KC gilrs roll to 9-0 soccer playoff win
KARNS CITY — It was business as usual for the Karns City girls soccer team Wednesday night.
Now the Gremlins get to deal with old business.
KC's 9-0 triumph over Saint Marys in a District 9 Class 2A semifinal earns the team a rematch with Clearfield in the district title game at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 at Brockway's Varischetti Stadium.
Clearfield defeated the Gremlins, 5-4, in last year's district championship contest.
“We're going into this one with a bit of a chip on our shoulder,” KC coach Tracy Dailey admitted. “We want to bring the championship trophy back to Karns City.
“As for the last time Karns City wasn't in the D-9 championship game ... I honestly couldn't tell you when that was. It's been years.”
The Gremlins operated on all cylinders Wednesday.
Emma Dailey tallied four goals, giving her 27 on the season. McKenna Martin added a pair of her own, giving her 54 for the campaign.
Martin's first goal came on a penalty kick, giving her team a 3-0 lead in the 32nd minute after Dailey scored the team's first two goals. That margin quickly got out of hand.
Karns City (14-3) scored two goals in the final 130 seconds of the first half, then tacked on two more in the first three minutes of the second half to put the game away.
“Our approach at the start of the second half is the score is 0-0 again,” Emma Dailey said. “We don't even look at the scoreboard. We want to establish play on their side of the field again.
“Earlier today, I was watching film of the Clearfield game from last year. We got this one tonight, but it's not time for us to lay down.”
Martin scored the final goal of the first half with 59 seconds left on the clock. Barely a minute before that, Cece Morrow's shot was blocked, the ball caroming to Taylor Miller, who lofted a shot into the left corner of the net from 22 yards out.
The 5-0 halftime lead was not enough to turn off Karns City's motor.
“The start of the second half is critical in every game. We preach that here,” Coach Dailey said. “You want to re-establish pace and ball control. The team that puts the ball in the net first in the second half is usually the team that wins.”
Avah Burke scored off a Martin corner kick in the second half for KC. Rylee Miller ended the scoring with a tally in the 78th minute.
Emma Dailey admitted she could have scored a few more.
“The chances were there,” she said, smiling. “They're all not going to go in. I've learned to be patient.
“Our defense did a great job of keeping the ball out of our end. Rossi (McMillin) got the shutout. This was a true team win.”
Karns City had 17 shots on net to Saint Marys' two. The Lady Dutch had two corner kicks, the Gremlins four.
Martin had two assists, Lyrik Reed, Morrow, Sarah Dodd, Miller and Abby Callihan one each.
Gianna Surra had Saint Marys' (11-7-1) first shot on net in the 36th minute. The Lady Dutch's best scoring chance came in the 52nd minute, when McMillin came out of the box to deny Gabby Pistner a shot on a potential breakaway.
“We gave up 12 goals to Altoona, but that's the only other time we took a loss like this,” Saint Marys coach Samantha Zimmerman said. “Karns City plays with a lot of aggressiveness and they have great team chemistry.
“We enjoy the challenge of playing them. You get better against a team like them because they're constantly attacking.”
