Franklin Regional girls soccer overcomes first-round ‘curse’ with win over Mt. Pleasant

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, October 23, 2017 | 9:33 PM

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A whipping wind and sideways rain moved across Norwin Stadium at halftime Monday night. Maybe it took away Franklin Regional's first-round “curse” as it blew through town.

Sophomore midfielders Victoria Rothrauff and Bella Larese scored two goals each to lead the Panthers to a 4-1 victory over Mt. Pleasant in a WPIAL Class AAA first-round game in North Huntingdon.

It was the first playoff win for No. 7 Franklin Regional (11-5-1) since 2009. It had lost in the first round in five of the last seven years, including a 2-1 upset loss last season to Ambridge.

“Thanks for reminding me,” Franklin Regional coach Rich Garland said with a smile. “It's tough to win in the playoffs. It's good to see the girls get the win because they've worked hard. They have had to adjust to playing without some girls because of injuries.”

The Panthers advance to Thursday's quarterfinals.

No. 10 Mt. Pleasant finished the season 9-8-1. The Vikings reached the quarterfinals two years ago.

Franklin Regional edged Mt. Pleasant, 3-2, earlier in the season in a nonsection game. The familiarity helped both teams.

“We needed to do a better job of using our flankers more in the attack,” Mt. Pleasant coach Josh Pajak said. “I thought we did a better job in the second half. (Franklin Regional) is just so tough all around.”

Abby Albright set up the Panthers' first score on a set piece from the 30-yard line, delivering a pass to Rothrauff for a 1-0 lead about 30 minutes in.

Larese appeared to catch a few defenders off guard when she reared back for a shot in the 38th minute to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead at halftime.

“Sophia (Hudson) has done a great job in our attack,” Garland said. “Bella was really tough. We've been balanced. We don't have a girl with more than 10 goals. Albright did a great job at midfield.”

Rothrauff also had an assist.

Seven minutes into the second half, Larese put back a rebound to make it 3-0, and about four minutes later, Rothrauff came set, shook a defender and fired over the head of Vikings keeper Hannah Brown for a four-goal advantage.

Mt. Pleasant scored with 9:07 remaining on a goal by Lexi Stanek.

“We needed to keep the ball down more,” Pajak said. “They were better with keeping the ball up in the air. Give credit to their keeper. She did a great job, especially on our second-half shots.”

Goalkeeper Sydney Caldwell made 12 saves to the Panthers.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Mt. Pleasant