Skogerboe Gives Bulldogs Big Lift

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.

"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.