Saints lose to heartbreaker in semi-finals
The third-seeded Churchville-Chili girl's varsity soccer team advanced to the semi-finals against second-seeded Webster in a game played Halloween night in Hilton.
Head coach Nancy Thornton and her young team weathered intense pressure from Webster throughout the first half, but senior goalkeeper Anna Marshall was up to the task making five saves. At the 13:55 mark of the first half, Webster actually did put the ball into the goal off a free kick, but was called on the offsides.
After half-time adjustments, the Saints played a much better second half and put late pressure on the Webster goal as sophomore midfielder Jaclyn Fafinski hit the crossbar with 1:11 left in regulation and the Saints again came close on a scramble in front of the net following a corner kick with just :45 left.
Scoreless after regulation, the two teams entered the first of two ten-minute overtime periods. At the 7:50 mark of the first overtime, Webster's Julie Munding took a shot off left wing, which was stopped by Marshall before Heather Trottier put in the rebound for a 1-0 lead.
The Saints tried to push through the now defense-minded Warrior players during the remaining time, but only managed a late shot by Marshall who had exchanged jerseys for the last overtime period and took up a striker position. The shot was covered by the goalkeeper as time expired in the game and on the season for the Saints who finished with a 14-5-2 record.
Scheduled to lose just four seniors to graduation, Churchville-Chili should contend in Class A again next season. Seniors playing their final game included Alanna Sweda, Allison Roether, Anna Marshall and Katie Johnson.
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