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South Hadley goalkeeper Drew Alley stops a breakaway shot from Pope Francis in the second half of the Western Mass. Class B girls soccer final Tuesday night at West Springfield High School. -
South Hadley’s Cianna Gurek (9) takes a shot against Pope Francis in the first half of the Western Mass. Class B girls soccer final Tuesday night at West Springfield High School. -
South Hadley’s Lauren Marjanski (7) fires a shot against Pope Francis in the second half of the Western Mass. Class B girls soccer final Tuesday night at West Springfield High School. -
South Hadley’s Cianna Gurek (9) fights for possession against Pope Francis’ Lily Hayes (23) in the second half of the Western Mass. Class B girls soccer final Tuesday night at West Springfield High School. -
South Hadley goalkeeper Drew Alley makes a save against Pope Francis in the second half of the Western Mass. Class B girls soccer final Tuesday night at West Springfield High School.
WEST SPRINGFIELD — Pope Francis’ Isabella Meadows was a problem the South Hadley girls soccer team couldn’t solve on Tuesday in the Western Mass. Class B championship game.
Meadows — who’s committed to play at UConn next year — had scored nine goals in the opening two games of the Western Mass. tournament and her scoring tear didn’t stop in the title game.
The senior put two goals in during the first half and the Cardinal defense did its job the rest of the way, with Pope Francis taking home the championship with a 2-0 victory at Clark Field.
After playing their semifinal game Monday night, a 4-3 overtime win over Belchertown, Tigers coach Rich Marjanski said he was impressed with the fight and effort his team showed in the title game.
“We battled out there,” Marjanski said. “We literally just played less than 24 hours ago. I didn’t know how much legs we would have but the kids were up for the game. They got those two early goals and we settled in a little bit and played alright. I’m happy with the girls. They gave everything they had which was good to watch.”
It was Tigers goalie Drew Alley who did everything she could to keep No. 2 South Hadley (15-2-2) in the game.
Top-seeded Pope Francis (16-1) put the pressure on Alley early and often, blistering her with shots but the senior made numerous high-level saves to prevent the Cardinals from ballooning their lead.
“Hats off to Drew,” Marjanski said. “She played amazing in net. She’s so athletic and to me, she’s the best goalie in western Mass. When you think it’s a goal, she makes the incredible save. It’s great to watch.”
After providing pressure during the early portion of the game, Pope Francis capitalized in the 18th minute.
The Cardinals drew a free kick just outside the 18 and Meadows took it, blasting it in just under the bar where Alley couldn’t get her hands on it, giving Pope Francis the opening lead of the game.
With six minutes to play in the first half the Cardinals struck again. Pope Francis sent the ball into the box from the midfield, and Alley came out and made a play on the ball. She got her foot on it but Meadows was there to beat her to the second ball and she smashed it into the open goal to give the Cardinals their 2-0 lead.
South Hadley created chances in the second half but were unable to keep up the consistent pressure on the Pope Francis end of the field to get a goal to get back in the game.
The good news for the Tigers is that their season didn’t end on Tuesday.
South Hadley is the No. 1 ranked team in the MIAA Div. 4 state tournament according to the latest power rankings, and the Tigers are geared up to make a run at a state title moving forward.
“We’re still the only No. 1 seed,” Marjanski said. “We’ll see if we hold onto that. I’m pretty sure we will. We’ll take the next couple days off, ramp up and look to make a big run.”