Canon-McMillan doesn’t fall for Hempfield’s trap
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Canon-McMillan’s Sabrina Bryan breaks away from Hempfield’s Samantha Orie for a shot on goal but just missed during the first half of the game on Saturday, October 24.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Canon-McMillan’s Cheyenne Trest kicks the ball while Hempfield’s MacLayne Morrow tries to block during the first half of Saturday’s game.
CANONSBURG – So much for a first-round letdown. Not even a steady rain or high expectations could slow Canon-McMillan’s girls soccer team Saturday afternoon.
One year after reaching the WPIAL and PIAA title games as the 10th seed, the Big Macs entered the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs as a favorite to return to Highmark Stadium and nothing that occurred in their matchup against Hempfield altered that perception.
Senior midfielder Allie Thomas scored four goals and added two assists to help second-seeded Canon-McMillan defeat Hempfield, 7-0, in a first-round match at Memorial Stadium.
The Big Macs (17-0-1), who have not lost since the PIAA Class AAA title match at Hersheypark Stadium last November, advance to the quarterfinals where they will face seventh-seeded Fox Chapel (17-2) Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.
“I was worried they would take this too lightly, they wouldn’t come out hard and they wouldn’t come out playing like I know they can play,” Canon-McMillan head coach Dave Derrico said. “We weren’t going to change our philosophy. I wanted them to pick up the energy, don’t let down and treat this like the final.”
Instead of falling into the Spartans’ game plan, the Big Macs exploited it. Hempfield (9-7-2) played with a conservative formation, keeping its defenders back to account for Canon-McMillan’s prolific offense.
Instead of charging through the defense, the Big Macs passed around it and more often than not, Thomas or junior striker Sabrina Bryan were able to find space to create a scoring chance.
It all began in the eighth minute when Thomas headed in a ball off a free kick by senior defender Ashlyn Whipple. Almost 16 minutes later, sophomore defender Riley O’Korn’s pass went through the midfield, where it was collected by Bryan, who beat a defender before passing to Thomas, who one-timed it in for the 2-0 lead.
She completed the hat trick with less than 25 minutes remaining in the match and slid to one-time a ball in for her fourth goal. Thomas led an offensive barrage. Canon-McMillan outshot Hempfield 14-4, including eight shots and five goals in the second half. Senior goalkeeper Megan Virgin earned the shutout.
“They were sitting back deep so we were able to play the through balls and because they were deep, we we could play in front of them as well,” Thomas said. “We were able to get the ball behind them.”
It was the culmination of a week of practice in which the Big Macs focused on precisely passing the ball between defenders to combat the Spartans’ defensive-minded approach. It worked brilliantly.
Bryan scored her first goal in the 12th minute of the second half when freshman forward Addie Roman took a run after collecting a lead pass, drew a defender and made a soft cross pass in front of net where Bryan was there to one-time it in.
Bryan scored again with just over eight minutes remaining and sophomore midfielder Madison Whipple made it 7-0 when she scored on an assist by Thomas.
After receiving the No. 2 seed despite an undefeated regular season, the Big Macs did not want to overlook the Spartans, who finished third in Section 1 and won just two of their final six regular-season matches.
“I told the team to play every game as if it’s against Peters Township or Upper St. Clair all the time and don’t get sucked into (Hempfield’s) game plan,” Derrico said.
Now, the Big Macs must prepare for Fox Chapel, which won the Section 3 title and has outscored opponent 112-11, including a 2-1 victory over Penn-Trafford in the first round.
“We’re not going to look at any team compared to (Hempfield),” Thomas said. “We’re going to go hard against any team that stands in our way of winning that WPIAL championship. We feel like we have something to prove. We deserved it last year and we deserve it this year.”