SOUTH HADLEY — Three minutes into the second half of the Western Massachusetts Division 3 girls soccer quarterfinal, South Hadley’s Olivia Blaney lofted a corner kick into the Hampshire Regional box that her sister Alexa headed home. Ten minutes later, Bailey Gawron found Teagan Gawron and Teagan found the top corner.
The siblings powered the top-seeded Tigers to a 4-2 win over No. 8 Hampshire Tuesday.
South Hadley (17-1-1) moves on to face No. 5 Southwick (10-4-5) in the semifinals at 5 p.m. at Chicopee’s Szot Park Thursday.
“They’ve come together as a team so well that pretty much they’re all sisters,” South Hadley coach Rich Marjanski said. “We had some people step up which is great to see. We have 11 kids that can do that, we’re very deep, so it’s good to see and it’s good that we’re moving forward.”
Hampshire (9-8-1) drew first blood three minutes after kickoff. Senior Samantha Tersavich received a pass from Emma Kuntz and scored a goal on her first touch to put the Raiders ahead 1-0.
Four minutes later, South Hadley answered with an unassisted goal by sophomore Lindsay Marjanski. The Tigers took a lead of their own in the 10th minute when Marjanski doubled her tally on an assist by Teagan Gawron.
With 10 minutes left in the half, Tersavich played a beautiful through ball to Maggie Rubeck. Rubeck fired a shot from a tight angle that beat South Hadley keeper Bridget Sears, but Anna Evans was there to clear the ball off the line.
A minute later, the Raiders leveled the match once more. Kuntz was dragged down inside the box and the referee awarded a penalty. Olivia Aldrich made no mistake from the spot and rifled the ball to the roof of the net. The teams went into halftime tied 2-2.
“At halftime, they didn’t want the seniors to be in their last game,” Rich Marjanski said. “They felt the pressure a little bit and they just wanted to come out and take advantage of the situation. Put the ball in the back of the net, bottom line.
The pair of sisters did just that for the Tigers. Olivia Blaney delivered a corner kick into the most dangerous area of the box – the space between the Hampshire defenders and keeper. The defenders were backpedaling and Katie Taylor was forced to stay on her line by the pace on the ball. Alexa Blaney made the most of the chance and buried the header for a 3-2 lead.
In the 50th minute, the Gawron sisters added the insurance goal. Bailey Gawron lofted a ball over the top to Teagan Gawron. Teagan plucked it out of the air with her right foot, switched it to her left, and gave the keeper no chance as she blasted a shot into the top-left corner.
The Tigers continued to press, with Madelyn Doolittle stopping any Hampshire counterattacks from her central midfield perch. Katelyn Pickunka and Tersavich did have long-range efforts for the Raiders, but they were dealt with by Sears.
Down the other end, Taylor made a fantastic save to deny Paige Marjanski, who waited for a cross to arrive at the back post, then launched a shot from close range. Taylor stopped the shot and held on to the rebound as Tigers hovered nearby.
South Hadley called timeout with four minutes left. The team reorganized and closed out their victory before rushing the field as the final whistle blew.
“This was a great test for us,” Rich Marjanski said. “I think it will help us down the road as far as just feeling the pressure and the battle that Hampshire gave us. I thought it was a great game but we just got to go there and play Tiger soccer, that’s it.”
It was the final game for Hampshire seniors Pickunka, Tersavich, Barret Laplante, Rowan Nadeau, Jenny Goodnow, Molli Loud and Emma Taylor.