Photo for the Mirror by Jeremy Boland
Bishop Guilfoyle keeper CeCe Rumfola and teammates console one another after Saturday evening’s loss to Faith Christian.
MANCHESTER — Bishop Guilfoyle Academy girls soccer coach Joe DeLeo mentioned the important thing to profitable Saturday’s PIAA Class 1A championship match towards Faith Christian Academy could be the Lady Marauders believing they might win.
That perception was evident as senior captain Delaney Lechner reluctantly accepted the state runner-up trophy from the PIAA’s Pat Gebhart after a hard-fought 2-0 loss at Bobcat Stadium on the campus of Northeastern High School that would have gone both method.
“I’m super proud,” DeLeo mentioned. “We’re obviously disappointed today, because this was a winnable game. But the effort they put in for several years, especially the seniors, to get to this point is impressive. I’m super happy for the community and the team. I wish it turned out differently, but we’re super pleased with how we did this year.”
The Lady Marauders completed 21-2-0 and have become the primary girls soccer team to symbolize District 6 in the PIAA championship sport.
But Saturday evening, the Faith Christian protection proved to be impenetrable.
Photo for the Mirror by Jeremy Boland
Bishop Guilfoyle’s Hailey DeGol strikes the ball forward subsequent to Faith Christian’s Charlie Sauers.
“We watched a lot of film on them, and we were prepared,” BG senior Hailey DeGol mentioned. “But we didn’t realize how strong their defense would be and how outnumbered we would be on defense.”
Though possession was evenly break up all through the sport, the distinction turned out to be Faith Christian senior Sophia Dennis discovering area from about 20 yards out on two photographs — one arrange by Charlie Sauers with 23:32 to play in the primary half and one by Blanca Mir-Diaz with 11:07 remaining that mainly sealed the victory.
Both had been rockets into the higher portion of the purpose, and the second nicked the highest of the crossbar and went between that bar and the outstretched arms of Bishop Guilfoyle keeper Abrie “CeCe” Rumfola.
“There wasn’t anything Cece could have done,” DeLeo mentioned. “She made enough saves. They got a couple good breaks on those shots for sure.”
Faith Christian’s offensive gameplan centered on getting Dennis the ball in area.
“We know if we can get the ball on Sophia’s foot, she’s got a very good shot,” Faith Christian coach Ben Sauers mentioned. “She’s deadly up top. If she has the space and the time, she can put it pretty much anywhere she wants in the goal. She did that tonight.”
Dennis mentioned her second rating relaxed the Lady Lions after Bishop Guilfoyle had a pair first rate seems to be at tying the sport early in the second half.
“That was a huge relief, especially because there wasn’t a whole lot of time left in the game,” Dennis mentioned. “We knew that would probably secure the win.”
The first 10 minutes of the match didn’t see a lot motion, however with 29:05 to play in the primary half, the Lady Marauders threatened to take a 1-0 lead.
Leading scorer Emma Marasco discovered herself behind the Faith Christian protection, however as she ready to take her shot, Lady Lions keeper Kendal Robison got here out of the purpose and dove onto the ball earlier than Marasco may get a shot off.
“Kendal has been impressive this year,” Sauers mentioned. “We started the year without a goalie. She played striker and played up front most of her time in school. We didn’t have a goalie, and she was gracious enough to fill that role for the team — and man she has just gotten so much better over the season. She really grew into the role of being that goalkeeper we needed.”
Getting that early lead would have been key in line with DeLeo.
“We really wanted to score early, and we had some good opportunities,” DeLeo mentioned. “That’s just the way this game is sometimes. The goals don’t always happen.”
Bishop Guilfoyle acquired two nook kicks in the second half and almost scored on one among them. Another scoring probability, with 32 minutes left, got here when DeGol intercepted a cross and tried to set Marasco up in the field earlier than the lone Faith Christian defender again was in a position to break it up earlier than a shot.
“Their middle and back defense is very good — it’s not like we didn’t know that going in,” DeLeo mentioned. “But we just had trouble ripping as many quality shots as we would have liked to. We had some quality opportunities with that being said. We had a good corner that darn near went in.”
Rumfola made 11 saves to maintain the match shut, however with the protection Faith Christian was enjoying, Dennis’ purpose with 11:07 left made a troublesome street again almost unattainable. But BG by no means stopped pushing for a purpose and managed play for a lot of the ultimate 10 minutes.
“I’ll remember how we always stuck together as a team,” DeGol mentioned. “We had a lot of good comeback wins from not giving up.”
Bishop Guilfoyle will lose three seniors — DeGol, Lechner and Payton Ronan — to commencement.
“I’ll just remember practicing and being with my teammates,” Lechner mentioned. “We have such a great bond, and we are truly a family. I loved being able to share this special season with them.”
The Lady Marauders lastly broke by means of into the state championship sport after a few shut calls the final two seasons. They made it to the PIAA semifinals in 2023 earlier than dropping to Riverview and fell to eventual state runner-up Springdale in the PIAA quarterfinals final yr.
“It felt amazing,” DeGol mentioned. “We were all so proud of ourselves. We knew win or lose this game, we were still proud of the accomplishment of getting here.”
The Lady Marauders, who gained the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference and District 6 championships, won’t have gained gold on Saturday, however the seniors had been celebrating one thing that can last more than the sensation of victory following the match.
“They are honestly not just teammates but friends that I’m going to have for life,” DeGol mentioned. “We formed greater friendships on the team, and that means more than anything.”
SCORE BY HALVES
Bishop Guilfoyle 0 0 — 0
Faith Christian 1 1 — 2
First Half: FC–Dennis (Sauers), 23:32.
Second Half: FC–Dennis (Mir-Diaz), 11:07.
Officials: Bill Garrison, Holly Beyers, Steve Jacoby.
Records: Bishop Guilfoyle Academy (21-2-0); Faith Christian Academy (18-4-1).