GCC girls stay atop Section 1-A after topping Apollo-Ridge

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, October 11, 2017 | 8:21 PM

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The Greensburg Central Catholic and Apollo-Ridge girls soccer teams share space with Shady Side Academy at or near the top of the Section 1-A standings.

The Centurions and Vikings met Wednesday at Apollo's Owens Field as both hoped to keep alive their goal of at least a share of the section crown.

The first meeting between the teams Sept. 20 was a defensive battle as GCC tallied the only goal.

History repeated itself Wednesday. Sara Orndoff's goal with 24 minutes, 14 seconds left in the first half stood up, giving the Centurions a 1-0 victory.

“We just dug our heels in and grinded it out,” said GCC coach Ashley Davis, who watched her team play short-handed over the final 29:38. Senior defender Chelsey Boyle was sent off after receiving her second yellow card of the game.

“I couldn't be more proud of them,” Davis added. “That was one of the hardest games for me to watch because of so many factors. The girls kept their heads on straight and played well.”

Greensburg Central Catholic tied Shady Side Academy at the top of the section standings with 9-2 records.

Both teams have one section game remaining Monday. The Centurions host Jeannette, and the Indians take on Riverview.

Apollo-Ridge's loss to Shady Side Academy on Monday snapped a five-game section winning streak, and Wednesday's defeat concluded the Vikings' section slate at 8-4.

“The girls are still in good shape, despite the two losses,” Apollo-Ridge coach Matt Ross said. “They will be better off heading into the playoffs playing those two schools.”

Boyle's second yellow was for a dissenting reaction to a referee's ruling on a physical play, Davis said.

Davis, after the game, expressed a sense of frustration over what she felt was inconsistent game management by the referees which led to some elevated tension and physical play.

Apollo-Ridge (9-4 overall) tried to exploit its player advantage and made several pushes over the final 20 minutes.

Amanda Eckman's corner kick bounded across the goal mouth 5 feet from the line and was cleared away with 13 minutes left in regulation. It was as close as Apollo-Ridge was able to get to the GCC net over the final 20 minutes.

At the other end, Samantha Felder was a couple of feet away from giving the Centurions a 2-0 lead with 16 minutes to go. The ball, on a rebound shot, bounced a couple of feet wide of the Vikings' left goal post.

“I have to give a lot of credit to our defense for holding up in the second half,” Orndoff said. “This was a really nice victory for us.”

GCC (10-3 overall) finished the game with an 11-7 shot advantage. Centurions keeper Bella Skatell made seven saves, while her counterpart, Vikings sophomore Maddie Galinac, stopped six shots.

Ross said illness and injury through the midfield forced a shift in the lineup and on-field structure the past couple of games. However, his girls, he said, kept battling and played strong.

“(GCC) got one behind us, and that's what happened the first time we played them,” Ross said.

“They then stacked up pretty well on our forwards. We gave it our best shot but just weren't able to get one to go in.”

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Greensburg C.C.