ANDOVER TOWNSHIP —
A lot can happen in 10 seconds. Just ask the Pymatuning Valley girls soccer team. The Lakers took the opening whistle and netted a goal just 10 seconds into their contest with Jefferson, a 4-1 victory over the Falcons.
Junior midfielder Geena Gabriel blasted right up the middle of the field, took a pass from senior forward Samantha Felix, and sent a shot into the back of the net to break open the game.
“I guess that’s the girl who’s scored the most all year, about twenty-three (goals). (It) set tone early,” PV coach Bob Blake said.
“That’s a coach’s nightmare. You want to hit restart,” Jefferson coach Katie Carter said.
The Falcon defenders fended off the charging forwards of the Lakers’ offense for a time, but about midway through the half, Gabriel broke through for her second tally of the game. She would score again before the half to give PV (7-8) a 3-0 lead at the break.
Freshman Stephanie Criss added to the advantage with a second-half goal.
“We played better in the second half, more passing,” Blake said. “I am pretty pleased, getting ready for the tourney.”
Freshman April Brown and junior Sammy Burnett helped the Falcons push the ball up field and Callie Fuentes found Sarah Busch, who put Jefferson (1-15, 1-9 in All-American Conference) on the board
“They’ve played every game to the end,” Carter said. “(We) finally got a score, almost got another. (They) didn’t give up.”
Katie Wright and Jackie Gale each had five saves for the Lakers.
Mary Forbes netted 10 saves Abby Pete had five for the Falcons.
Velotta is a freelance writer from Concord Township.
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