Defending District 10 girls soccer champ Cathedral Prep overwhelms Slippery Rock in semifinals
MEADVILLE — Overcoming Cathedral Prep girls soccer was going to take a near-flawless effort, something that simply wasn’t in the cards for Slippery Rock in Monday’s District 10 Class 2A semifinals.
The top-seeded Ramblers, two-time defending district champions, hovered in front of the Rockets’ net for much of the night, scoring four goals in the first half of an 8-0 defeat of Slippery Rock at Meadville High School’s Barco-Duratz Athletic Complex.
The Ramblers (17-1-1) have now outscored their opponents by a combined 116-10 this season. They will face No. 2 Fort LeBoeuf, a 7-0 winner over General McLane, in Wednesday’s final at a site and time to be determined.
“There were stretches where we played well tonight,” Slippery Rock head coach Matt Purtell said. “But Prep is a very accomplished team, and they have no weaknesses. It was just too tough tonight.”
Peyton Rodgers’ goal in the seventh minute was the only score in the first 20 minutes, but the Ramblers’ pressure weighed on Slippery Rock (14-4-2).
Aside from the 14 saves made in the game by Rockets’ goalie Sophie Hensel, Prep had a number of shots blocked by Slippery Rock defenders.
Deeliah Thangiah and Brynn Miller blocked a combined five shots in a span of two minutes during the first half before Prep’s Kate Petersen netted her team’s second goal in the 21st minute.
Jordyn DiRaimo then scored a pair less than three minutes apart for a 4-0 edge.
“We preach a score-by-committee approach,” Prep head coach Peter Wagner said. “Whoever has the run or the best shot, that’s who we want to score.”
Slippery Rock’s offensive opportunities were few and never with numbers on its side. Shareen Thangiah, the Rockets’ leading scorer on the season, and teammate Keira Wilhelm made several individual runs at Prep’s Jordan Senz in the first half, but the goalie came off her line in more than enough time to pull the plug on each chance.
Thangiah’s shot from 12 yards early in the second half was just wide right of the net and backup goalie Gia Cachione, who made two saves late in the game, one on a shot from Gracie Hoehn from 35 yards.
The Rockets improved from eight wins a year ago to 14 this season and won a District 10 Region 2 title and a playoff game.
“The girls played their hearts out tonight,” Purtell said. “They didn’t quit the whole game, and that’s all you can ask for.”
