Holy Redeemer’s Lia Limongelli work her way toward the goal in the second half against Lakeland.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Holy Redeemer’s Tessa Cegelka holds back Lakeland’s Ashley Hemak as she works the ball during the first half.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Holy Redeemer’s Nina Lombardi and Lakeland’s Olivia Beier battle for the ball during the second half of a PIAA District 2 Class A quarterfinal game.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Holy Redeemer’s Emily Werner boots the ball as Lakeland’s Molly Calachino follows during the first half.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
FORTY FORT — The bullseye might look like a more inviting target this season, but Holy Redeemer demonstrated Thursday that it really isn’t.
The Royals, winners of four consecutive District 2 girls soccer titles, entered their Class A quarterfinal game with a sub-.500 record. They exited with a dominant 12-1 victory over Lakeland.
Elyse Kunec and Nina Lombardi scored each four times, Lia Limongelli added three more goals and Tessa Cegelka finished up the scoring as third-seeded Redeemer evened its record at 9-9.
Sixth-seeded Lakeland (8-11) prevented the shutout when Naomi Rude scored during a battle in front of the goal with two seconds left.
Redeemer won the D2-A championship last season and the D2-2A titles in 2021, 2022 and 2023. In each case, the Royals entered the postseason with at least 13 victories. The difference this year is that they lost five one-goal games, including twice to Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 champ Wyoming Area and once to divisional runner-up Lake-Lehman.
“The schedule we play all year gets us ready for these games,” Redeemer coach Bob Hughes said. “We play Lehman twice, Wyoming Area twice, Valley View and all those big schools. So we’re sort of ready for playing in districts against the single A teams.”
Redeemer was also working in several new starters, perhaps a reason for a 1-3 start to the season.
“We lost five starters from last year,” Redeemer senior center back Grace Stetz-Madden said. “So we had a lot of shoes to fill and we really didn’t know how to play together. But I definitely think our chemistry got better by the end.”
Nearly all 80 minutes were played in Lakeland’s defensive half of the field. The Chiefs’ first shot came with about 10 minutes until halftime. By then, Redeemer had 17 shots and six goals.
Kunec started the scoring about six minutes into the game, grounding in a 20-yarder. About six minutes later, Lombardi scored off an assist from Cegelka on a chance generated on a restart by Kyra Chepolis. Lombardi scored again with just under 15 minutes expired.
Lombardi and Kunec then added unassisted goals before Kunec scored off an assist by Emily Cunningham for a 6-0 halftime lead.
The Royals found plenty of space in which to operate in the second half as Limongelli scored three of six unassisted goals.
Redeemer will play second-seeded Holy Cross (11-5-2) in the semifinals at 11 a.m. Saturday at Schautz Stadium in Dunmore. Holy Cross defeated seventh seeded Forest City 1-0 in overtime, winning a shootout 4-2.
District 2 Class A Quarterfinals
Holy Redeemer 12, Lakeland 1
Lakeland`0`1 — 1
Holy Redeemer`6`6 — 12
First Half: 1. HR, Elyse Kunec (Nina Lombardi) 6:30; 2. HR, Lombardi (Tessa Cegelka) 12:35; 3. HR, Lombardi (Kunec) 14:54; 4. HR, Lombardi 20:39; 5. HR, Kunec 21:59; 6. HR, Kunec (Emily Cunningham) 26:40; Second Half: 7. HR, Kunec 43:19; 8. HR, Lia Limongelli 51:15; 9. HR, Lombardi 55:03; 10. HR, Limongelli 61:42; 11. HR, Lemongelli 63:59; 12. HR, Cegelka 64:59; 13. LAK, Naomi Rude 79:58.
Shots: LAK 4, HR 39. Saves: LAK 11 (Greta Takach), HR 2 (Sadie Werner 2/Caity Carter 0). Corners: LAK 0, HR 6.
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