Eagles edge Pirates in D-II sectional

On a miserable weather evening Oct. 19 at SPIRE, it was clearly going to take a moment of brilliance to provide a separator.

Given her technical skill, Kylie Schiemann can fit that bill — and she delivered one of those moments when her side needed it most.

Schiemann’s strike past the hour mark propelled Geneva to a 2-1 win over Perry in a Division II sectional semifinal in D-II’s Northeast 2 District.

The Eagles (10-6-1) will host Niles McKinley, a 2-1 winner over Ravenna Southeast, in a D-II sectional final at 7 p.m. Oct. 22.

“I am very, very happy, because this last week is actually where we tried to force our wings to go wide,” Geneva coach Dan Dudik said.

“Normally they’re playing closer in, and they had to make a big adjustment. They actually saw we could play that game and have the confidence to play wide. Our centers, with Ashlen Horowski, which is my stopper, dropping the ball back to her

and basically watching, right and left, to see if we would shift, which worked really well.”

Schiemann netted the eventual match-winner in the 61st minute. The standout junior midfielder got a touch on the left side of the box and slotted a rightfooted volley high for her 18th goal of the fall.

“Yes, I was very happy with her performance,” Dudik said succinctly.

Perry took a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute. Gianna Vicini capped an endline run with a cross through the edge of the six, and Margaux Jean put away a banger at the right bar.

The Eagles equalized in the 11th, when Kassie Emmett slotted a right-footed strike from distance under the crossbar.

An attacking-flow clinic it was not in the rain for either side, so Schiemann’s strike was necessary to seize the result.

“I think they played hard,” Pirates coach Rich Stavar said. “The weather conditions slowed us down a little bit, and it’s not to take anything away from Geneva. They played better than we did tonight.

“But I think overall, it was a lot of effort on our part, and I think there were some flashes of things to come.”