Lady Marauders crush Rams en route to finals trip
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By Nate Ritchey
nritchey@altoonamirror.com
Top-seeded Bishop Guilfoyle came out smothering fourth-seeded Richland in dominating fashion as the Lady Rams couldn't even hold possession 10 yards into their attack zone until late in the first half.
By then, the Lady Marauders had established themselves and were out in front in every facet.
Bishop Guilfoyle had no problems getting the shots it wanted on the attack and limited the Richland attempts in cruising to a 7-2 victory on Tuesday night in District 6 Class 1A semifinal action at Mansion Park.
"We talked a whole bunch this week about pressuring the ball really from our forwards and midfielders (by) pressuring their (Richland) midfield and backs," Bishop Guilfoyle coach Joe DeLeo said. "I thought we did a really good job with that tonight. So, that really was a lot of the difference, They had a hard time getting through because of our defensive pressure from our forwards and midfield."
In the first half, BG was able to get off 13 shots -- seven of which were on goal and four that found the back of the net.
On its second corner kick of the match, Bishop Guilfoyle's Paxton DeLeo put a ball across the mouth of the goal, which Richland goalkeeper Savannah Artim had hit off her hands and goal behind her where Hayden Settle was waiting amongst a crowd of Rams.
Settle got to the ball first and touched it into the back of the net at 33:04 to give BG a 1-0 edge.
BG's Meggie Ritchey carried the ball down the right side of the field before passing the ball across to the middle where Hailey DeGol was wide open around the 18. DeGol took a big touch, ran by the closing defender, then rifled a shot with her left foot into the right side of the net as Artim was just coming out to cut off the angle.
At 12:53, DeGol found Delaney Lechner for a goal to put the Lady Marauders up 3-0 before the Lady Rams finally got on the board 14 seconds later.
Richland's Rebecca Fetchko and BG's CeCe Rumfola went for a loose ball. Fetchko got there first and tapped the ball past the keeper who was sliding out and took out the legs of Fetchko with the ball clearly beyond her grasp.
Rumfola was given a yellow card, sent off for the mandatory five minutes, while Fetchko took the penalty kick and delivered the shot by Guilfoyle backup goalkeeper Lola Wilson to put Richland on the board at 12:39.
"We came in here with a game plan -- knowing what we wanted to do and how we wanted to perform," Richland coach Alex Leitenberger said. "Every girl has a job and I trust every girl that's out there. We came in with the mindset that we are going to play how we play. It's an unfortunate result."
On BG's fourth corner of the opening half, Paxton DeLeo's kick sailed well beyond the goal and onto the foot of Settle, who attempted to take a touch by the Rams' defender but was tripped up in the box.
Lechner made good on the penalty kick to make the score 4-1 with 8:24 showing on the clock.
The second half continued with more of the same as the Lady Marauders ripped off nine shots, including three on goal, before the 10th finally found the back of the net.
DeGol passed the ball across from the left side, had the ball skim off a Lady Ram right to the spot where Lechner was standing to tap the ball in for a 5-1 BG edge at 19:14.
"When we played them before, we did not move the ball as well as we did tonight," Coach DeLeo said. "I thought our 1-2's (passing) was working really well. We had some good opportunities that we didn't score on but I was really pleased with our transition in the midfield."
Richland got one back less than two minutes later. Elleigh Ladika was tripped up in the box as the Rams were awarded another PK.
Adalie Hutzler took the kick for the Lady Rams and punched it to the right of the diving Rumfalo for a 5-2 score.
Lady Marauder Jenna Geishauser joined in on the scoring. The sophomore lifted a ball towards the goal from deep on the right side and put it just over the leap of Artim into the side of the net at 11:49.
DeGol closed things out on a rifled shot at 6:52 to set the final.
For the match, Bishop Guilfoyle attempted 29 shots with 15 of them being on goal. Meanwhile, Richland had nine shots and only five that had a chance to go in.
"That (more shots on goal) was our whole conversation)," Coach DeLeo said. "The more you pressure than they (Richland) can't bring it up, we possess more and we should have more opportunities from hopeful turnovers."
The Lady Marauders improved to 14-3-1, while the Lady Rams closed the books on a 5-13-1 campaign.
"Bishop Guilfoyle is a very good team," Leitenberger said. "(But) coming into it, I had full faith in my girls. We have put so much work in over the year, and to see how far we've come and get to the spot that we are. It's unfortunate about the result but we'll be back next year ready to go and hungry for more."
BG will play either West Branch or Bishop Carroll in the finals. Those two schools play today in the other semifinal.
SCORE BY HALVES
Richland 1 1 — 2
Bishop Guilfoyle 4 3 — 7
SCORING SUMMARY
First Half: BG–Settle (unassisted), 33:04; BG–DeGol (Ritchey), 21:33; BG–Lechner (DeGol), 12:53; R–Fetchko (penalty kick), 12:39; BG–Lechner (penalty kick), 8:24.
Second Half: BG–Lechner (DeGol), 19:14; R–Hutzler (penalty kick), 17:20; BG–Geishauser (unassisted), 11:49; BG–DeGol (unassisted), 6:52.
Goalies: Richland — Artim: 8 saves, 15 shots on goal; Bishop Guilfoyle — Rumfola: 3 saves, 4 shots on goal; Wilson: 0 saves, 1 shot on goal.
Shots: Richland 9; Bishop Guilfoyle 29.
Corner kicks: Richland 2; Bishop Guilfoyle 6.
Records: Richland (5-13-1); Bishop Guilfoyle (14-3-1).