High School Soccer

Lady Marauders settle down in time to pick up OT win

By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

Bishop Guilfoyle Academy didn't get a shot off in the first eight minutes of its PIAA Class 1A first round girls soccer match on Tuesday at Mansion Park.

The Lady Marauders were too focused on trying to stop the best player on the pitch at the time -- Seneca's Brenna Kuhl.

BG fell behind by two at the half and again with 17:33 left in regulation, but the Lady Marauders never quit and used a stoppage in play to help reset and rally to tie the game with 8:16 to play and then won it, 5-4, on a Hailey DeGol goal with 11:18 left in the first overtime.

"We talked about panicking," Bishop Guilfoyle coach Joe DeLeo said. "We quit possessing the ball early in that game. (Kuhl) is so good that we panicked every time she touched the ball. Halftime, I told them we had to play our game and move the ball through the midfield in transition. I did feel like our forwards had a good chance against their back line, but in the first half, we just couldn't get it to them. That was the biggest difference."

Bishop Guilfoyle had three breakaway opportunities that looked like they would become great opportunities for goals within the first 60 minutes, but the Lady Marauders were whistled for being offside each time. After the third with 28:48 to play, officials stopped the game and sent both teams to their benches after some upset fans voiced their opinion.

"It's hard in real time for everybody to see it," DeLeo said. "I won't say any more on it."

Moments after the delay, Emma Marasco had another breakaway, and this time finished it off for a goal that made it 3-2 with 25:22 to play.

"It did (allow for us to reset) for sure," DeLeo said. "Of course people were upset and didn't think it should have been an offside call, but at the end of the day, it gave us a couple minutes to get our thoughts together and keep doing what we talked about at halftime."

Bishop Guilfoyle had a free kick at the Seneca 30 that did not result in a shot in its best chance to tie the game again before Hailey McLaughlin put the Lady Bobcats back up by two on an assist from Kuhl.

But by that point, the Lady Marauders had turned the aggression level up a notch.

Hailey DeGol brought BG back within one after an assist by Marasco, and then Marasco shocked even herself when a free kick from the Seneca 45 glanced off her leg as she charged toward the goal and got past Hammill to tie the game with 8:16 left.

The Lady Marauders had an excellent chance to win the game when Marasco set up DeGol with 2:35 left, but Seneca keeper Mallory Hammill came out of the goal and took DeGol's shot off the chest to preserve the tie before she made another save with 1:38 left on Hayden Settle's breakaway shot.

"I felt like we had turned the momentum completely," DeLeo said. "Even though we were still down a goal, after that, I felt all the momentum was with us. I was happy we were able to carry that over into overtime."

It was Seneca's first loss in 20 games played this season.

"I don't know that anything changed," Seneca coach Yvonne Hammill said. "I think it was an amazing game and both teams gave everything they had. They played with heart, and it could have gone either way. It tipped their way tonight, that's all."

Kuhl opened the scoring with 31:11 to play in the first half when she brought the ball up the right side and beat a charging Cece Rumfola to the ball.

After Settle tied the game for the Lady Marauders with a 30-plus yard bomb over the head of Hammill, Rumfola beat Kuhl to the ball when the same scenario played out with 9:15 to play.

But with 6:32 left before the break, Rumfola was forced to dive and deflect a shot that led to a corner kick by Olivia Pikiewicz, who placed it perfectly off the head of Kuhl past Rumfola for another goal.

Less than two minutes later, the Lady Bobcats made it 3-1 when Pikiewicz attempted a shot into traffic that bounced back toward her. She beat Rumfola to the ball and kicked it past her to put Seneca in firm control at the half.

But two goals and two assists from Marasco in the second half sparked BG.

"It felt amazing to see it go in and that all the hard work we put in to get back into the game paid off," Marasco said.

Bishop Guilfoyle will play WPIAL champion Springdale in the PIAA Class 1A quarterfinals on Saturday.

"We want to keep going as far as we can," Marasco said. "We never give up. We keep the positivity going, and we just play together as a team."

The Lady Marauders made it to the PIAA semifinals last season, their longest run in the PIAA playoffs in school history.

"We're really happy," DeLeo said. "That's a very good team and well coached. They were as physical as we were, which doesn't always happen, and we'll enjoy this for the next hour until we get ready for the next one on Saturday."

SCORE BY HALVES

Seneca 3 1 0 — 4

Bishop Guilfoyle 1 3 1 — 5

First Half: S--Kuhl (Trapp), 31:11; BG--Settle (unassisted), 17:27; S--Kuhl (Pikiewicz), 6:04; S--Pikiewicz (unassisted), 4:15.

Second Half: BG--Marasco (Cammarata), 25:22; S--McLaughlin (Kuhl), 17:33; BG--DeGol (Marasco), 9:29; BG--Marasco (Cammarata), 8:16.

Overtime: BG--DeGol (Marasco), 11:18.

Records: Seneca (19-1-0); Bishop Guilfoyle (16-3-1).