Trinity goes distance, falls in shootout to Montour
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Trinity’s Alexzandria Rosser (10) is given a hug by teammate Angelina King after missing the net in a shootout during Saturday’s WPIAL playoff game against Montour.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Trinity’s Courtney Dahlquist, center, is surrounded by teammates Samantha Schury (29) and Alyssa Clutter after scoring a goal during Saturday’s WPIAL playoff game against Montour.
Trinity’s Alyssa Clutter carries the ball between Montour’s Stefani Fotovich (9) and Sydnee Gyory during Saturday's WPIAL playoff game.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Trinity’s Samantha Schury heads a ball while being defended by Montour’s Stephanie Phillips during Saturday’s WPIAL playoff game.
Trinity's Courtney Dahlquist battles for possession of the ball with Montour's Alex Gory during Saturday's WPIAL playoff game.
The Trinity High School girls soccer team was entering new territory Saturday afternoon: the playoffs.
In the first playoff appearance in decades for the Hillers, 170 minutes of regulation wasn’t enough.
The first-round match that pitted eighth-seeded Trinity and ninth-seeded Montour had to be settled in a shootout.
But a remarkable season for Trinity and first-year coach David Sinclair ended just like that as Montour won made four of its shots to Trinity’s two, downing the Hillers 2-1 in Class AAA.
“It’s a tough game to lose,” Sinclair said. “It was a well-played game. The wind was a huge factor today. It seemed like whoever had the wind going in their direction had the better attack. We just couldn’t get enough quality shots on net. It’s hard for the season to end like this.”
The Spartans (12-6) will now play top-seeded Mars at a site and time to be determined Wednesday.
“Honestly, our seniors led us today,” Montour coach Lee Coughhenour said.
“Trinity gave an unbelievable effort and it’s a shame that this game had to go into a shootout. But that’s how it went. We had to stay composed.”
With the game tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation, the match went into two, 15-minute overtime periods and nothing was decided despite several chances from both teams.
“It’s tough to coach a young team in overtime,” Sinclair said. “I told them to always push the ball and to never let the ball get behind you. We had to work the ball in deep and try to get a good shot on net.”
Montour made all four of the shots in the shootout. Autumn Witterbort, Jessica Molitoris, Alex Gyory and Emily Faith scored for the Spartans.
Alyssa Clutter and Angelina King netted goals in the shootout for the Hillers (13-4), but Montour’s keeper Sarah Malinsky stood strong in net and stopped the final two shots to preserve the win. Malinsky finished with four saves.
Montour took a 1-0 lead at the 33:07 mark of the first half with a goal from Gyory.
Sixteen minutes later the Hillers found the equalizer when Courtney Dahlquist tracked down the ball before it went out and took a sharp-angle shot that found the inside corner of the net. Hannah Abbondanza had the assist.
“That was an excellent goal by Courtney,” Sinclair said. “We were better on offense when the ball got wide. We had to spread out their defense and take some chances.”
Trinity’s Sarah Kuhns tallied eight saves in goal.
Despite the loss, the Hillers returns a strong core back next season.
“The loss stings but it was a great ride,” Sinclair said. “This one will definitely take a couple of days to get over, but we return a lot of kids back for next season. These girls should be really proud of their play. I think the future is bright.”