By PAUL GOTHAM
PENFIELD, N.Y. — Abby Ranalletta wanted to make solid contact. The Greece Athena sophomore did just that.
Ranalletta won a foot race in the open field before finishing inside post to break a scoreless tie with 17:26 remaining in regulation. The Trojans made the goal stand for a 1-0 victory over Penfield.
“I was thinking about everyone that was coming at me,” Ranalletta said of the play that stretched 50 yards. “Trying to feel where everyone is, trying to block them off and trying to not get a little “poof” shot as we call it. I was focusing on the shot and the placement. That’s all I could think about. Everything else in my mind goes blank, and I’m just thinking where I’m shooting the ball.”
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The play started in Athena’s defensive end of the field where eighth-grader Ella Perkins won a ball in the middle third and quickly passed upfield to teammate Wrianna Hudson. Hudson used two touches. Her pass travelled 30 yards before Ranalletta gathered it.
63’ Abby Ranalletta takes a Wrianna Hudson pass and gives Athena a 1-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/VqNW0dScKr
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 1, 2021
“We know how to work with each other,” Ranalletta said of the combination with her teammate. “I’m always looking to go forward, always looking for the through-balls. I just give her the signal “go” and you just got to shoot it.”
Penfield’s defense shadowed Hudson throughout the match with at least one defender always marking the sophomore who scored 12 goals in just six games a year ago.
Ranalletta capitalized on the attention her teammate received.
“Other teams will usually play four in the back, so that means two people will go to her, sometimes even three,” Ranalletta explained. “I think there were a lot of people on her tonight. It leaves the other side of the field wide open, so we just got to take advantage of the open field. She has the foot to switch the ball and go all the way down.”
Head coach Jeremiah Bergan knew it was a matter of time before his squad scored.
“We had the switch to the far side basically the whole game,” he explained. “If we could win the ball and switch it far side, it worked. We had a couple opportunities that didn’t turn in our favor, but that one turned out right.”
Eighth-grader Emilee Montagliano made 12 saves in goal including a stop on a late opportunity inside the 18-yard box.
Emilee Montagliano pic.twitter.com/vi9FMGO4lK
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 2, 2021
“To have that composure as an eighth grader, kid looked like a senior out there, tonight.”
Penfield was coming off a 2-1 win Monday night over Brighton, and the Patriots had the better of the opportunities in the first half. Senior Courtney Felton and junior Delaney Tellex helped the Patriots apply pressure in the offensive third of the field.
“You’re going out your first game, and you have no idea what you’re going to get,” Bergan said. “You don’t know who’s going to turn out well in a certain position or what’s going to work well. Of the groups that I’ve had in my three years, this group responds to everything immediately – different formation changes, different personnel changes.”
Delaney Tellex. Post. pic.twitter.com/7LPezUzRRE
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 1, 2021
Notes: Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) recently named Hudson, who plays with WNY Flash, U16 Conference Player of the Year.
OTHER SCORES FROM SECTION V GIRLS’ SOCCER
Rush-Henrietta 5 Hilton 1
Webster Schroeder 1 Webster Thomas 1
Greece Arcadia 0 Irondequoit 2
Aquinas 1 Pittsford Sutherland 2
Baldwinsville (III) 2 Mercy 2
Williamson 0 Bishop Kearney 0
Palmyra-Macedon 2 Victor 1
Livonia 0 Honeoye Falls-Lima 2
Holley 6 Finney 0
Wheatland-Chili 2 Oakfield/Elba 1
Midlakes 1 Canandaigua 4
Avon 1 Cal-Mum 1
HAC 12 Seneca 0
North Rose-Wolcott 2 Waterloo 3
Gananda 1 Wayne 2
Mynderse 1 Byron-Bergen 0
Attica 4 Lyndonville 0
Marcus Whitman 2 Naples 1
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