By PAUL GOTHAM
EAST AMHERST, N.Y. — Allie Skeval scored twice, and Northstar Christian girls’ soccer (16-2-1) claimed the NYS Class D Far West Regional championship with a 5-0 win over Ellicottville (9-7-1), Friday at East Amherst High School.
Skeval led an attack that saw four different Knights find the back of the net.
The senior forward connected on a left-footed blast inside the 18-yard box to start the scoring.
She put bookends on the game and completed her brace netting Northstar’s final goal with 28 minutes left in the contest.
“She’s been fantastic this year,” Northstar head coach Andrea Demarest said of the program’s all-time leading scorer. “The assists and goals and leadership on the field has just been great. I can’t say enough good things about her.”
While Skeval’s scoring was enough, it was her efforts in the final minute of the first half that may have swung the game’s momentum.
Northstar worked to get a corner with 45 seconds left in the half. Ellicottville turned away the attempt, but in the process the Knights received a second try from the corner flag. Skeval alertly ran to get the ball, set up and delivered a cross that Kayla Irwin converted for a 2-nil lead with 3 seconds left before the break.
“That was huge,” Demarest said. “We wanted to go into halftime another goal up. It was huge that they were able to get those rapid corner kicks. It was great.”
Irwin added an assist when she set up Ellie Kaiser for a 3-0 lead less than four minutes into the second half.
Alisha Demarest had a goal and two assists in the win. Kaiser also had a helper.
Eighth-grader Gianna Grape made one save for the shutout.
Demarest’s squad is the first girls’ athletic program in Northstar school history to reach the state championship tournament.
“Really proud of them,” Demarest said. “Really, really proud of them. They just work so hard.”
The Knights will play either Cincinnatus (III) or Chateaugay (VII) in the semifinals next Saturday.
“We’re just going to enjoy every minute of it,” Demarest said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”
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