ELDRED — Livingston Manor visited the home of the Yellowjackets on Saturday morning for a rainy Class D matchup. The two teams played to a near-stalemate in the first half, with the Lady Wildcats earning a slight 1-0 edge after a goal by Alexandra Potosek, but the second half was all Livingston Manor as the girls scored four goals en route to a 5-0 road win and a trip to Sectionals.

The Lady Wildcats are coming off a forgettable 2022 campaign in which they didn’t win a single game, but have long surpassed that forgettable year with the work they’ve put in so far this year. The two league wins over Eldred have set Livingston Manor up for a chance at the top seed with two upcoming games against Chapel Field.

Eldred, on the other hand, has a home game against Chapel Field this afternoon that will present the Lady Yellowjackets with a win-and-in situation. To qualify for Sectionals, the Lady Yellowjackets need to secure the victory tonight.

The Lady Wildcats were led by Rebecca Gashinsky, who netted three goals and assisted on another in the win. Despite multiple shot opportunities in the first half, Gashinsky scored all three in the second half of the game, as field conditions worsened due to the rain.

Her first goal was scored just two minutes into the second half, with her other goals coming with 32 minutes and 14:30 minutes remaining.

Allison Froelich put the final touches on the win with a goal late in the game to make it 5-0.

Eldred had opportunities to score but were unable to convert in the shutout loss.

Eldred’s goalkeeper Olivia Gonzalez recorded 20 saves, while Zaylee Cox recorded nine saves for Livingston Manor.

“The girls played with heart but the weather and field conditions weren’t on our side today,” said Eldred Coach Roxanne Doud. “Now we have to look ahead to Chapel [Field] and hopefully get to see [Livingston Manor] again in Sectionals. They deserved the win today.”

“This was the best complete game we’ve played,” Livingston Manor Coach Maggi Fitzpatrick said after the win. “It was a less physical game than last time, and we moved the ball well. Our defense has improved but we were good on both sides of the ball. The girls deserve a lot of credit for how hard they’ve worked, going from a winless team to sectionals is a testament to them.”