2nd-half strikes put York Catholic in control

A scoreless first half gave way to a barrage of York Catholic goals in the opening eight minutes of the second half, as the Fighting Irish girls' soccer team cruised past Delone Catholic, 6-1, on Monday afternoon in McSherrystown.

The first 40 minutes were just about even, with the Irish tallying a 3-2 edge in shots on goal. But, after intermission, the visitors had the breeze at their backs and took full advantage of it.

Melanie Matthews got the offense started when she scored off an assist from MaCayla Welsh just 46 seconds into the half. Then, 37 seconds later, Amanda Tufano doubled the lead. Moments later, with 37:02 remaining in the contest, Matthews set up Welsh's marker.

"We went out to lunch for about five minutes at the start of the second half," Delone Catholic head coach Derf Maitland said. "When we got back, the game was out of control."

York Catholic (6-4, 5-2) received goals from Eden Jahn — off an assist from Maddie Perry — and another from Welsh, as the lead grew to 5-0 with 32:33 left in the contest.

"We've done well creating chances for ourselves, but we've had a lot of trouble putting the ball in the net," York Catholic head coach Joe Nattans said. "We had chances in the first half today that we didn't finish. But once we got a goal, it got us going and we kept the momentum in our favor."

Delone (6-2, 5-2) avoided the shutout when Cayla Aquino scored on a direct kick with 7:06 left. Caroline Bandelin then capped the scoring for the Irish with an assist from Perry with 6:09 to go.

Both teams currently sit two games back of division-leading Fairfield, in a tie for second place. But the Irish hold the tie-breaker after the teams split their meetings, by virtue of a plus-three goal differential in the matchups with Delone.

"All of our goals are still there, even the division," Nattans said. "Though obviously that will be extremely difficult because we'd have to beat Fairfield and someone else would have to, as well. But making districts and states is still there for us. So we've got a lot to play for."

York Catholic held an 11-3 advantage in shots on goal and a 7-1 edge in corners.