbacks – she sent instructions and praise to her teammates frequently.

In front of Hall on the Raider end of the field, O’Neill’s defense swarmed NFA players whenever they got close to the goal. Newburgh got just two shots off in the first half.

While NFA came out more energized in the second half, again, most of the action stayed in front of their own goal as the corps of Raider forwards, including Shylah Guy and Juliet O’Connell, pressed hard.

The Goldbacks fell to Pine Bush, 7-1 last Wednesday
NFA, 1-3 after the game, played at home on September 22 against Ellenville and will face Middletown at home on September 24.