HILTON, N.Y. — Hailey Van Zeilen scored twice and Ella Clark had a pair of assists as the Hilton girls’ soccer team avenged an earlier loss with a resounding 4-0 win over Penfield, Thursday night at LeBeau Field.
Leading 1-0, Van Zeilen won a ball at midfield and finished a 30-yard rush with her second goal of the season.
“This game, we definitely wanted it,” the junior forward said. “We had a lot of grit and put a lot on the field. Our finishes were just there. We were together.”
The goal coming less than 12 minutes into the second half triggered a three-goal outburst from the Cadets.
51’ Hailey Van Zeilen gets the takeaway at midfield and converts to give @CadetGirlSoccer a 2-nil lead. pic.twitter.com/XyBKU5N4Di
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 7, 2022
“Our game is possession,” said third-year head coach Rick Trabold. “If we play a possession game, we got a better chance. When we’re getting crazy and spraying balls around, it never works out for us.
“These are the games that make a coach happy because you do all that work and when you execute properly, things happen that you think are supposed to happen.”
Hilton dropped a 2-1 decision to Penfield when the two teams met in mid-September. On Thursday, though, the Patriots (ranked No. 1 NYSSWA Class AA) were coming off their first loss since the season opener.
Hilton’s emphasis started on the defensive side and marking Penfield’s leading scorer.
“We know, everybody in the county knows Delaney Tellex,” Trabold said of the Penfield senior who leads Monroe County Division I with 13 goals. “You got to keep an eye on her.
“It was more of what we needed to change rather than to worry as much about them. They’re a quality team, and we knew we’d have to play a quality game. Thankfully, tonight we did.”
Hilton was coming off two straight losses including a 6-0 setback earlier in the week to Webster Thomas.
“Thomas took it to us, and they clearly deserved to win that game,” Trabold acknowledged. “We were on our heels that whole game. They pressed us the whole game, and they deserved to win. They played a really good game. Today, maybe we turned the tables a little bit. Maybe we took some of that. I know we were embarrassed by the loss. We wanted to play like we knew we could.”
Madison Vogler converted on a corner kick opportunity to give Hilton a 1-nil edge in the 22nd minute.
The game stayed that way until Van Zeilen’s goal.
Less than five minutes later, Ella Clark gained separation along the left wing and threaded a pass to Karlee Hargarther running the middle third. Hargarther took the pass in stride, split a pair of defenders and tucked a shot under the crossbar for her team-leading sixth goal of the season and a three-goal advantage.
56’ Ella Clark hits Karlee Hargarther in stride. @CadetGirlSoccer 3-nil pic.twitter.com/BaXgfvcSK7
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 7, 2022
Clark made a run along the right wing to set up Van Zeilen’s second goal of the game.
74’ Ella Clark gets loose again on the wing and sets up Hailey Van Zeilen for her second goal of the night. @CadetGirlSoccer 4-0. pic.twitter.com/6gD1ujDQZF
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 7, 2022
“We’ve been training all year with getting wide to the flanks, and you could see most of those balls were well-crossed,” Trabold explained. “We were finishing, tonight.
“We lost to Rush-Henrietta two-to-one. Their keeper made 21 saves, but six or seven of those we put it in her gut from the six-box. If you can finish those balls that are getting crossed in well, that’s a totally different story.”
Penfield came into the match holding opponents to one goal per game. The Patriots had allowed a total of four goals in their previous four games combined entering play Thursday.
“Penfield’s a powerhouse every year, so you got to be prepared,” Trabold said of the reigning New York State Far West Regional champion.
Sierra Bianchi made nine saves for the shutout, the ninth-grade keeper’s fourth clean sheet of the season.
“I think the difference was definitely what Coach Trabold said to us as halftime,” Van Zeilen said. “He said in the first half we played really good. We need to bring that back out on the field in the same exact energy. That’s exactly what we did.”
Hilton (7-6-0) hosts Spencerport on Monday for a 2 p.m. start.
Penfield (10-3-0) travels to play a 10 a.m. game at Athena on Saturday.
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