Tioga County Sports ReportLANSING — SVEC took a 3-1 lead with a pair of goals early in the second half, but Lansing scored five unanswered goals to rally for a 6-3 win here Monday afternoon in IAC girls soccer action.
"What a fun environment to play in," said SVEC coach Michael Leljedal. "There was a lot of buzz and excitement as that was the opening game of Lansing's incredible new stadium.
"The first half was a true back-and-forth," denoted. "I’m proud of how the girls responded when Lansing scored first. They kept their heads up and were working the things that we saw and responded with a good goal.
"It was disappointing to be going into half with only one goal," he added. "I felt like we had the better chances in the first half, but couldn’t capitalize."
Leljedal said the loss was a microcosm of the Eagles' season.
"The story of our season has been finding a way to have leads against really tough opponents and, unfortunately, not finishing them off," he said.
"We came out in the second half hot and scored two really quick well-earned team goals," said Leljedal. "To put us up 3-1, but credit to Lansing. In a game where they could’ve hung their heads and give up, they fought.
I’ve been preaching to the girls that every game we’ve played has been winnable and we’ve been right in it," added Leljedal. "We just have to find ways to play a full 80 minutes. The season still has life and no one is yet mailing it in. We’ve got life and we’re going to fight until the end."
Lansing scored first, but Melanie Stevens, off an assist from Alice Lyon, who assisted on all three of SVEC's goals, scored with 18 minutes remaining in the first half to tie the game at 1-1.
The score remained 1-1 until Emma Fey scored two minutes after the intermission.
About a minute later, Meradyth Stouffer scored to give the Eagles a 3-1 lead with with 37 minutes remaining in the contest.
Lansing scored three goals in an 11-minute span to rally for a 4-3 lead with 21 minutes remaining, then tacked on a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes to nail down the win.
SVEC had a 15-9 advantage in shots-on-goal, while Lansing had a 5-3 edge in corner kicks.
Alaina Yerier had seven saves in net for the Eagles.
SVEC, now 3-7, hosts Watkins Glen Wednesday.
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IN PHOTO: SVEC's Meradyth Stouffer. ... TCSR STOCK PHOTO.
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