Box Score STEUBENVILLE – With just over five minutes to play, junior Emily Wieszczek found the back of the net for the second time that day as the Lady Barons picked up a thrilling 4-3 win over Pitt.-Greensburg in the AMCC tournament quarterfinal, Saturday afternoon.
The win is the first playoff win for the Lady Barons since 2013 when Franciscan defeated Pitt.-Greensburg 3-1 on the road.
With 10:25 to play in the second, the Lady Barons trailed Greensburg 3-2. Shortly after coming into the game, freshman Gracie Tillman tied the game for Franciscan at 3-3. Wieszczek collected the ball off a defender as they were trying to clear it and sent the ball to Tillman who put it over the goalie's hands as she was diving to stop it. Just five minutes later, senior Clare Kennedy slipped the ball up to Wieszczek who was driving towards the goal. Wieszczek buried the game-winning goal into the bottom right corner of the net.
The Lady Barons found themselves down early as Erika Caldro took advantage of the slick conditions and beat a Lady Baron defender to put the ball into the back of the net in the bottom right corner. Just over 12 minutes later, Franciscan took control of the ball just over midfield and pushed back the Bobcat backline. Senior Megan Luiso hit a hard shot that ricocheted off of a defender and got past the Greensburg goalie to tie the game at 1-1.
Franciscan took its first lead in the 29th minute as freshman Annie McGraw's initial shot was blocked and when over the back line and the Lady Barons earned a corner kick. McGraw sent the kick right into the box in front of the near post where Wieszczek was waiting to put the ball under the goalie's hands. Bri Burgunder tied the game for UPG just three minutes later as she collected a loose ball and went one-on-one with Franciscan's goalie.
A pair of shots in the final 10 minutes for the Lady Barons was saved by the Greensburg goalie to keep the game tied, 2-2, at halftime.
The Bobcats looked to strike first in the second half but their build was cut short as they were called for being offsides, giving possession back to Franciscan. Franciscan made the most of it and got three shots off, two on goal, but couldn't find the back of the net in the first 12 minutes. After a Bobcat corner, Franciscan put two more shots on net, one each from Sarah Cocozza and Katie Kilian, but once again the Bobcat goalie kept the game tied.
Greensburg broke the tied in the 69th minute as Camile Hickman split a pair of defenders from about 20 yards out and put the ball in the back of the net to give UPG a 3-2 lead with 21:46 to play and set up the Lady Baron come back.
Franciscan scored its final two goals in the last 10 minutes and junior keeper Sarah Luebking made a save in the final two minutes to secure the win.
Wieszczek led the Lady Barons with four shots, all on goal, and had a pair of goals and an assist. Franciscan out-shot the Bobcats 15-6 while Greensburg held a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks.
The win extends the Lady Barons' season as they will now travel to the second-seeded Mount Aloysius for the semifinal game on Wednesday at 2:30 pm.
