Big second half sparks Canon-Mac’s victory
Canon-McMillan’s Sabrina Bryan takes control of the ball as Hempfield’s Sabrina Pettinato closes in during a WPIAL Class AAAA playoff game at Memorial Stadium Monday night.
Canon McMillan’s Annabel Thomas heads the ball in a WPIAL Class AAAA playoff game against Hempfield at Memorial Stadium Monday night.
Canon McMillan’s Cheyenne Trest fights to controlthe ball with Hempfieldþ’ss Maclayne Morrow during a WPIAL Class AAAA game Monday night at Memorial Stadium.
CANONSBURG – On paper, it wasn’t much of a matchup in the first round of the WPIAL girls 4-A soccer playoffs. Canon-McMillan entered as the No. 2 seed and had almost four times as many wins as 15th-seeded Hempfield.
As the game played on, the possession numbers indicated the same. In fact, all the statistics indicated the Big Macs should have been rolling over the Spartans. But Canon-McMillan, perennially a second-half team, found itself locked in a tough battle.
Finally, the Big Macs’ pressure paid off with two goals in a two-minute span in the second half, and Canon-McMillan went on to a 5-0 win Monday night.
“We needed to be patient in front of goal,” said senior Sabrina Bryan, who scored twice and had two assists. “We were rushing things.”
The Big Macs (16-0-1) play Seneca Valley in the quarterfinals Thursday at a site and time to be determined.
Canon-McMillan dominated play in the first half and hit the post twice. The Big Macs generated a number of quality scoring chances but lacked the finishing touch necessary to beat goalkeeper Samantha Orie.
That wasn’t the case in the second half. Aideen O’Donoghue got things started after a nice centering feed from Bryan, and O’Donoghue buried a right-footed shot to break the ice in the 47th minute.
“I changed the formation and put Aideen and Sabrina together,” said C-M coach Dave Derrico. “They tried to shut them down separately. You can shut down one all of the time and both of them part of the time, but not both of them all the time.”
Derrico didn’t have to wait nearly as long for an insurance goal. The Big Macs scored two goals in the next six minutes.
“I also told them (at halftime) I needed them to pick up the energy,” he said. “We just weren’t in sync.”
Addie Roman doubled the lead just a minute later when she followed her own shot and drilled the rebound into the lower corner. Bryan, after assisting on the first two goals, decided to get in on the act and let loose a shot from about 20 yards out that floated over the keeper for a 3-0 lead in the 53rd minute.
“I don’t care who gets the goals as long as we win, but it’s always nice to get one,” said Bryan.
The lead grew to four on the Big Macs’ 13th corner kick of the game. Jaiden Williams delivered it into the box, where Cheyenne Trest headed it home. Bryan’s second goal closed out the scoring.
Orie made 14 saves and Hempfield (4-10-2) did not have a corner kick in the game.