Latrobe sophomore finds golden goal to beat Penn-Trafford

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Monday, September 18, 2023 | 10:15 PM

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Sophomore forward Annalyse Bauer had a couple of near-miss scoring opportunities in the second half, bumping a header off the post and later ringing a shot off the football crossbar.

When the ball came to her ahead of two defenders early in overtime, she made sure to finish.

An offensive assault by Latrobe finally yielded a reward, and the goal was golden.

From about 10 yards away, Bauer connected with a shot to the upper 90 with 8 minutes, 3 seconds left in overtime Monday night to lift No. 4 Latrobe to a 1-0 Section 3-3A girls soccer victory over Penn-Trafford at Warrior Stadium in Harrison City.

“I saw Robin (Reilly) cross,” Bauer said. “I took a touch and took it around a defender and hit it. We wanted to get a goal early in overtime.

“This is a good win for us, and it gives us confidence for the rest of the season. It was one of those games where one fluke thing was going to make a difference.”

Latrobe coach Jamie Campbell didn’t see any flukiness in the goal, Bauer’s fifth of the season and first game-winner of her career. It came on one of 17 shots the Wildcats (5-1, 4-1) hailed down on Penn-Trafford (6-2, 3-2), which had a four-game winning streak stopped.

“We knew they have a good goalie,” Bauer said. “We wanted to keep coming at them.”

Bauer has helped fill the void left by the season-ending knee injury to senior Ella Bulava, a Maryland commit.

A measure of structure was needed amidst the rapid fire, her coach though.

“The message to them was that (a goal) was going to come, but we needed to be a little more clinical in our approach, more technical up until the final touch,” Campbell said. “Annalyse had a couple of almosts. She has fantastic speed and has a really great workrate in the midfield. We can move her around when we need to.

“In the 18(-yard box), everyone is so hyper-focused. It was nice to get one after so many hit the pipes all night.”

Penn-Trafford, which had just three shots on frame, was led by junior goalie Rease Solomon, who made 12 saves from a number of angles.

The Warriors have only allowed three goals in eight games.

“Rease was stellar between the posts,” Warriors coach Jimmy Mastoianni said. “Our center backs, Anna Coy and Morgan Spudy, played well. But we didn’t play well as a team and that killed us. (Latrobe) played great. They had great looks all game. We weren’t winning balls in the air and building our attack.”

Campbell felt the win eliminated the bad taste the Warriors left her team with last season. The teams tied 1-1 in their first section matchup, a result that ultimately kept Latrobe from winning the section.

Latrobe won the second meeting, 2-0.

“They were our kryptonite last year,” she said. “That tie cost us the section.”

Penn-Trafford played without senior defender Eilish Connolly, who was ill. Junior midfielder Alexis Brown injured her right leg when she collided with Latrobe senior goalkeeper Corinne Brunetto, who came all the way out to the 15-yard line to contest a dribbling Brown and slid into her.

Mastroianni thought it was a dangerous play, and Penn-Trafford coaches argued for a card but to no avail.

Brown was attempting to score on a 2-on-1 break.

Brown, Mastroianni said, injured her knee, but he did not think she had a torn ACL, based on the trainer’s assessment.

The Reilly sisters were busy on the attack, each producing multiple scoring opportunities. Regan Reilly, a senior Bowling Green commit, hit the crossbar on a zinging shot in the 48th minute.

West Virginia recruit Robin Reilly was active all night, but missed wide on a couple of threatening tries.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Latrobe, Penn-Trafford