Stone Bridge Notches Key District Win

No. 7 Bulldogs Knock Off No. 3 W.T. Woodson

By B.J. Koubaroulis

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

For most of the first half of Stone Bridge's 2-0 victory over visiting W.T. Woodson last night, Bulldogs junior midfielder Jennifer Skogerboe controlled the middle of the field, dishing out a series of playable chances.

But with W.T. Woodson junior defender Brianna Thompson holding the back line and sophomore defender Danielle King hounding the Bulldogs' main scoring threat in Hofstra-bound senior speedster Krysti Rodriguez, Skogerboe was forced to be opportunistic.

At the seven-minute mark, Skogerboe -- an accurate field organizer -- shot forward out of the midfield to play a loose ball that Rodriguez tipped her way just outside the penalty box.

Skogerboe bolted through a line of Woodson defenders and delivered a left-footed low-flying screamer that slipped underneath the Cavaliers' diving goalkeeper to give seventh-ranked Stone Bridge a 1-0 lead and spark the Bulldogs to a key Virginia AAA Liberty District victory.

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W.T. Woodson and Stone Bridge line up for the national anthem prior to Tuesday's game. (Ricky Carioti)

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Stone Bridge's Krystina Rodriguez (3) scores past W.T. Woodson's Brianna Thompson (23) in the final seconds of the game in which Stone Bridge won, 2-0. (Ricky Carioti)

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Stone Bridge's Melissa Rodriguez, far right, congratulates teamate Krystina Rodriguez, center, on her goal past W.T. Woodson defender Brianna Thompson (23) late in the second half of Stone Bridege's 2-0 win. (Ricky Carioti)

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W.T. Woodson's Erin Havard (25) and Stone Bridge's Megan McCabe, right, collide while heading the ball in the second half of Stone Bridge's 2-0 win. (Ricky Carioti)

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W.T. Woodson's Danielle King, left, and Stone Bridge's Melissa Rodriguez battle for a loose ball in the first half of Stone Bridge's 2-0 win. (Ricky Carioti)

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W.T. Woodson goalie Marlee Stynchula makes a first-half save against Stone Bridge. (Ricky Carioti)

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Stone Bridge's Jennifer Skogerboe controls the ball past W.T. Woodson's Lindsey Heigh during the first half of Stone Bridge's 2-0 win. (Ricky Carioti)

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W.T. Woodson's Courtney Owen, left, gets a kick past Stone Bridge's Sarah Leonard in the second half of Stone Bridge's 2-0 win. (Ricky Carioti)

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W.T. Woodson goalie Marlee Stynchula clears the ball in front of Stone Bridge's Krystina Rodriguez during the first half of Stone Bridge's 2-0 win. (Ricky Carioti)

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Stone Bridge's Krystina Rodriguez (3) controls the ball around several W.T. Woodson defenders during the first half of Stone Bridge's 2-0 win. (Ricky Carioti)

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"I just stayed back because I knew Krysti was going to play it back," said Skogerboe, a Connecticut recruit whose third goal of the season served the No. 3 Cavaliers (5-1-1, 2-1) their first loss. "This gives us confidence because now we know how good we really are."

The goal pulled the Bulldogs (3-2-2, 2-1) out of a slump in which they earned just one victory in their previous four matches.

Part of the reason was Stone Bridge faced one of the area's toughest schedules with five of their first seven opponents currently ranked in The Post's top 10.

"We're a young team and it took us a little while, but beating Woodson brings up the girls' confidence," said Rodriguez, a two-time All-Met who scored her fifth goal in the final two minutes on a clean-up miss from her freshman sister Melissa.

Less than five minutes after Skogerboe's goal, W.T. Woodson had a chance to answer as Lindsey Ottavio turned a one-on-one with Stone Bridge's goalkeeper at the near post into a feed to freshman forward Elizabeth Gaski at the opposite post.

Stone Bridge sophomore defender Emily Fredrikson stepped in front of Gaski's open goal tap-in and booted away the offering at point-blank range to preserve the shutout. Stone Bridge controlled the tempo and outshot the Cavaliers 8-3.

Extra Points

By Paul Tenorio and Matt Brooks