NORRISTOWN — It wasn’t enough on Thursday that Villa Maria dictated nearly one-way traffic in the first half of the District 1 Class 3A girls soccer final, freshman Olivia Cellini knew.
If a young Hurricanes squad wanted to add a trophy to their states berth at Norristown Area High School, Cellini and her other attacking talents would need to be proactive, early and often.
The dizzying speed and inventive motion of Villa Maria’s front three gave Strath Haven trouble all night, leading to two first-half goals and a relatively comfortable 3-0 win.
“Our wings and everyone else on the team are very fast, and that helps us a lot with our attack,” Cellini said. “Our coach encourages us to play through out wide and get crosses in.”
The Hurricanes controlled play territorially in the first half. The seventh seed made the most of all that position by constantly flooding forward not just in numbers but with their creativity off the ball. The pure speed is there, but so is the ability to interchange, the knowhow to stagger runs, including from deep in midfield, and the willingness to take players on.
Cellini, who plays centrally, showed that on the opening goal in the 21st minute, when she pulled out wide to collect possession and take on a defender in space. She shook her defender and cut inside, setting up a shot by midfielder Quinn Hechler. Strath Haven goalie Laura Shea dove to parry the first attempt, but an unmarked Meghan Collison charged to the back post to block the rebound.
Collison, like Cellini a contributing freshman, served up the corner kick that led to the second goal. Olivia Caruso made a run from deep in midfield for a powerful header that was goal bound. Shea might have gotten to it, but a big deflection defender put her off, allowing it to bound into the net for a 2-0 lead 11 minutes from half.
“That was a big goal,” Cellini said. “It really changed the momentum of the game. It put us in a good spot at the end of the half.”
Strath Haven seemed a tad stunned from the start. The Panthers didn’t get their first touch in the attacking half of the field for more than six minutes. What they did create came from one-v-one play from the skilled Annie Dignazio, but it was often too separated from the rest of the team.
With Villa Maria able to pin back the Panthers’ backline and central midfield with just four players, it meant a constant numerical disadvantage. The Panthers started to rectify that during the second half, with a good period of sustained possession to start the half. It led to a couple of dangerous moments – Dignazio had a shot on target that Sofia Bratteson saved, then she played a teasing ball through the box that begged for a late runner but didn’t find it. Haven had just two shots on target, the second of which, from Ava Hurwitz, Bratteson bobbled over the line, though it was well wide.
“I think we started playing to feet more,” Dignazio said. “There was a huge gap in the first half between our midfield and our strikers. I think it’s just, everyone kind of realized there’s 40 minutes left. Everyone picked it up a notch and did what we had to do, it just wasn’t enough.”
Shea made eight saves, including one charge off her line in the first half to cut down a run by Carly Catania. She dove to deny Catania from the right channel in the second half to briefly keep it 2-0.
But Cellini added the third in the 57th, cutting inside on the left channel and shaping a curler toward the far post. It probably was going to beat Shea there, but a touch off retreating center back Elise Molloy and into the net guaranteed it.
In states for the first time in four years, Strath Haven’s loss sets the stage for a weekend to regroup before the states opener Tuesday.
“It’s definitely really tough and it took us way too long to figure it out,” Dignazio said. “But the season’s not over. That’s what we learned from this game, and it’s obviously a lesson.”
