An early lead was short-lived as all the scoring came in the first half in top-seeded Hilton’s 3-2 loss to #2 Webster-Thomas in the Class AA girls soccer final played at Eastridge High School. It marked the Cadets first appearance in the final since 1991.
“The first five minutes was a style we are used to, but then we knew we were in for a fight and, overall the first 40 minutes was crazy,” Hilton head coach Steve Sorensen said.
The Cadets took a 1-0 lead just 3:28 into the contest as sophomore Kyndal Hetzel drove down the left wing, side-stepped the defender and found the upper right corner of the net.
But less than six minutes later, Thomas netted the equalizer as Madison Mason sent a 45-yard service into the box that took a high bounce and carried the Cadets goalkeeper across the goal-line, according to officials.
Just four minutes later, Thomas took the lead off a cross, but the Cadets tied it at 20:54 as Leslie Graus’ indirect kick from 25 yards out was tapped in by Allyson Strauss.
That lead lasted until the 31st minute as Thomas’ Nicole Gerritz found the net from a tough angle to make it 3-2 Webster.
“During the regular season we allowed a total of six goals combined over our first 16 games,” Sorensen said. “The first half was a pace we were unaccustomed to. We benefitted from the ace early on, but we didn’t maintain it.”
Both teams buttoned up their defensive zone coverage in the second half with the Cadets challenging the most.
Hetzel and Shannon Page worked a great give-and-go in the 61st minute, but no Cadet could get a foot on the cross.
Later, after Cadets goalkeeper Vanessa L’Abbate kept her team in the game with a diving save with nine minutes remaining, they had a series of two corner kicks over the last four minutes, but could not convert, ending their season and the high school soccer careers of 16 seniors. Included was eight starters in Jenny Coleman, Alicia Mrzywka, Page, Alexandra DiVasta, Leslie Graus, Sarah Pirnie, Jessica Pignato and Alexandra Cummins plus Lyndsay Brown, Danielle DeSimone, Ashley LaFountain, Rachel Schleusener, Alexandra Brisson, Allison Wood and Hayley Comfort.
