Montour girls finally solve Franklin Regional with seconds left in overtime
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Monday, October 23, 2023 | 10:13 PM
Montour’s Marin Torrens celebrates after scoring in double overtime to defeat Franklin Regional, 1-0, in their WPIAL Class 3A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, at Montour.
Montour’s Marin Torrens (10) scores in double overtime to defeat Franklin Regional, 1-0, in their WPIAL Class 3A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, at Montour.
Montour’s Marin Torrens celebrates (10) after scoring in double overtime to defeat Franklin Regional, 1-0, in their WPIAL Class 3A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, at Montour.
Montour’s Marin Torrens is mobbed by teammates after scoring in double overtime to Franklin Regional, 1-0, in their WPIAL Class 3A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, at Montour.
Montour goalkeeper Allison Armitage makes a save over Franklin Regional’s Elliana Canfield during their WPIAL Class 3A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, at Montour.
Franklin Regional’s Shaeley Reichbaum battles Montour’s Caitlyn Sill for a header during their WPIAL Class 3A first-round playoff game Monday.
Franklin Regional goalkeeper Aris Lamanna makes a save against Montour during their WPIAL Class 3A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, at Montour.
Montour’s Samantha Sawayda battles Franklin Regional’s Elliana Canfield for a header during their WPIAL Class 3A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, at Montour.
Franklin Regional goalkeeper Aris Lamanna makes asave under Montour’s Ashley Janovich for possession during their WPIAL Class 3A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, at Montour.
Franklin Regional’s Natalie Keough battles Montour’s Ashley Janovich for possession during their WPIAL Class 3A first-round playoff game Monday.
Montour’s Marin Torrens is mobbed by teammates after scoring in double overtime to Franklin Regional, 1-0, in their WPIAL Class 3A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, at Montour.
Montour’s Marin Torrens is mobbed by teammates after scoring in double overtime to Franklin Regional, 1-0, in their WPIAL Class 3A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, at Montour.
Montour’s Marin Torrens (10) scores in double overtime to defeat Franklin Regional, 1-0, in their WPIAL Class 3A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, at Montour.
Franklin Regional players embrace after their 1-0 loss to Montour in double overtime in a WPIAL Class 3A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, at Montour.
Between overtimes, Montour girls soccer coach Alex Hobbs told his players to imagine the moment they would be celebrating.
It took nearly the entire length of play, but that moment finally came to fruition.
Marin Torrens scored on a header with 13 seconds remaining in double overtime, and No. 7 Montour secured a 1-0 win over No. 10 Franklin Regional in the first round of the WPIAL Class 3A girls soccer playoffs.
“We’ve been in four overtimes this year, so we just talked about visualizing the moment,” Hobbs said. “Tactically, we talked minimally and just had them stay positive.”
Montour (13-2-3) advanced to play No. 2 Plum in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Franklin Regional ended its season 11-6-1.
Torrens’ goal came off a corner kick from Ashley Janovich and ended what was an exercise in patience for Montour.
The teams met in the regular season and drew 1-1.
A similar, tight-to-the-vest game broke out Monday night.
The Spartans were without standout forward Riley Hall, a Robert Morris commit, because of injury, but controlled the ball for the majority of the match. They just couldn’t find a way through an organized Franklin Regional defense.
“When we found out we drew Franklin Regional, we felt a little unlucky because we thought both of us deserved to meet later in the playoffs and not in the first round,” Hobbs said.
Montour got four shots on target in the first half. The best chance came from Grace Bannon on a long distance attempt, but Panthers keeper Aris Lamanna, a Coastal Carolina recruit, was there to stop it.
Franklin Regional did not get a shot on goal in the first half.
At times, the Panthers played with 10 players behind the ball.
“That’s our identity,” Franklin Regional coach Scott Arnold said. “Our identity is playing in tight games and winning most of them. We have an all-state level goalkeeper, so we build around her. We tried to control the game with passing, because a lot of our girls play a lot of minutes. We can’t get into a run-and-gun game or they’ll be exhausted.”
The Spartans started to find some space in the second half, but Lamanna was there each time.
In the 46th minute, Ashley Janovich whipped a free kick into the box and Mya Cyanovich put a header on goal, but Lamanna smothered it. A minute later, Cyanovich got a strong shot off from in close, but Lamanna kicked the ball away.
Montour had 10 shots on target and held Franklin Regional without a shot on frame in regulation. Eliana Canfield blasted a shot attempt wide in the 67th minute. It was Franklin Regional’s lone shot attempt in regulation.
Lamanna finished with 13 saves.
Arnold was proud of the way his team battled.
“I thought the girls were amazing,” Arnold said. “We have lost a lot of our depth in the last 10 days to injury and one girl that transferred in and wasn’t eligible for playoffs. We played some kids tonight that haven’t played much varsity. They were important to rest the starting players, so we could keep going.”
Jerin Steele is a freelance writer
Tags: Franklin Regional, Montour
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