Gremlins in a groove
KARNS CITY — What little doubt there was that Karns City's girls soccer team would advance to the District 9 Class A semifinals was put to rest in the opening moments of Tuesday's quarterfinal game against Port Allegany.
The top-seeded Gremlins scored three times in the first eight minutes of a 10-3 victory over the Gators at Diehl Stadium.
Karns City's boys made it a clean sweep later in the evening with a 4-0 shutout of Ridgway.
Several of KC's scores in the girls' game were set up by corner kicks.
“The girls came up big with the set pieces tonight,” said Gremlins' coach Tracy Dailey, who watched senior Emily LoPresti score four times, including twice on headers in the first half off corner kicks from Aubrie Ball and Brianna Brusamonti, respectively.
KC, the two-time defending district champion, lost over 60 goals to graduation last spring, including Breann Wood's 41 scores. But LoPresti and company have picked up the slack. The forward now has 53 goals this season.
“We lost a lot, but we've done a good job of scoring this year,” said sophomore midfielder Megan McCartney, who scored two goals against Port Allegany. “We're winning and that's the most important thing.”
McCartney, Kaylee Smith and Abby Wolfe all added first-half goals against Gators' keeper Laura Fox for a 5-0 halftime lead.
Port Allegany (10-9) managed its best scoring chances in the second half, with Somer Buchsenschutz tallying a hat trick against Karns City's LeErin Jones.
“Our (junior varsity) defense was in when those goals were scored,” said Dailey. “LeErin needs to be tested more, but she has come up big for us before.”
Chelsey Dodds and Collette Stahlman both added a goal for the Gremlins (17-1).
The Gremlins are looking to add a 17th district title to the program's resume. Their next obstacle will come against Elk County Catholic in the semifinals at a date, time and site to be determined.
“Karns City has always had a great tradition,” said Dailey. “It's a positive pressure that our players feel (to keep that up). From the get-go, these ladies have come in and improved every time they take the field.”
Getting scoring opportunities wasn't the problem early on for the Gremlins, but finding the net was.“Our first seven shots missed by a combined eight feet,” said KC coach Jim Grenninger. “Sometimes, we get wrapped up with power (in our shots) instead of placement. We aren't a great finishing team, but once we get that first goal, we usually follow it up with a few more.”Against Ridgway (8-10), that initial score came from sophomore forward Noah Pollock in the 24th minute of play. Goals from Conrad Snyder and Spenser Myers followed as the Gremlins (16-2-1) enjoyed a 3-0 lead at the break.“We knew that Karns City had balance and they are always well-coached with quality players,” said Elkers' coach Todd Voss.Pollock scored his second goal of the game in the 50th minute of play to cap the scoring.Karns City goalkeeper David Olszak made one save in the shutout. His counterpart, Ridgway's Phil Waddell, had 10 saves.The Gremlins last won a District 9 title in 2007. They have seen their hopes dashed by Brockway each of the last three seasons, in the championship game (2011 and 2012) and the semifinals (2013).But KC is not shying away from another possible meeting with the Rovers.“Our goal is to get back to the D-9 title game and hopefully get another shot at Brockway,” said Snyder.Karns City will face the winner of tonight's game between Elk County Catholic and Coudersport in the semifinals at a date, time and site to be determined.
