Lady Marauders win second straight D6 trophy
By Andy Stine
astine@altoonamirror.com
Make it a repeat for the Bishop Guilfoyle Academy girls soccer team.
The Lady Marauders kept peppering the goal with shots throughout Wednesday evening’s District 6 Class 1A championship, and only allowed two shots in a 3-0 shutout over West Branch to take back-to-back district titles.
Bishop Guilfoyle coach Joe DeLeo took a moment to reflect on the passing of Lady Lion senior Lundyn Treese after the game.
“I will say it’s been a hard week with her passing,” DeLeo said. “We talked about that at practice the last couple days as we got ready for this game. That being said, I thought the girls did a great job. They played hard the whole game and did everything we asked.”
The Lady Marauders had just a 1-0 lead at halftime on an Emma Marasco goal, despite leading the shot count 11-0. Ava Geishauser put a ball in the back of the net with just over 12 minutes of play left, while Marasco put in her second goal of the game with just under four minutes to play to put an exclamation point on the victory.
“I just had open runs, and I had great passes to me,” Marasco said. “”I feel good. It’s just a really great accomplishment to win D6. Just to have two in a row, it’s a great achievement.”
West Branch coach Angie Fenush acknowledged the work of Lady Warrior goalkeeper Alexa Prestash in keeping the game close for a large portion of the contest. Prestash finished the game with 12 saves on 18 shots.
“She’s the best goalie in the state, and I’d take her anywhere,” Fenush said. “She faced so many shots. This game could have been 20-0 without her.”
West Branch did not record its first shot attempt until the 56th minute, and added on one more late in the game, but BG keeper CeCe Rumfola cleaned it up both times.
Geishauser’s goal to make it 2-0 came off an assist from Paxton DeLeo. DeLeo had just got back into play after taking a corner kick, and got a pass to Geishauser for an open look.
“Ava Geishauser, I wish that girl would transfer to West Branch because she’s a beautiful player,” Fenush said.
Marasco’s goal at 76:04 for her second of the game put the finishing touches on the victory.
“She is relentless,” DeLeo said. “I’ve said it 100 times. It’s her ability to run everything down and make plays happen. Whether she scores or she’s chasing a pass down or supporting her team, she’s a great teammate to these kids.”
West Branch finished the year at 13-4-4.
“We’re homegrown girls, and my hat’s off to them,” Fenush said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them. We graduated nine incredible athletes last year, and these girls stepped up. Everybody called it a rebuilding year, and we didn’t rebuild.”
Bishop Guilfoyle (15-3-1) will play District 10 champion Seneca on Tuesday in the first round of the PIAA 1A Tournament. Seneca beat Mercyhurst Prep, 2-0, on Tuesday in the District 10 championship.
SCORE BY HALVES
West Branch 0 0 — 0
Bishop Guilfoyle 1 2 — 3
First half: BG — Marasco, (unassisted), 29:11
Second half: BG — A. Geishauser, (DeLeo assist), 67:41; Marasco, (unassisted), 76:04
Shots: West Branch 2, Bishop Guilfoyle 18.
Saves: West Branch (Prestash) 12; Bishop Guilfoyle (Rumfola) 2
Corner kicks: West Branch 2, Bishop Guilfoyle 8
Records: West Branch (13-4-4); Bishop Guilfoyle (15-3-1)