| Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, TRIB-LIVE
Sometimes the sequel is just as good as the original.
Eleven days after a 1-0 win over Fox Chapel in the WPIAL Class AAAA girls soccer semifinals, the WPIAL champion Knights proved the first game was not an aberration. Norwin upended the Foxes, 1-0, in the first round of the PIAA Class AAAA playoffs Tuesday night at Mars.
“It’s always more difficult to play a team a second time because, of course, they know your style of play and the different things that you do,” Norwin coach Lauren Karcher said. “Something that maybe was an advantage for us was that we had to move around some girls.”
Norwin (21-0-1) advanced to the PIAA quarterfinals and will play WPIAL runners-up Canon-McMillan (19-1-1) on Saturday at a time and site to be determined.
The Knights downed the Big Macs, 3-1, in the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game. Canon-McMillan advanced by beating Erie McDowell, 2-1, on Tuesday.
Excluding the WPIAL final, Norwin has struggled to score during the first half of games this postseason.
That changed with 17 minutes, 53 seconds remaining in the first half Tuesday when the Knights had a direct-kick opportunity. Senior Lexie Kolano, a Cincinnati commit, scored the game’s only goal on a header from 10 yards off a Rachel Ross pass to take an early lead. The shot went to the high left side of the net just beyond Fox Chapel sophomore goalie Kate Feczko’s reach. Feczko finished with seven saves for the Foxes.
“We work on free kicks a lot in practice, and Rachel stuck her foot out, I jumped up and put the ball in the back of net,” said Kolano, who has four goals this postseason. “It definitely felt good to get the (score) and help them get to the goal we’ve been chasing all season, which is to win states.”
Fox Chapel (16-7) had early opportunities but could not capitalize.
Freshman forward Blair Enchant had a good look but sent the ball wide left of the goal. Norwin goalkeeper Sam Wexell had two first-half saves and finished the game with four.
“Our goal was to control the middle of the field, and we made just one formation change,” Fox Chapel coach Peter Torres said. “I think we were just trying to recreate what we had (in the semifinal game) because we had a lot of success the first time.”
Fox Chapel senior forward Deena Debaldo had Wexell down deep in the offensive end for a one-on-one at the 33:45 mark of the second half, but Wexell rushed Debaldo and forced her to kick the ball high and out of play.
Fox Chapel senior midfielder Dixon Veltri gave her team three opportunities with her out-of-bounds flip-throw to the center of the goalie box, but all three times, the Knights turned away the Foxes.
“When you’re playing a team like Norwin, you’re only going to have one good chance (to score) in a game, and if you don’t make the most of that chance, you’re not going to get another one,” Torres said. “We had a dangerous flip-throw, they were flighted in perfectly and they were dropping to the ground. You have to be aggressive going to the goal.”
In the second half, the Knights attack was able to drive the ball deeper into the offensive zone and put pressure on the Foxes. Junior Emily Harrigan sent a good-looking shot just wide right of the goal with a little more than 11 minutes left in the game.
“We’re glad to have won, but it’s just one step with many more to go,” Karcher said. “(We have) lots of work to do. Hopefully, we can get some rest for some of the girls that need it and be ready to go for next game.”