Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.

LAKE CHAPMAN — It was not until breakfast that Annie Bagnall realized that she had never reached a district championship game.

Thanks to a morning reminder from her father, the weight of Tuesday’s District 2 semifinal game had not registered with the Holy Redeemer forward: the Royals’ talented senior class was gunning for its first semifinal win in three tries.

Bagnall scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over a scrappy Lakeland team Tuesday, lifting the Royals to the first District 2 Class 2A final in school history. Holy Redeemer advances to face top-seeded Lake-Lehman on Thursday at 6 p.m.

“This is a program that I started playing in,” Holy Redeemer coach Shaina Dougherty said. “So for me to start off with that and just see every step of the way how far this program has become, we’ve been talking about it for years, and finally we got to this point. This is huge.”

Bagnall tallied an unassisted goal in the 37th minute. With a Lakeland defender pushing her at midfield, the Siena-bound senior unleashed a left-footed shot from 30 yards out that caught the inside of the left post.

“(Joan Clauss-Walton) was pushing, and it is very hard to get around her,” Bagnall said. “She is very good. And I saw a good opening.

“I celebrated early, but I got excited.”

After a choppy second half that saw very few shots and lots of action in the midfield, the semifinal began to get testy in the last 10 minutes. A yellow card issued on a dangerous play by Carly Cavanaugh gave the Chiefs a 25-yard direct kick and took out the Royals’ top defender for five minutes. Marie Lombardi corralled the 71st-minute shot to preserve the clean sheet.

Two minutes later, Lombardi came through with a brilliant pair of saves on a dangerous 1-on-1 breakaway. Ava Piraino sent a ball forward from the midfield to Nadia Gill. Gill’s point-blank shot was thwarted by the Royals keeper, and Lombardi lunged to stop Liberty Stefalo’s attempt off of the rebound.

“We were not in a comfortable position only having a one-goal lead,” Dougherty said. “Some of the freshmen stepped up big time. My keeper is only a sophomore and came up huge with really big saves.”

The Royals fell to Lake-Lehman by 3-1 scores in each of their meetings.

“In our first quarterfinal game, I said it’s extremely difficult to beat a team three times,” Dougherty said. “I am glad we finally get to see the other end of that.”

It is the first time Holy Redeemer has reached a championship game in either boys or girls soccer. The Royals suffered one-goal losses to Wyoming Area and Lake-Lehman in 2018 and 2016, respectively.

Lake-Lehman 8, Dunmore 0

Madison Brdaric scored four goals and Emily Smith added two to lead Lehman past Dunmore.

Also scoring for the Black Knights were Kalee Raczkowski and Abby Paczewski. Emma Stroud made two saves in goal to record the shutout.

Lehman will host Holy Redeemer on Thursday in the championship game.

H.S. GIRLS SOCCER

District 2 Class 2A Semifinals

Holy Redeemer 1, Lakeland 0

Holy Redeemer`1`0 — 1

Lakeland`0`0 — 0

First half — 1. HR, Annie Bagnall, 37th minute.

Shots — HR 4, LAK 6. Saves — HR 6 (Marie Lombardi); LAK 3 (Emily Pollack). Corner kicks — HR 4, LAK 1.

Lake-Lehman 8, Dunmore 0

Lake-Lehman`5`3 – 8

Dunmore`0`0 – 0

First Half – 1. LL, Kalee Raczkowski, 17:23; 2. LL, Madison Brdaric, 13:35; 3. LL, Emily Smith (Brdaric), 10:26; 4. LL, Brdaric (Abby Paczewski), 6:30; 5. LL, Paczewski, 3:04. Second half – 1. LL, Brdaric (Smith), 20:37; 2. LL, Smith (Paczewski), 10:34; 3. LL, Brdaric (Paczewski), 3:54.

Shots — LL 25, DUN 2. Saves — LL (Emma Stroud) 2, DUN (Sophia Mandarano) 17. Corner kicks – LL 14, DUN 0

Holy Redeemer’s Annie Bagnall delivers a strike for the only goal in Tuesday’s District 2 Class 2A semifinal victory over Lakeland.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_IMG_3722-1-1-.jpg.optimal.jpgHoly Redeemer’s Annie Bagnall delivers a strike for the only goal in Tuesday’s District 2 Class 2A semifinal victory over Lakeland. Jay Monahan | For Times Leader

By Jay Monahan

For Times Leader