Sacred Heart defeats St. Anthony's to win CHSAA AA Championship
Sacred Heart wins the CHSAA girls soccer championship at Farmingdale State College on Sunday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
The Sacred Heart Academy girls soccer team has been here before. For the last three years, the Spartans have fallen to St. Anthony’s in the CHSAA AA championship. This year, seniors Lindsey Galligan, Mae Mullen and Emma Frohne have rewritten the ending.
No. 2 Sacred Heart defeated No. 1 St. Anthony’s, 2-0, in the CHSAA AA championship on Sunday at Farmingdale State College.
“The girls had pure energy the entire game and they won all the individual battles they needed to win,” coach Gabe Ramos said. “More importantly, they really came together at the end, which is what got them the win.”
It all started when Julianna Bivona found Lindsey Galligan in front of the net with three minutes remaining in the first half. “The second I got the ball, I just knew I had to get it in the net,” Galligan said.
That goal gave Sacred Heart a 1-0 lead over the Friars, and it was the first time St. Anthony’s had been scored on all season.
The Spartans’ defense shut out the Friars for the remainder of the half. “We knew we needed another goal so we could feel more comfortable,” Mullen said.
With 13 minutes left in the game, Mullen found the back of the net off a pass from Galligan, extending Sacred Heart’s lead to 2-0.
“When I got the ball I looked up and just thought: ‘This is it,’ ” Mullen said. “No one was on me, I got a perfect ball from Lindsey and next thing I knew I was watching the ball go in.”
St. Anthony’s couldn’t get through the Spartans’ defense. The team that shut out Sacred Heart twice this season got a taste of its own medicine.
Frohne made 13 saves for the Spartans. But Frohne isn’t their regular goalie; in fact, she’s usually a starting forward. Sacred Heart’s regular goalie suffered a concussion, so Frohne decided to step up in her absence.
“I’ve never played goalie before,” Frohne said. “Coach saw it as the best fit and I’m willing to do anything to help us win.”
Frohne’s debut in goal earned her the MVP of the game. “There was no doubt she’d be our MVP,” Ramos said. “We had no other backup goalie and it just shows her character.”
From playing a brand-new position, to making sure they won every 50/50 ball, the Spartans gave this game everything they had to move on to the state championship.
“There was something inside of us left over from last year that we just wanted this so bad,” Mullen said. “We knew this was our year.”
