Early goals spark KC girls
CLARION — Megan McCartney had some time to kill on the bus ride home from a field trip to the Carnegie Art Museum Thursday afternoon.
The forward on the Karns City girls soccer team spent that down time thinking about the District 9 Class A title match later that day with DuBois Central Catholic and what she needed to do on the pitch.
“I was bored, so I was watching some videos of Lionel Messi,” McCartney said of the star forward for Barcelona and the Argentina national team. “I wanted to feel like Lionel Messi tonight.”
McCartney did, assisting on three goals by Abby Wolfe and scoring a spectacular goal herself, bending a shot into the net while falling down, as the Gremlins rolled to their fourth-straight District 9 Class A girls soccer title and their 18th in the last 21 years with a 6-1 victory over DuBois Central Catholic at Clarion University's Memorial Stadium Thursday night.
Karns City (18-1) scored just 29 seconds into the match on a goal by Wolfe, but DuBois Central Catholic (17-2) answered just three minutes later when Kasey Baronick found the back of the net.
Hannah Knoll, McCartney and Wolfe each scored a goal in a 10-minute span in the first half to give the Gremlins a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes.
That began the countdown to yet another district crown.
“The speech we had in the locker room was about tradition,” Karns City coach Tracy Dailey said. “About players who have moved on and what they have left for them — myself and my assistant coach, Kylee Smith, included. We played here and I want them to pass this on to my little girls who can't wait to grow up and get into this program.”
The Karns City seniors have never known anything but a district title.
That was something senior defender Taylor Downs was most proud of.“It's basically what I've been dreaming of since freshman year,” Downs said. “Winning D9 from then to senior year means a lot. Not only to us, but for the whole school.”McCartney scored her second goal a minute into the second half to kill any hope of a comeback for the Cardinals.The early second-half goal was a focus for the Gremlins.“I told the ladies at halftime it was important for us to come out in the second half and score quickly,” Dailey said. “I told them if they come out and score, it will make a difficult second half for us, but if we come out and put the ball in the back of the net, we can relax and just play soccer.”Wolfe capped the scoring with her third goal of the night with 27 minutes remaining in the match.For the senior midfielder, it was one of the best matches of her career on one of the biggest stages.“It was really exciting because I usually don't score that much,” Wolfe said. “It's something I will remember for the rest of my life.”Not long after the Gremlins received their medals and posed for pictures with the championship plaque, focus shifted to the PIAA Class A playoffs.Karns City has a date with Shady Side Academy, the third-place WPIAL team that ousted the Gremlins 3-2 in overtime last year, in the first round of the state playoffs Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.The Gremlins haven't won a state playoff game since 2005 when they beat — who else? — Shady Side Academy, 1-0.“It's not done. Tuesday night is a big night for us,” Dailey said. “There's history (between us and Shady Side Academy). It's one more thing our seniors can say they did: beat a WPIAL team.”
