Solomon literally saves spot in final for Radnor

DOWNINGTOWN >> There wasn’t a lot more that Alexa Solomon could have done to ensure Radnor’s spot in the District One championship.
In Tuesday’s semifinal showdown with Garnet Valley at Downingtown West High School, the junior goalie made the biggest saves of her life.
“I was definitely nervous, very anxious,” Solomon said. “Especially after they got that free position, I was a little bit nervous.”
Garnet Valley freshman Reagan Nealon, who beat Solomon earlier in the second half, lined up to take the free-position shot with two minutes to play.

With the Raiders clinging to a one-goal lead, Solomon denied Nealon. GV’s Riley Delaney picked up the rebound and fired a missile in Solomon’s direction. Solomon denied Delaney, too.
Two gigantic saves in a row.
Solomon had one more stop in her as she thwarted a Madi O’Brien shot in the waning moments. Ninth-seeded Radnor secured possession and ran out the clock on a 7-6 victory over No. 4 Garnet Valley.
Due in part to Solomon’s stellar goalkeeping late in regulation, Radnor advanced to the District One final to face sixth-seeded Owen J. Roberts Thursday at West Chester East High.
The Raiders gave themselves plenty of time to enjoy this one.
“I just really wanted to win. I wanted to do whatever it would take to get us the win,” Solomon said. “Garnet is one of our really big rivals, so it always feels good to beat them.”
Katie Quinn was the hero on attack for the Raiders. The George Washington-bound senior scored off a free-position shot with 3:42 left to give the Raiders the 7-6 lead they would not relinquish.
That was a pretty sweet moment for Quinn.
“When it’s just me out on the free-position line, I try to silence everything as much as I can, and focus on certain words that people are saying, whether it’s to shoot low or shoot high or whatever,” said Quinn, who had solo tallies in each half. “I try to make the right choices.”
Quinn unleashed a shot beyond the reach of Garnet Valley goalie Lauren Kinnee (five saves).
“That felt good,” Quinn said.
Tuesday’s clash among Central League powers was a defensive struggle. Solomon received plenty of help from defenders Abby Lord, Nicole Massimino, Fallon Quinn and Allison Lanzone. Kerry Hamill came up with what appeared to be a caused turnover, prior to Nealon’s free position, but was called for shooting space instead.
“The defense really supported me. They were crashing and listening to me, which is really important,” said Solomon, who is a first-year starting goalie on varsity.
“The defense was absolutely a vital part of why we won.”
The Raiders’ defensive unit flourished in back to back wins against top-seeded Conestoga in the quarterfinals and Tuesday against the Jags. Consequently, ’Stoga and GV accounted for two of Radnor’s regular season losses.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Katie Quinn said. “We started off our season with those two straight losses, which was pretty tough and I had my doubts. But we practiced a lot harder, changed our game a bit.
“We know we’re not perfect at everything, but we play to our strengths and power through the weaknesses. Beating Conestoga (last Saturday) was such a huge victory because it gave us the confidence that we could beat Garnet Valley.”
Nealon came off the bench to give the Jags a boost early in the first half. She fired a laser past Solomon to tie things up, 6-6, with nine minutes to go.
Radnor (16-6) had to contend with Garnet’s excellent defense, led by Beth Hoffmann, Rachel Warden and Kylie Young.
“We knew what to expect, which kind of even made it harder because we had to think about every little thing that we did,” Katie Quinn said. “We knew that they were going to be lower-in on the 12 and at the 8 (meters) and we knew that the only way we were going to get most of our goals is if we got to the free position line. Even if we weren’t shooting, we were at least getting fouled or getting the shooting space. We knew if we could get low we could swing it to someone on the outside, too.”
After Garnet Valley (16-5-1) grabbed an early 2-0 advantage on goals by O’Brien and Delaney, Emily Games scored two straight to tie the score. Katie Quinn put Radnor in front, 4-3, late in the first half, but O’Brien quickly navigated through traffic and scored with five seconds left to knot the score once more.
Games led all players with three goals for the Raiders.
Garnet Valley, the reigning two-time state champion, will play No. 10 Bishop Shanahan Thursday for a third-place seed in the upcoming PIAA tournament.