St. Anthony's scores late for LI CHSAA title
Members of the St Anthony's girls soccer team celebrate after their 2-1 victory over Kellenberg at Adelphi University. (Nov. 5, 2010) Credit: Lee S. Weissman
There are championships that are nearly preordained, little more than a simple coronation for a dominant victor. There are blowouts when, topdog or underdog, the game seemingly is over before it starts.
Then there was No. 1 St. Anthony's hard-fought 2-1 victory over No. 2 Kellenberg in the LI CHSAA girls soccer final on a Frigid Friday at Adelphi, and that's a different story altogether.
Reanna Marino was named game MVP after scoring with 7 minutes, 36 seconds remaining to break a 1-1 tie.
The Friars (16-0-1) advance to the state CHSAA finals at 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 13 at the College of Staten Island.
"It was really frustrating that we didn't score in the first half, but we knew we couldn't lose no matter what," said Marino, who injured her tailbone at a club team practice on Wednesday and was somewhat questionable for Friday's game. "We wanted to win it for each other. We're a family. We wanted to win this game so we could be with each other a bit longer."
But for the majority of the game, that extra time was in doubt.
St. Anthony's came out aggressively with four shots on goal in the first 13 minutes, nevermind countless other scoring opportunities. The only thing keeping the Friars at bay was Sarah Wacik, who finished with 12 saves for Kellenberg (10-3-2).
"It's very frustrating, especially 'cause I missed a few myself," Margo McGinty said. "You always know that you need to be the one to come back and get it."
The teams went into the half scoreless, but as darkness fell and the temperature dropped to the mid-40s, the intensity only amped up.
St. Anthony's again started strong, sending four shots toward the net in a 7-minute span. But Kellenberg struck first on Amanda Barroca's direct penalty kick with 21:33 remaining.
"Once the goal went in, I knew I had to pick up my game and not only the team," McGinty said. "And when I saw the opportunity I went for it."
McGinty scored off an assist from Marino with 14:42 remaining to tie the score and ignite an instant case of deja vu: In the first meeting of the regular season between this teams, St. Anthony's broke a late 1-1 tie to take the game. "The whole time I thought, 'this is the game we were in before,' " McGinty said. "We can come back."
Marino scored seven minutes later to complete the comeback. No coronation, no blowout. But victory all the same.
