Fairfield girls shut out Gettysburg in tourney

For the past two seasons, the Fairfield girls’ soccer team has been bounced from the YAIAA tournament in the first round by Dallastown, but in 2016 the Green Knights will have a semifinal date with the Wildcats.

After slipping away with a late, one-goal victory against York Catholic in their season finale on Thursday, the Green Knights (17-0) were back in their comfort zone with a 9-0 victory against Gettysburg in the first round of the playoffs.

Fairfield advances to play Dallastown Tuesday in the league semifinals

Fairfield has been victimized by early exits from the tournament in three of the last four years, but this season the team has proven itself to be an offensive juggernaut. In the past, the Green Knights (Class 1A) have entered the playoffs only to face a Division I or a Class 4A opponent, but their undefeated season put them in a much better position in this year’s bracket.

“I think if they keep playing the way they know how to play, like I said, I don’t think it really matters,” Fairfield coach Phomma Phanhthy said. “Either way, we’re going to play a quad (Class 4A) team, a triple-A (Class 3A), or a double (Class 2A). There’s only two single-A (Class 1A) so you can’t really be picky about it because we can’t choose.”

Despite facing a larger school in Gettysburg (8-9) Saturday, Fairfield was unfazed. The Green Knights had five different players score goals against the Warriors (8-8) and allowed their opponent just four shots on goal.

In what has become a customary event for Fairfield, Hannah Logue opened the game with a goal and followed that up with an assist to Nora Clarke, making it 2-0 in the first 16 minutes of the game.

Clarke would go on to net two more goals and pick up the hat trick. Fellow freshman Annabel Anderson scored twice.

“It’s pretty exciting, I think we work really well together,” Clarke said of her team’s success. “It’s not just me getting the goals, but we all play really well together and give each other opportunities.”