Crusaders advance to PCL semis

Henesey’s 2 goals help lift LC over Carroll

LANSDALE » For most of the first half Thursday afternoon, the Lansdale Catholic girls soccer team piled up possession and scoring chances but couldn’t find its way into the lead.

And that almost came back to bite the Crusaders in their Philadelphia Catholic League quarterfinal with Archbishop Carroll when a ball bounced past their goal line and the Patriots’ Paige Mastripolito raced towards the goal on the breakaway.

“That play right there could of very well been the ballgame for (Carroll coach Frank Olszewski). If he scores on that, we’re rattled, his team’s sky high and they got the lead and I bet at that point 10 kids go in front of the goal to defend from that point,” LC coach Tom O’Donnell said. “That would have been our worst nightmare to give up an early goal to a team who’s not going to try to come forward, they’re going to defend the whole 80 minutes.”

Mastripolito left a shot fly just outside the 18-yard box toward the top left corner, but Cru-

saders goalkeeper Lauren Crim leaped up and batted it away.

“I think that was eyeopening for us,” said LC senior Kate Henesey said. “We realized to the extent that they are better team this time around and we have to play our game.”

Seventh-seeded Carroll gave the No. 2 Crusaders a tougher fight than in their previous meeting — an 8-1 LC win — but the Patriots couldn’t stop Lansdale Catholic from making the PCL semifinals for a 10th consecutive season. Henesey broke through before with a goal before halftime then added an assist and a goal as LC scored three times in the second half to pull away for a 4-0 victory.

“LC was the better team. We tried to sit in and play a little defensively in that first half. Almost got the first goal, so it seemed to be kind of working,” Olszewski said. “We were absorbing pressure, but hats off to LC, they broke through and we wish them luck in the playoffs.”

Emily Schall and Erin Fitzpatrick each had a goal for the Crusaders (153-1), who move to face No. 4 Archbishop Wood — a 3-0 winner over No. 5 Cardinal O’Hara — in the semis 5 p.m. Tuesday at the United German Hungarians soccer facility in Feasterville-Trevose. LC lost to Wood in the PCL final last season.

“I’m looking at the shots that missed and I told the kids at halftime you know you had a number of real good opportunities but this given day they didn’t go in,” O’Donnell said. “And they first time we played them we took six shots and five went in and you think ‘Wow I’m really playing great,” well not necessarily any better that we today except the scoreboard is in your favor.

“So, that was huge for Crim and then in the second half a little bit of the talent kind of showed through and maybe they were running out of gas at that point and I’m able to go deeper into the bench than some of the other teams.”

Henesey gave the Crusaders the 1-0 lead after a corner kick. After an outswinging corner, Caroline — from the top of the box — lofted the ball towards the end line, where Fitzpatrick knocked it back in front of the goal to Henesey for a chip into the net.

After getting denied on a few shots to start the second half, Henesey played facilitator to make it 2-0 LC, running onto a ball played forward by Fitzpatrick then crossed to the far post where an open Schall headed it in.

“It was a mood booster,” Henesey said. “We were already up but at two goals then that’s a lot different than 1-0, it sort of gets the other team to put their head down.”

Fitzpatrick pushed the lead to 3-0 after taking a pass from Sarah Cooney, touching the ball into the left corner of the box and floating a shot over the keeper. Henesey then collected her second as she ran onto Taylor Connelly’s corner kick and blasted a volley into the goal.

“We do practice that, we really do with Taylor taking and both Sarah Cooney and Kate as the primary runners in front of the goal and they do understand clearing out for the other players,” O’Donnell said. “And we’re actually scoring on corner kicks this year where in so many previous years, it was almost a waste of time, we should just settle for the goal kick and let it come out because we did nothing on corners for so many years. Now, we’re starting to win games with them.”

Henesey — LC all-time leading scorer — gave her side a bit of scare as she took a hard tackle after her shot, but the Bucknell commit got up and took the free kick before O’Donnell substituted her out with the game well in hand.

“That’s the hardest hit I’ve taken all season,” Henesey said. “So that was something.”