Top-seeded Villa Maria rolls past Gwynedd Mercy in semifinals
WHITEMARSH >> Villa Maria looked every bit the No. 1 seed in the District One-AA playoffs Tuesday afternoon.
The Hurricanes cruised past No. 4 seed Gwynedd Mercy Academy, 7-2, in the semifinals on Victory Field at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.
“I think Villa is a fantastic team” GMA coach Alex McMahan said. “I thought they couldn’t get any better than what we saw this season (two Villa wins), but on turf they are very good.”
The win clinches Villa a spot in the AA state playoffs and the district final against the No. 3 Merion Mercy on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
“I want to play in the playoffs,” Villa coach Daan Polders said. “That’s what we trained for. That’s why we started our journey Aug 17. That’s what we trained for. If everything comes together like a game like this, it’s only greater. We’ll see where it ends.”
It did not take long for Villa to jump out on GMA. Two minutes into the game, the Hurricanes were on the board. Hannah Miller found Megan Vermeil in front of the cage for a one-timer and there was nothing the Monarchs could do to stop it.
It took 16 minutes for the Hurricanes to double their lead, but once the second goal went in the floodgates were open. Nicole Tsiaras took a penalty shot and scored going high and to the goalie’s glove side for a 2-0 advantage.
From there, Villa showed how efficient it is when it gets corners. Four of Villa’s remaining five goals were scored on corners.
“Every practice we work on corners,” Polders said. “I believe corners are a skill. You have to practice to get better and to master it. This is the perfect field for us to play because it’s fast and keeps the ball down.”
The first came with eight minutes left in the first half. Lindsay Dickinson passed the ball in to Vermeil, who executed a perfect give-and-go with Abby Siana, and Vermeil finished for a three-goal lead.
Dickinson and Mary Harkins scored the final two goals of the first half to send the game to the break with Villa ahead, 5-0.
After GMA cut the lead to 5-1, Annina Iacobucci and Siana scored off corners to finish Villa’s scoring for the day.
Both of the Monarchs goals were scored by Colleen Osborne. The first came seven minutes into the second half and the second with just over two minutes left in the game.
“I was really proud of my team for fighting until the very end and scoring two goals in the second half,” McMahan said, “which is really hard to do coming from 5-0. I’m really proud of them and how they played.”
The standout performer for GMA in this one was goaltender Ava Rosati. Despite the scoreboard showing seven goals against, the senior made 15 saves to keep the final score from being much worse.
“That has to be the hardest position on the field to stay in the game and to see that score increase no matter how hard you’re working,” McMahon said of her goalie. “She did great. Ava was always a strong performer for us and we’re going to miss her.”
