Villa Joseph Marie goes to PK’s to win District 1-3A title over GMA
SOUTHAMPTON >> Villa Joseph Marie absorbed Gwynedd Mercy Academy’s best shot and survived a few more in penalty kicks.
After 110 minutes of soccer and a decisive round of PK’s, the Jems earned another District 1-3A title Tuesday night at Villa.
“They’re such a great team. We knew it was gonna be a fight,” Mary Peters said of the Monarchs.
Peters provided the finishing kick, her PK finding the far right corner, giving Villa a clinching 4-1 lead and sending them to a 2-1 victory.
Villa, state champions 11 times before and most recently in 2018, now heads to states. A tremendous season for GMA, which included the Monarchs’ first trip to the district final since 2015, came to a close.
Said Hailey Morris, one of the Monarchs’ outstanding seniors: “We brought our all. This is the best game we played all year.”
“Villa Joe is always tough,” GMA coach Bill Dailey said. “So to go toe to toe with them, I couldn’t be more proud of our girls.”
Third-seeded Gwynedd was all business, taking a 1-0 lead less than four minutes into the contest, off the foot of Kaylie Griffin.
Villa tied it six minutes later, with a header by Katherine Sullivan.
The game would remain deadlocked into the early evening.
“We haven’t had a game this close against them in years,” said Gwynedd senior goalie Grace Galbreath, who made several remarkable saves.
“We were physical,” Morris said. “We made sure we won every ball and we just made sure we were talking. We never gave up.”
The seniors, especially, were thinking states.
“We played them twice this year and those didn’t go our way but we always thought that we would come back harder,” said senior Samantha Berish, who was considered for Catholic Academies League Most Valuable Player a season ago. “We gave it everything we had.”
Eighty minutes of regulation and two 15-minute overtime periods were not enough to separate the two rivals. It would take penalty kicks.
Julia Beck would connect for Villa, with a ground ball to the left corner. Keeper Molly McHugh then made a key save for Villa to give the Jems an edge.
Lindsey Bennett went far right to give the Jems a 2-0 lead, but then Cassidy Palazzo found an opening, bringing GMA within 2-1.
Galbreath then got a piece of Sullivan’s shot, but it still had enough momentum to trickle into the left corner, giving Villa a 3-1 cushion.
McHugh went up high to make another save, and with a chance to clinch the win, Peters came through for the defending champs.
The game was decided by penalty kicks but the victory was cemented by the defense for Villa.
“They’re incredible. They save our lives so much,” Peters said of the back line that includes Beck. “They save our butts. I don’t know what I would do without them behind me.”
District 1-3A Final
Villa Joseph Marie 2,
Gwynedd Mercy Academy 1 (4-1 in PK’s)
#3 GMA 1 0 0 0 (1) – 1
#1 Villa 1 0 0 0 (4) – 4
First Half
GMA-Kaylie Griffin, 36:20; V-Katherine Sullivan, 30:02.
Penalty kicks
GMA: Cassidy Palazzo; V: Julia Beck, Lindsey Bennett, Sullivan, Mary Peters.
