BG shows off 2023 version in victory
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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic's Paxton DeLeo took a hard soccer ball shot to the face from close range late in the Lady Marauders' season-opening 6-1 win over Central at Tom Irwin Field on Monday.
DeLeo got back up, waved off a possible substitution, and launched her free kick about 40 yards downfield to a streaking Nicole Hawk, who put the ball in the back of the net to finish off a hat trick and set the final score.
"I have always felt like one of our strong suits is being tough," Bishop Guilfoyle coach Joe DeLeo said. "No doubt about that, but she was pretty resilient there. I didn't know if she was coming out of the game, but she didn't want to, and it worked out well."
Bishop Guilfoyle has been among the best teams in District 6 the last few years but lost a lot to graduation, including dynamic scorer Lainey Farabaugh, from last year's District 6 runner-up squad.
But it seems the Lady Marauders have simply reloaded, starting four freshmen, including Emma Marasco, who scored a goal and had an assist on another, and keeper Abrie "Cece" Rumfola, who stopped seven Central shots and held the Lady Dragons to one goal after they scored 12 in their season opener on Saturday.
Central also was a District 6 runner-up last year and won 20 games but has some important players of its own to replace.
"I don't think we've dropped too much, but BG has a really good team," Central coach Randy Trexler said. "Their keeper is quality. I don't think you will get a whole lot by her, and for us, the first 10 or 15 minutes we were possessing the ball well. All of a sudden, they have three attacks and three goals. We just need to clean that up. It's early in the season, and I expected we would have to work on that some. Video will help."
Central has several scoring chances early, but BG defensive star Sarah Geishauser foiled several breakaway opportunities.
"She breaks a lot of hearts on the other teams," DeLeo said. "She is by far, in my opinion, the best defender in the Laurel Highlands and has been for several years. We build everything from her out. She's the key to not just our defense but our team."
Geishauser is a big fan of her new keeper.
"I'm really hoping I can make it back in time, but now that we have Cece (Rumfola), I have confidence that if I don't make it back we have a good other line of defense," Geishauser said.
Freshman Hayden Settle and sophomore Hailey DeGol also scored for BG.
"Obviously they are a very good team," DeLeo said. "I hadn't really seen our offense, because we have a lot of young players. We're starting four freshmen. I wasn't sure how they would respond in a real-time situation, but I thought the freshmen did a nice job as well as our senior captains."
Freshman Addison Long scored her fifth goal of the season for Central, which also got 10 saves, including a few spectacular stops, from keeper Lacey Ripka.
"She's our senior, and I think she's going to have a good year," Trexler said. "She's coming off an ACL injury last year, and she was facing some quality attacking and shooting today. She'll be fine."
SCORE BY HALVES
Central 0 1 -- 1
Bishop Guilfoyle 5 1 -- 6
First Half: BG--Settle (unassisted), 37:14; BG--Hawk (Steinbugl), 30:01; BG--DeGol (Marasco), 22:01; BG--Marasco (DeGol), 21:35; BG--Hawk (Steinbugl), 19:35.
Second Half: C--A. Long (Trexler), 15:16; BG--Hawk (DeLeo), 3:00.
Records: Central (1-1); Bishop Guilfoyle (1-0).