Less than five minutes in, the Lady Marauders had a two-goal lead.

The shots and goals kept coming as the possession, precision passing and shot placement of BG paid off in a big way in a 6-0 victory over the Lady Spartans in PIAA Class 1A quarterfinal action at Windber Stadium.

“You never expect that (quick two-goal lead) in a playoff game especially against a really good team,” Bishop Guilfoyle coach Joe DeLeo said. “We were happy for that for sure. Sometimes things just click offensively and things go in that sometimes don’t. We caught some breaks early on, but I thought offensively we moved the ball and took some good shots.”

Just under three minutes in, Meggie Ritchey crossed the ball into the box for BG where Emma Marasco’s shot was saved, then rebounded to Delaney Lechner, whose kick hit off a defender back to Marasco who found the back of the net.

Photo for the Mirror by Roger Kerekes BG's Hailey DeGol gets off a shot against McConnellsburg.

About 90 seconds later, the Marauders’ Hailey DeGol got by a defender on the left side then sent a cross into the box that skipped off a Spartan’s leg to Marasco, who took a shot that McConnellsburg goalkeeper Kya Washabaugh tried to save but couldn’t as it hit her hands and went across the goal line for a 2-0 BG edge at 35:39.

“They (Bishop Guilfoyle) caught us off guard,” McConnellsburg coach Josh McKelvy said. “We were caught on our heels, we were flat for the first, well probably 40 minutes, but certainly in the first 10 or 12 minutes. Then after that, it was just trying to stop the bleeding.”

Bishop Guilfoyle had plenty of opportunities in the opening 40 minutes as 18 of the 21 shots taken landed on goal requiring Washabaugh’s need to come up with the stop.

The Lady Marauders got a fourth corner kick attempt around 15 minutes into the half, and Marasco’s play-in headed for the back post area where the Spartans’ defender tried to clear it out.

However, the attempt came off the side of the foot and into the back of the net for an own goal at 24:44.

“It (getting two early goals) was nice, too, because then after that we could focus more on possession and kind of give ourselves a break,” DeLeo said.

BG kept the pace up and cashed in once again at 15:26 when DeGol ripped a shot outside the box from the left side and tickled the right side of the net for a 4-0 advantage.

The Spartans’ only shot on goal in the first half came around the 13:30 mark.

“I thought, defensively, we marked well as we spent an enormous amount of time on film, and we felt like we understood them (McConnellsburg),” DeLeo said. “We definitely executed defensively as I thought the midfield got the ball up quickly to the forwards today as we had hoped to transition quickly.”

Whatever chance McConnellsburg may have had completely evaporated as the Lady Marauders found the goal twice in a little more than three minutes late in the half.

DeGol dribbled into the penalty box and laid a 45-degree pass off on a silver platter as Lechner walked right into the shot and buried it to the right of Washabaugh at 6:59.

“We have two-touch sessions every single practice to make sure that we are doing that,” DeLeo said. “The quicker that you can move the ball, the harder it is for the defense.”

At 3:32, Marasco, a junior, reached a milestone goal when she received a square pass from Lechner, took one touch before placing the ball into the back of the net for her third of the match and 100th of her career.

“It’s definitely an accomplishment for myself, and I am proud I hit it,” Marasco said. “But I couldn’t have done it without my teammates who are all so supportive. They helped me so much and were so excited when it happened.”

The goal was the last one of the match as McConnellsburg, though it was much too late, used the halftime break to settle itself down.

The Lady Spartans played a much better second half as they recorded nine shots with five of them requiring a save to be made by BG’s Cece Rumfola, and had four corner kick opportunities after zero in the first.

The Lady Marauders moved to 21-1-0, while McConnellsburg ended at 20-4-0.

“The program has been around for 20 years and this is the farthest the team has ever made it,” Coach McKelvy said. “We’ve been to the district title, we’ve taken the title a couple of times but the state level is a different animal. We lost two previous (first-round) state games, and then beat Bentworth (in the first round) this year. … This is the bar now that future teams try to exceed.”

Bishop Guilfoyle plays Springdale, a 1-0 (7-6 in penalty kicks) winner over Sewickley Academy on Tuesday at Westmont Hilltop Elementary School’s Price Field in Johnstown at 6 p.m. in the state semifinals.

SCORE BY HALVES

Bishop Guilfoyle 6 0 — 6

McConnellsburg 0 0 — 0

First half: BG–Marasco (unassisted), 37:03; BG–Marasco (DeGol), 35:39; BG–Own goal, 24:44; BG–DeGol (unassisted), 15:26; BG–Lechner (DeGol), 6:59; BG–Marasco (Lechner), 3:32.

Second half: None.

Goalies: Bishop Guilfoyle–Rumfola: 6 saves, 6 shots on goal; McConnellsburg–Washabaugh: 13 saves, 19 shots on goal; Buterbaugh: 0 saves, 0 shots on goal.

Shots: Bishop Guilfoyle 22, McConnellsburg 10.

Corner kicks: Bishop Guilfoyle 4, McConnellsburg 3.

Records: Bishop Guilfoyle (21-1-0); McConnellsburg (20-4-0).