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Trinity shuts out York Catholic girls' soccer in district final


HERSHEY - The disappointment was visible on the faces of the York Catholic Fighting Irish players as they were received their second-place medals after a 3-0 loss to the Trinity Shamrocks in the District 3 Class A girls' soccer championship game at Hersheypark Stadium.

It was a tough loss for the fighting Irish, who had a successful regular season and became the first York-Adams girls' soccer team to reach a district final. Those facts did little to quell the disappoint after the game.

"We're upset. We wanted to win," York Catholic co-captain Elizabeth Johnson said. "We're excited we were here, but our ultimate goal was to win. We're disappointed that we didn't, but I'm proud of my team for all the hard work we put in."

She added: "Overall we're happy, but it is what it is."

The Fighting Irish didn't get out to the start they had been hoping for against the defending state champions. Trinity controlled possession from the start of the match and kept the play in York Catholic's end.

The Fighting Irish were able to hold the Shamrocks off for most of the first half, but with under 10 minutes to play Trinity finally found the back of the net. Sage Magruder took a soft shot from outside the box, but the Fighting Irish keeper appeared to have trouble seeing it and it trickled in to put the Shamrocks ahead, 1-0. Roughly seven minutes later Trinity took a 2-0 lead off a goal by Ashley Rogliano.

The second half saw York Catholic start to generate chances in the offensive zone, but none of them were able beat the Shamrocks' keeper. Despite York Catholic's best efforts, Trinity extended their lead to 3-0 with 25:34 remaining in the contest. Ana Dominguez put home the rebound goal after the initial shot hit the post and went right to her.

York Catholic head coach Joe Nattans acknowledged the slow start and felt "the moment" got the best of his squad in the first half.

"We didn't play our style of soccer," he explained. "We kicked the ball a lot more than we should instead of passing. We talked to them a lot at halftime about let's get back to playing York Catholic style of soccer, and we did a better job in the second half.

"We created some opportunities. If we get on the end of a couple of those opportunities it's a different game."

With the district playoffs over, York Catholic now turns their attention to the state tournament. The Fighting Irish are slated to face the District 2 champion, with Lakeland and Mountain View facing off late Thursday night. The impeding matchup will take York Catholic far from home, forcing them to travel to the Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre area.

The loss to Trinity may turn into a positive. That's the way at least one York Catholic player felt.

"We definitely know what we need to do to move on in states," York Catholic co-captain Lisa Casagrande said. "We know the teams will be just as hard if not harder than Trinity. Now we know what to practice and what we need to work on."

After a tough loss to Trinity, though, lingering emotions could affect York Catholic's play in the state tournament. But Nattans is confident that the team will quickly move on.

"They'll have that tonight," he said, referring to the disappointment of Thursday's outcome. "They'll definitely have that tonight, but when we get back to work (Friday) I have full confidence that they're going to be focused and ready to go."

Trinity 3, York Catholic 0

York Catholic_0_0_-_0

Trinity_2_1_-_3

First Half - 1. Tr, Sage Magruder, 9:25. 2. Tr, Ashley Rogliano (Brenna Finegan), 2:22.

Second Half -

3. Ana Dominguez (Ashley Rogliano), 25:34.

Shots on goal - Tr 12, YC 5; Corners - Tr 6, YC 5; Goalies - Amanda Knaub (5 saves), Amelia Strayer (9 saves).