By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Earl Blackmon couldn’t help but laugh.
Four minutes removed from the end of the season, the C.G. Finney girls’ soccer team managed to survive.
And Blackmon thought about the age of his team.
“We don’t have any seniors,” he said. “Seventh, eighth, ninth graders that’s all we got.”
Ninth grader Grace Kearney and seventh grader Kate Frederickson converted penalty kicks as Finney advanced (2-1) over Northstar Christian in Section V Class D2 action Saturday at Grace and Truth Park.
“We’re such evenly-matched teams,” Blackmon said. “We played them and lost 2-to-1 earlier in the year and then we beat them 3-to-1. Both of the games could have gone either way. The competition between these two schools is really good. These girls really step up.”
Trailing 2-1 late in the second overtime, sophomore Kiara Vanderjagt provided the equalizer and the Private-Parochial League rivals played two more five-minute golden goal sessions before moving on to penalty kicks to decide a winner.
HALFTIME Class D2: 9th grader Grace Kearney gives Finney a 1-0 lead over @NCA1972 pic.twitter.com/QUZgkjbf0e
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 23, 2021
“When we were down 2-to-1, it was something to see the look on their faces. They were not afraid. They wanted to get out there and play. That’s what I love about this young team.”
Kearney gave Finney a 1-nil lead in the final minute of the first.
Northstar responded. Alayna Garwood connected from 30 yards out on a free kick to level the match in the 79th minute. Northstar took the lead when Ava Thomas-Guzman scored her seventh goal of the season.
79’ Alayna Garwood nets The equalizer from 30 yards. Going to overtime: Finney 1 @NCA1972 1 pic.twitter.com/2zndBavfHT
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 23, 2021
It looked like Northstar’s rally would be the difference in the game until Vanderjagt scored her eighth goal of the season.
Ava Thomas-Guzman gives @NCA1972 a 2-1 lead in the first overtime. pic.twitter.com/SI63Mir45S
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 23, 2021
“We got beat badly by a couple teams,” said Blackmon referring to losses to Marion (8-0) and Holley (6-0) during the regular season. “We got beat by a couple teams because they had upper classmen and we were young. It was great for them to keep fighting.”
With four minutes remaining in the second overtime, Kiara Vanderjagt levels the match for Finney. pic.twitter.com/kaYKzVQmmn
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 23, 2021
Kearney’s tally was her team-best 11th.
Finney will play the winner of top-seeded Batavia-Notre Dame and No. 8 Hammondsport in Wednesday’s semi-final. Time and location are to be announced.
Truth be told, Finney’s roster includes six juniors. But of the 18 players listed, nine have not yet reached their second year of high school.
Northstar’s Esther Beshta made six saves.
Per rules on the Girls’ side, if teams play to a tie, two full overtime sessions follow. If the teams remained tied, two more five-minute “golden goal” periods are played before PKs are used to decide who moves to the next round.
Leave a Reply