Keane’s hat trick leads BHS to regional win
ARCADIA—Sydney Keane’s two goals in the opening ten minutes of Thursday’s 2A regional at #20 Hamilton Heights was all the Bellmont Braves needed to seize control of the rematch between the two schools and after a third goal late in the first half, the Braves were clinical in seeing out the second 40 minutes to head back home and prepare for Saturday’s regional final at Norwell.
“Our seniors were not going to allow this to be there last night,” said coach Steve Lee after the match.
All three scores by Keane were nearly identical by Keane, who played the linchpin role of the #8 Bellmont offense down the right side as coach Steve Lee elected to anchor his defense with Haleigh Wesley in the back line from the start. All three goals were scored in similar fashion by Keane, who chipped each goal over the head of freshman goalkeeper Audrey Lang from distance as Bellmont utterly dominated the opening half on a cold and windy night many, many miles from Decatur, where the team had played all three of its previous postseason games.
“Syd was on fire,” said Lee. “She stepped up big time. Carly Gilbert has been a great leader and motivator during her recovery from a broken bone. She is like having another coach.”
It took the Huskies seven minutes in the second half to register a shot on goal, despite the fact they trailed 3-0, but Sarah Toll’s shot was from distance and easily handled by Bellmont goalkeeper Taylor Louis.
In the 50th minute, Keane attempted another one that went high and five minutes later she added two more attempts on goal.
With 22 minutes remaining and time running out for the Huskies, it was Bellmont again applying the pressure instead of the other way around and Hannah Hawkins nearly won a 50/50 ball with Lang, but the ball trickled away and resulted in a corner kick.
The game was halted with 17 minutes remaining when Keane went down, but she walked off the field under her own power and her teammates finished off the win and kept the season alive for at least two more days.
“We had a great day of practice Wednesday,” admitted Lee as he rode the bus back home. “It is a blessing to have a complete scrimmage with a pretty good team on the practice field. The bench is pushing the starters pretty hard. Some weeks our best competition is against each other on that practice field.”
With Leo and Western beginning their semifinal match an hour later at Leo, the Braves walked off the field and onto the bus without knowing who their Saturday opponent would be. A rematch against #7 Leo would allow coach Steve Lee’s team a chance at redemption in the regional final against the Lions, who won the NE8 clash between the two schools 4-2 back in September.
The regional final match will be played at Norwell at 2 p.m., with Culver Academies and Fort Wayne Canterbury squaring off for the local 2A regional boys after.