GCC girls shut out Vincentian to reach WPIAL semifinals

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, October 26, 2017 | 9:30 PM

Last season's semifinal matchup between Greensburg Central Catholic and Vincentian Academy marked the end of the line for the Royals.

Vincentian's season once again came to an end at the hands of the Centurions as No. 3-seeded Greensburg Central Catholic got a first-half goal from Samantha Felder to shut out No. 6 Vincentian, 1-0, in the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals Thursday at Penn-Trafford.

“(Felder) just has a knack of scoring when you least expect it and put it in (the goal),” Greensburg Central Catholic coach Ashley Davis said. “That's what we can rely on her for, and we have confidence in our midfield. It may take a while or it may not be pretty, but (they) find the back of the net.”

The Centurions move on to the semifinal round to face No. 2 Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (15-4) on Monday at a time and site to be determined.

“Now we got to kick it up another notch and keep getting better at what we're doing,” Davis said.

Greensburg Central Catholic (13-3) controlled the ball, and momentum, for most of the first half. Each trip into the Royals' end, Centurions attackers began to crack the Vincentian (12-5) defense.

Felder, a freshman midfielder, was wide open when she caught up to Sara Orndorff's cross-field pass, in full stride, before Felder buried it past Royals goalkeeper Ella Kozel for what turned out to be the winner.

“Sara played it perfectly to me,” Felder said. “It was important to score at the beginning. We kept going, and that's what I think got us through.”

Kozel had a rough night. Not long after giving up the goal to Felder, she took a point-blank shot to the midsection, which caused an injury timeout. Kozel returned a short time later and finished the night with 10 saves for the Royals.

“On defense, all we could do was try and contain them,” Vincentian coach Brian Aiken said. “They're very skilled. They were excellent, and I give all the props for them.”

The Royals had their opportunities, but they were few and far between. There were no second-chance shots for the Royal attackers.

Vincentian tinkered with its lineup in the second half and started to play a dink and dunk style to generate a spark.

Aiken moved the speedy Lauren Donnelly up front to generate some scoring chances. And it worked. Donnelly notched the Royals' first shot on goal with 7 minutes, 35 seconds remaining but was turned away by junior goalkeeper Bella Skatell. Skatell finished with one save to secure the shutout.

Skatell's relatively stress-free night was a tribute to the play of the Centurions' midfielders and defenders.

“(Vincentian) had some breaks, and we got on our horses and got back,” Davis said. “(Our team) put their bodies on the line, too. Our defense played tough, but we need to put a few more in the back of the net for these coming games.”

The Royals mounted a few quality attacks in the final two minutes, but the Centurions defense was up to the task.

“We're going to have to be better for the next game,” Davis said. “Just got to (keep climbing) up that hill (to the final).”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Vincentian Academy