Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Villa Maria
With the score tied at 3-3 midway through the first half, Whitaker put the Cougars ahead for good with her first goal of the game at 10:30, then tallied again three minutes later. Just 20 seconds after Whitaker’s second goal, Olivia Little scored tomake it 6-3 going into halftime.
Villa came back just three minutes into the second half when junior Audrey Fantazzia, the leader of the Hurricanes’ offense, tallied her third goal of the game to make it 6-4.
“Audrey is always consistent, always coming upwith key plays,” said Villa Maria head coach Kiera Huntsman. “In the first half, we were moving the ball and talking a lot. But I think fatigue set in the second half for us — we played [AACA rival] Merion Mercy yesterday — and we were not making smart passes in the second half. Still, we kept hustling.
“I thought our defense really stepped up today—[junior defender] SarahMoffitt and Brenna Murray were winning ground balls. And Anina Iacobucci was an asset on the midfield and attack.”
With Springfield’s lead cut to 6-4, the Cougars started to gain momentum with goals from Whitaker (with 20:43 left in the game) and O’Brien (17:06). The floodgates really opened midway through the second half, as the Cougars got four goals in 2 ½ minutes from Little (13:46), junior midfielder Maggie O’Connell (12:27), O’Brien (12:15) and senior midfielder Cailyn Gormley (11:02) to go ahead 12-4.
“I thought Maggie O’Connell did a nice job today,” said Broome. “She’s a competitive kid, works hard.”
The Cougars were coming off an 18-8 win against West Chester Henderson Thursday, in which, similar to Friday’s game, they held a slim 8-6 lead at halftime, then pulled away in the second half.
“We’re a relatively young team,” said Broome, whose roster includes 12 juniors. “And our four seniors give us nice leadership.”
Springfield opens its Central League schedule with a couple of tough opponents — at Strath Haven next Tuesday, and at Conestoga two days later.
On the other side of the field, Huntsman, whose Hurricanes are now 1-3, said, “We’ll learn fromthis, to keep our heads and take care of the ball more.”