Fourth Time the Charm for Redbank Valley Girls’ Soccer in Playoff Win Over Clarion

Chris Rossetti

Chris Rossetti

Published October 25, 2017 4:20 am
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CLARION, Pa. (D9Sports) — Rhiannon Laughlin, only a freshman, scored the go-ahead goal in the second half, and Redbank Valley knocked off Clarion, 2-1, in the District 9 Class 1A quarterfinals at Clarion High School.

(Photo: Rhiannon Laughlin. Photo submitted)

It was the first win in four tries against the fourth-seeded Lady Cats for the fifth-seeded Lady Bulldogs, who had lost the previous three meetings by scores of 3-0, 3-0 and 2-1 in overtime with the overtime game coming Oct. 2.

“We got the three-game monkey off our backs,” Redbank Valley head coach Michael Dawson said. “These girls really wanted it tonight, and it filtered all the way down from our seniors to our freshmen.”

Taking the play to Clarion for much of the first half, Redbank Valley broke the ice with a Haley Minich goal at the 10:57 mark of the half.

The Lady Bulldogs nearly took a 2-0 lead with 6:15 left in the half, but Clarion goalkeeper Wendy Beveridge stopped a shot from right in front of the net keeping the score 1-0.

The stop gave Clarion a spark, as the Lady Cats tied the score 1-1 on a goal from Alexa Hannold with 5:33 to play in the half.

Clarion then controlled the play the rest of the half but was unable to score again before the break.

“We got a short boost out of that goal we scored,” said Clarion head coach Chris Schonbachler. “Unfortunately it wasn’t enough of a boost. They came in tonight and decided to outwork us and that was the bottom line tonight.”

The game remained tied until Laughlin scored the game-winner at the 18:02 mark of the second half as the Lady Bulldogs caught Beveridge out of the net after the Clarion netminder challenged another Redbank Valley player near the top of the box and lost the race to the ball, and Laughlin scored into a wide-open net for the 2-1 lead.

Watch Laughlin’s goal. Video courtesy of Redbank Valley Soccer Twitter account.

“Clarion was controlling the play for a while there, so I told the girls at halftime that we had to get the momentum back on our side,” said Dawson. “We got that big goal from our freshman Rhiannon and that really gave us a boost for the rest of the game.”

Clarion tried to rally and tie the game late, but Beveridge took a free kick from about 20 yards out and sent it over the crossbar with 1:10 left in the contest and then another Clarion shot went over the bar as time expired.

“It’s tough beating a team four times, and Redbank has a really good team,” said Schonbachler. “They were better than us tonight, so congratulations to them.”

Clarion held an 11-10 edge in shots on goal for the game. Beveridge made eight saves for Clarion while Alena Keller made 10 saves for the Lady Bulldogs.

Redbank Valley will move on to play top seed, Brockway, at 6 p.m. Tuesday at DuBois High School. It is the second game of a semifinal Class 1A doubleheader with Ridgway squaring off with Elk County Catholic at 4 p.m.

“Brockway is a really good team,” said Dawson. “They have the MVP of their division, so we know they are going to be a tough team. We had a scrimmage with them earlier. We set a goal to get to the playoffs and get a win there so the next goal is to win a district title. This group would be the first team to do that so we’ll keep working towards that goal.”

ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 4, BROOKVILLE 1

ST. MARYS, Pa. — A pair of Catherine Cerroni goals helped second-seeded Elk County Catholic top seventh-seeded and visiting Brookville, 4-1, in the District 9 Class 1A quarterfinals.

Maddie Sory and McKayla Wilson, who added a pair of assists in the contest, also scored for ECC, who led 1-0 at halftime before scoring the first three goals of the second half.

Jillian Taylor scored the lone Brookville tally.

ECC takes on third-seeded Ridgway, a 3-0 winner over Port Allegany, in the semifinals at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31, at DuBois High School.

RIDGWAY 3, PORT ALLEGANY 0

JOHNSONBURG, Pa. — A pair of first-half goals 17 seconds apart by Cassidy King helped third-seeded Ridgway to a 3-0 win over sixth-seeded and visiting Port Allegany in the District 9 Class 1A quarterfinals at Johnsonburg’s Memorial Stadium.

Kings’ goals came in the seventh minute of what had been a scoreless game.

Finishing off the hat trick 14 minutes later, King gave the Lady Elkers a 3-0 lead at the break, and that is how the game finished.

Ridgway will take on second-seeded Elk County Catholic, a 4-1 winner over Brookville, in the semifinals at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31, at DuBois High School.

Story by Steve Smail

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