Galica, ‘Stoga defense dominate district final
WEST GOSHEN » The sports cliche that says your best player has to be your best player in big games came to life on a drizzly Thursday evening at West Chester East’s Harold I. Zimmerman Stadium.
Conestoga’s Kate Galica showed up and took any drama out of the District 1 Class 3A final against Springfield. The MVP of the Central League scored seven goals, and the Pioneers used a stifling defense to roll to a 14-3 victory and their third district title since 2017.
“I’m really excited, we all played really well,” Galica said. “Definitely putting all that we learned all season at the end of the day, is very satisfying. Everyone was connecting and playing well.”
“She always rises to the occasion,” coach Amy Orcutt said of Galica, a junior University of Virginia commit. “She’s a gamer and she wants the ball on her stick when the game is on the line.”
The Pioneers (20-1) erased the memory of last year’s disappointment when they lost to Unionville in the district semifinals as the top seed in the tournament.
“Last year was in the back of their minds, but they worked hard and earned it,” added Orcutt.
Conestoga defeated the Cougars, 15-10, in the regular season, but any drama was quickly extinguished Thursday night. They scored right off the opening draw as Galica tallied off a free position.
Sophomore midfielder Keating Hopkins scored a couple of minutes later to make it 2-0.
Galica then took off a 30yard run before burying a shot to extend the lead to 3-0.
“We knew we had to come out strong or it would be a different game,” Galica
said. “All of our goals today were a team effort, so it feels good as a team that we won.”
She completed her hat trick with 8:27 left in the half as the lead grew to 4-0.
Two goals from sophmore Ellie Wisch, another one from Galica and a single tally from Kiki Liebezeit completed the dominant first half and sent the Pioneers into the break with an 8-0 advantage.
The defense was a star in its own right. Led by senior co-captain Kat Bielinski, they held the Cougars to 11 shots for the game and made it frustrating for the Springfield offense.
“It was great. We did a great job of commuincating and sticking with what worked for us,” Bielinski said. “We knew what they were going to do, so we practiced it. We did the same things, but ten times harder.”
Senior goalkeeper Alana Lepore made four saves in the half to keep the Cougars off the board.
“Our defense is like ... I love them,” said Lepore. “They’re amazing. I was positioned just right, and playing
them before helped with knowing where most of the shots would go. Winning feels amazing. Losing last year was heartbreaking. Our seniors realized that we wanted to go all the way and this is the first step.”
The onslaught continued after the break, as the Pioneers bumped the lead up to 11-0.
The Cougars (16-7) broke the shutout and got on the board as junior midfielder Mia Valerio scored off of a free position shot. Junior Erin DeStefano tallied twice to record Springfield’s other goals.
Both teams head into the PIAA tournament, which begins Tuesday. Despite being installed as the favorites, Orcutt knows that there is still a long road to go until they could be back at East for the state final on June 11.
“It’s just one step at a time,” she said. “It’s a long road, but I think we’ll be up for the challenge.”