Shanahan stymies WC East behind Grigalonis’ pair

By Bryan Davis
bdavis@medianewsgroup.com
@btdavis25 on Twitter

WEST GOSHEN >> The Bishop Shanahan girls scocer team struggled during last season’s shortened season, but with the schedule returning to a semblance of normalcy, so are the wins and top-notch performances.
Madelyn Grigalonis scored a pair of first-half goals – including one moments before the halftime buzzer – as the Eagles moved to 2-0 by blanking West Chester East, 2-0, in the Ches-Mont League National Division opener for both teams Thursday afternoon at Harold I. Zimmerman Stadium.
“We kinda said the big thing we want to do this year is control and keep things calm in the midfield,” said Shanahan coach Ken Schmidt. “When we play a lot of combinations where we limit our touches, it’s hard for other teams to beat us. We have three really strong seniors in the midfield. We moved the ball fast and it’s to our advantage.”
It was a little tenative start for both teams, Shanahan was holding the territorial advantage and they took the lead with the first real chance of the game as its two better offensive players linked up.
Emily Longenderfer turned after receiving a pass and fed a through-ball to Grigalonis, whose shot flew into the top righthand corner, beating East goalie Sydney Slusser to open the scoring seven minutes into the game.
“We’ve been working on that play, and Emily and Grigs rani it to perfection,” said Schmidt.
“It was all Em,” Grigalonis said about the goal. “She set me up with a really good pass and I just finished it. We played well. I hope we keep it up.”
The Vikings, meanwhile, was stymied on the offensive end all half, failing to record a shot in the first 40 minutes. They didn’t have many forays into the Shanahan zone, and failed to really test goalie Sage Baillargeon.
“Lots of upperclass on defense, they were calm,” said Schmidt. “They knew East was going to counter hard, counter fast. When we did make a mistake and turned the ball over, I kept saying, ‘blow that up, blow that up.’ And they did every time. We slowed them up for a good part.”
The game didn’t have a corner kick for 39:50 seconds of the half. When they did, adventure and good fortune followed.
Mariela Ramos’ delivery bounced around between a couple of players before Grigalonis turned it in with 1.1 seconds left. Shanahan ended up with four corners to none for the Vikings
“We thought at the half to lets get out of this with the one-goal lead,” said Schmidt. “Then we won that corner. Normally, when you see corners, it’s bring your tall girls up, calm it down. Bring your center backs up, get your shorter players back to stop. Ramos is a great corner taker, she knew she had to hurry and go fast. She hit it. Sometimes, if you put the corner in the right spot, it may take three or four touches, but it goes in.”
East found its offensive footing in the second half, they came closest to scoring when Ava Watson’s effort from about 20-yards out, hit the upper left corner of the crossbar.
Shanahan forced Slusser into a couple of diving saves as they ended up with a 12-4 shot advantage.
Both teams return to Ches-Mont play on Monday, the Eagles will entertain Henderson, while the Vikings will travel to Unionville.

Bishop Shanahan 2 0 – 2
West Chester East 0 0 – 0
Bishop Shanahan goals: Grigalonis 2.
Goalie saves: Baillargeon (BS) 2; Slusser (WCE) 8,