St. Anthony's girls to play at home for state title
St. Anthony's Sydney Arestivo (11) congratulates Stephanie Palosico (5) after she scored a goal in the first half. St. Anthony's defeated St Joseph Hill 2-1. CHSAA Girls Varsity AA Soccer Catholic States Championship semifinal between St. Anthony's and St. Joseph Hill (Staten Island). (Nov. 12, 2011) Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
Did you really think there would be a party at St. Anthony's and the Friars' girls soccer team wouldn't be invited?
With St. Anthony's hosting the state tournament this season, there was added motivation for the Friars to be on the field when the final game was played. If there was going to be a celebration on their home turf, they didn't want to be in the stands watching it.
The Friars won't have to crash this party. They RSVP'd Saturday after Stephanie Paloscio and Reanna Marino each scored to lead St. Anthony's to a 2-1 win over St. Joseph Hill Academy in a CHSAA state semifinal. "We definitely didn't want to come here and watch another team play on our turf," Paloscio said. "Especially after last year; we made it to finals and didn't win. So this year we wanted it to be our year and go out winning on our home field."
Paloscio opened the scoring on a line drive from 25 yards out that went just over the keeper's fingertips and just under the crossbar in the 11th minute.
Marino gave the Friars a 2-0 lead after scoring on a header off a corner kick by Elisa Robiglio with 3:32 remaining in the first half. St. Joseph's immediately responded, scoring less than 20 seconds later when Victoria Chirico chipped in a shot from inside the box.
The game, however, wasn't as close as the score would indicate, thanks mainly to St. Joseph's keeper Kristy Ricca who made 15 of her 24 saves in the first half to keep things close. St. Anthony's defenders Robiglio, Courtney Davis, Kristen Goncalves, and Emily Korber helped keep possession in St. Joseph's half of the field for a majority of the game.
"We can possess really well," Korber said. "Towards the end it got a little scary, they started pressuring more, but we were able to get it out."
Just one save was required of the Friars' keeper tandem of Danielle Maurice and Jensen Wiedmer, but it proved to be a big one. Minutes after a shot by St. Joseph's Stephanie Quinn hit the crossbar, her teammate Meghan Siller blasted a free kick from 30 yards out that Wiedmer swatted away with three minutes left to preserve the one-goal lead.
The party starts at 2 p.m. Sunday as St. Anthony's (15-1-4) faces Nichols in a rematch of last season's title game. The Friars seek their 18th state championship and first since 2007, according to coach Dave Prutting.
"If we focus and play the way we know how to play, we're going to win this game," Marino said. "It's crazy that it's at home. If we win, you can't finish any better than that."
