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PIAA Girls Class 2A Championship: Bloomsburg 1, North Catholic 0, Final

PIAA Girls Class 2A Final

FINAL:  Bloomsburg 1, North Catholic 0

Jordan Smith’s Match Summary
Paige Temple’s PK goal gives Bloomsburg their first ever PIAA 2A state title.

North Catholic Girls soccer team came up just short in its first-ever PIAA final appearance, losing 1-0 to Lewisburg in the Class 1A Girls Soccer final in Hershey on Saturday afternoon.

This was Lewisburg’s first-ever PIAA girls soccer title.

How It Happened

Early on in the first half, both teams did not foul much and focused on finding feet.

Bloomsburg began to get their chances. With a 4-3-3 formation, Brynna Zentner, Ava Billmeyer and Rylee Klinger were the three up top. The trio constantly made runs causing issues for the North Catholic defense. Paige Temple in the middle of the park consistently played balls into the forwards.

In net for North Catholic, Andrew Bean played aggressive all match. She came off her line and wasn’t afraid to confront the Bloomsburg forwards. Her saves helped keep her team in the game.

In trying to take advantage of their chances, North Catholic took many shots from distance. Star player and All-WPIAL Jayden Sharpless, took a few from over 30 yards out, but couldn’t find the back of the net.

Halfway into the second half, Rylee Klinger with her pace took the ball down the left side and cut in to the middle of the box. She was taken down and earned her team a PK, and a chance to take the lead.

In comes Paige Temple.

Her shot went perfectly into the bottom right corner, giving her 42 goals on the season.

From then on Bloomsburg kept up the pressure. They didn’t pack it in. North Catholic wasn’t able to get another serious scoring chance except a few corner kicks.

Bloomsburg went on to win their first PIAA 2A championship, finishing with a 23-1 record. In their three PIAA matches they outscored 7-0. Goalie, Abbey Gerasimoff didn’t give up a single goal and finished the season with 13 shutouts.

Paige Temple was named PCNTV player of the game.

 

75′ – Sharpless the NC leading goal scorer takes a long free kick. Goes high. 2 corner kick chances as well but no goal. 5 minutes left to execute..

72′ – North Catholic has 8 minutes left to tie it…

60′ – Bloomsburg gaining all the chances in this half. 4 shots so far. North Catholic hasn’t registered one yet.

52′ – I think North Catholic has moved to a 4-3-3 as well. Both teams looking for a goal and then maybe pack it in.

49′ – Allie Lewis is hurt. Clock had to stop. Looks like an ankle injury. Not sure if she’s done for the day.

48′ – Ava Billmeyer takes a ball to the face. She’s okay though. Not happy she had to be taken out for the concussion protocol. I’m sure she’ll be back on soon.

42′ – Another big save from Bean. She’s made that same identical save a few times already. 12 shutouts for her this season.

40′ – Second half begins. Both teams switch sides. At least 40 minutes to go. No goals yet.

34′ – We finally have our first foul of the game. Looks to be a handball on North Catholic.

31′ – Rylee Klinger runs onto a pass, gets by the defender with her speed but takes too big of a touch. Bean makes the save once again. She’s been aggressive coming out of her net.

25′ – Looks like both teams make their first substitutions of the game

21′ – Brynna Zentner has a one-on-one chance against Bean, she makes the save.

17′ – Lauren MacDonald with a shot from over 30 out. North Catholic has taken a few shots already from long distance.

12′ – Paige Temple takes a shot that goes wide. She’s the leading goal scorer with 41G – 23A this season.

9′ – Allie Lewis for Bloomsburg makes a great tackle in the box. She’s committed to play at Virginia Tech next year.

5′ – North Catholic with an early three shots, not on goal yet. Will have to be careful playing out of the back as Bloomsburg runs three forwards pressing up top.

Gameday Updates

Once the match kicks off, we’ll provide updates here.

Match Preview 

North Catholic has won back-to-back WPIAL championships — now for the first time in school history, they’ve on the precipice of winning a PIAA title.

The Trojans have continued its success with a stingy defensive — allowing only allowed eight goals all season, with 12 shutouts in its 15 wins. They have not lost a match against another Class 2A team, with its only defeats coming against Class 4A Pine-Richland and 3A Oakland Catholic.

When they need timely goals the past few years, Jayden Sharpless, who won a WPIAL title as a freshman at Freedom, then two at North Catholic, is their go-to scorer. This postseason, Sharpless has four goals, including a hat trick in the quarterfinal win over Clearfield. In the past two WPIAL finals, she hit the game-winner both times on free kicks. Senior Tori Michalski has two goals, one in each state playoff win.

Sharpless Stays On Target: North Catholic wins back-to-back titles

North Catholic is trying to become the first WPIAL team to win a PIAA girls Class 2A championship since Central Valley won state gold in 2013.

Standing in North Catholic’s way appears to be a tough squad in Bloomsburg.  The Distric 4 champs have been convincing in a run through this postesason, including a district title 6-0 win over Montoursville. They’ve only allowed eight goals all season, with15 shutouts.  The Panthers have outscored their opponents in three District 4 and three PIAA postseason matches, 15-0.

Senior Paige Temple is the player North Catholic will have to watch out for — as she comes into the match with 41 goals and 23 assists. Senior Kelsey Widom and freshman Ava Billmeyer also have double digit goals.

Glory on the Grass

Riverhounds MF Kenardo Forbes

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