In overtime, Notre Dame drops heartbreaker to Pingry

LAWRENCE >> It was about as tough a way to have a season end as you can imagine for the Notre Dame High girls soccer side Friday afternoon.

Refusing to die in a game that appeared lost, Notre Dame stormed back with three second-half goals, only to fall to Pingry, 4-3, on a golden goal in South Jersey Parochial A play.

With the loss, the Irish ended an otherwise fine season with a 12-6 record. Pingry (12-6-1), meanwhile, moved on to play Bishop Eustace in next Tuesday’s semifinals.

Adding to the frustration was the fact Pingry won the game when Madisyn Pilla scored off a scramble with 3:04 remaining in the first overtime with Notre Dame’s star defender Abbey Barcless waiting to get back on the pitch.

The reason was Barcless was not on the field was because she had left the game with a cramp a few minutes earlier and was unable to reenter the game because all the ensuing stoppages in play found Pingry in possession.

“I just couldn’t get a throw in to get Ashley back out there,” lamented Notre Dame coach Victoria Camera of her senior center half. “That hurt. She’s our leader. She’s our go-to player.”

After missing out on several chances early, Notre Dame fell in a big hole when the Big Blue scored twice in the first half.

The second one was a thing of beauty as Pilla created a breakaway with her dribble and then crossed a perfectly-weighted pass to a wide open Olivia Volpe in front of the net with 4:01 showing on the clock. Pilla scored the first goal on a penalty shot.

With Notre Dame in desperate need of goals, Camera made the decision to push Barcless forward. This started paying dividends in terms of attacking the box and the Irish were able to cut the lead in half on a goal by Olivia Panko 12 minutes after the restart. Morgan Whitlock got the assists by deftly heading the ball to Panko.

Unfortunately, for the Irish, the Pingry lead was back up to two goals just 35 seconds later when Sofia Lombardo scored point-blank range off a corner kick.

Although the third Pingry goal appeared to be a killer, Notre Dame was far from finished.

First the Irish drew to within 3-2 on a Meghan Tash goal from close in. With the end of her team’s season rapidly winding down, Tash then scored again from right in front of the net with 4:03 remaining to tie it at 3-all.

With the momentum on its side you had to like Notre Dame’s chances at this point, but it wasn’t meant to be. When Notre Dame failed to clear the ball in the box in overtime, Pilla made them pay with her second goal to go along with her two assists.

Just like that what would have been a memorable comeback victory was now a crushing loss.

Pingry (12-6-1) 2 1 1 — 4

Notre Dame (12-6) 0 3 0 — 3

Goals: P-Pilla 2, Volpe, Lombardo. ND-Tash 2, Panko; Assists: P-Pilla 2, Cavaliere. ND-Whitlock. Shots: P-7, ND-9. Saves: P-Feeley 6. ND-Rende 3.