Game roadblock
Without the ball, Marin Catholic’s unit of Savannah Browne and Nellie Sell, working with Lillian Englert, Sloane Carey, McCarty and Ferguson, harassed University’s strikers to force the turnover. Fast footwork and crisp passing kept the play moving from one end of Paul Goode Field to the other. That was a great save,” Schwerin said.īoth teams demonstrated how they reached the NCS’ biggest stage. “I thought that was going in, so tip your hat to Arieanna (Price). Marin Catholic ran out of time before it could mount another assault, with only three shots in the second half. Franchetti aimed the ball just under the crossbar, but Price was right there and the shot lofted over the goal.
The Wildcats’ Alina Franchetti took a pass in front of the Red Devils’ goal for a standoff with Price in the closing minutes of the game. It was just a breakdown in communication on the goal. I thought we had a little more territory in the first 15 or 20 minutes of the second half. “I think we were trying to play to a stalemate in the first 40 minutes. “We knew we had to set up a little more defensively,” Marin Catholic coach Isaiah Schwerin said. The Wildcats managed to push the ball upfield with a sharpened attack, but a hardened University defense packed the box in front of Price as the first half ended in a scoreless tie. The top-seeded Red Devils kept Seymore busy during the first half as she turned away seven shots on goal. Ong then slipped the ball inside the near post 25 minutes into the second half for the eventual winning goal. She took the ball on her right foot as if to shoot to the far post and got Seymore to bite. University’s Isabella Ong chased a loose ball through a moment of chaos in the Marin Catholic box. It’s just hard that it didn’t go our way.”
“So, for both this game and the entire season, we came in together and worked so hard. “We have put so many goals in place and worked so hard … I think we just set a tone of hard work and family for our team,” Wildcats keeper Finn Seymore said. University stopped Marin Catholic, 2-1, in last season’s NCS semifinals. The Wildcats, who won the NCS title in the spring of 20, took another step closer to a NCS title, but a familiar foe proved to be a roadblock for the second year in a row. “It’s disappointing with the result, but I’m really happy we got here.” “This was a really big game for us, since this is the first NCS title game for our school in about 10 years,” Marin Catholic senior Caroline McCarty said, with sophomore Lexi Ferguson by her side. Third-seeded Marin Catholic had its share of looks at the back of the net during Saturday’s NCS Division IV title game, but couldn’t get the ball past University senior keeper Arieanna Price in a 1-0 loss. Marin Catholic made its dramatic return to the North Coast Section championships Saturday after an absence of more than a decade with no signs of nerves.