Warren JFK girls soccer coach earns 151st win

By Ryan Buck

sports @vindy.com

WARREN

Warren JFK girls soccer coach Billy Roberts celebrated a milestone win Tuesday night. Few coaches will ever attain 150 career victories.

For Roberts, who led the Eagles program for 13 years before a three-year sabbatical began in 2011, the 151st win feels just as sweet as the 150th.

His Eagles outlasted rival Ursuline, 2-0 Wednesday night on their home field to close out the regular season.

“Ursuline’s a very big rival for us so both teams played very hard because of it,” said Roberts, whose team enters postseason play 10-3-2. “You’re going to expect that when the two of us play. The other thing is we wanted to carry into the playoffs playing well. We’ve won our last three games going into the playoffs so we’re playing really well right now.”

A scoreless opening 30 minutes gave way to a swing in momentum that went the Eagles’ way. Senior Nine Macali accepted a quick pass out of a scrum of bodies at midfield and outraced the Irish defense.

On the breakaway, Macali, a team captain, shot across her body as she attacked from the right of goal and beat Irish goalkeeper Jordyn Kenneally far post for a 1-0 lead with 9:30 left in the first half.

With the lead in hand, Roberts had a halftime message for his team.

“[Eagles forward] Ellie Cole put in some really nice corner kicks for us and we didn’t get to the ball in the first half,” said Roberts. “We stressed at halftime, ‘Somebody’s got to get to that ball.’

“And what do you know? In the first minute of the half we get a corner kick and that worked out.”

Fifty seconds into the second half, defender Antonella LaMonica charged the net from her defender’s position and headed a well-aimed shot past Kenneally for a 2-0 lead.

“That was a huge goal,” Roberts said.

Kenneally, a freshman, surprisingly volunteered for the position at the first training session of the offseason, said Ursuline coach Roy Schmidt.

“I’m always asking the freshmen what they’d like to play,” Schmidt recounted, “and we had no goalkeeper. Both graduated, so we’re thinking, ‘What are we going to do for goalie?’

“I go through all of [the freshmen] and I get to Jordyn — they’re all at the table where we train at Rocky Ridge [at Mill Creek Park] — and I go, ‘Jordyn, what is it that you play?’ She says, ‘Oh, I’m a goalie’ and it goes dead silent. All of a sudden all the girls are screaming, ‘Yeah!’ and we had our goalkeeper.”

Despite her youth, Kenneally played like a seasoned veteran and kept her team (8-4-3) in the match when Ursuline’s best chances off the runs of lone senior Angela Bowell were denied with around 30 minutes remaining.

Kenneally slid to her left to stop Ana Fagnano’s chance at the 27:30 mark, then snagged Aundrea Scattino’s drive three minutes later.

She deflected a point-blank attempt by Gabrielle Cobb from six yards away and dove on a loose ball that was played ahead to a charging Cole with 16 minutes left in the game.

“She was excellent,” Schmidt said. “It’s the first time she’s ever played goalie in a competitive sport in her life and she’s started every game for us.”

JFK goalkeeper Liz Kellar recorded her seventh shutout of the season.