Franciscan 5, Allegheny 15
Franciscan Starters
Mary Bohli, Grace Deegan, Joanna Hilkert, Margaret McKee, Riley O'Brien, Carolyn Cooke, Kiera Wilson, Ashley Morisey, Margaret Gorman, Veronica Sims, Theresa Lyle, & Goalkeeper- Rose Kane
Allegheny Starters
Semenick, Gerhart, Herrold, Henderson, Wojcik, Thorman, Kyle, Petarca, Baginski, Amato, Perelman, Dolan & Goalie - Thorman
How It Happened
The Barons finished their 2023 regular season play at home against the #2 ranked Allegheny Gators. A win today would have pushed the Barons into the #2 spot in the standings and earned them a quarterfinal bye in the playoffs. Unfortunately, the Gators came prepared to defend their spot in the standings and the Barons lost 15-5. The silver lining to the day was a moment early in the 4th quarter. Grace Deegan scored her first goal of the game, but the 200th of her career. Deegan already leads the Baron program in career goals, but this momentous number puts her in an elite crowd. She is only the 5th player in PAC history to achieve that milestone. It is one thing to be the best your school has ever had, but to also be one of the best the conference has ever seen is quite the accomplishment. Deegan's prolific goal scoring comes paired with an equally light-hearted, joyful, and humble attitude. In fact, she will most likely contact me after reading this wishing I had focused on the accomplishments of her teammates, or spoke about the team hosting a playoff game next week. But I didn't, I apologize in advance Grace. Her coaches, her team, and Franciscan are very blessed to have landed such a high-quality athlete and individual.
As far as the game today, the Gators took a quick 4-0 lead and never looked back. The second quarter was a defensive grind. Each team allowed only one goal. The third quarter is when the game broke loose. The Gators tallied 8 goals while holding the Barons to none. At this point the game was out of reach. The Barons regrouped and lead the 4th quarter in scoring 3-1, but the third quarter woes were too costly. Removing that quarter and this was a tightly contested game. A possible semifinal matchup that would be interesting to see rerun.
Inside the Numbers
-McKee led the Barons with 3 ground balls
-Theresa Lyle continues to be a force in the midfield winning 5 draw controls
-McKee also led the Barons with 3 caused turnovers
-Carolyn Cooke had the Barons lone assist
Up Next
The Barons finished the 2023 PAC regular season in 3rd place. This earned them the right to be the host site for the quarterfinal round in the conference tournament next week. They will face off against the 6th seeded St. Vincent Bearcats. In the regular season, the Barons lost to the Bearcats on the road by 1 goal. The Bearcats held Deegan to 0 goals, but Lyle and Cooke went off scoring 4 goals a piece.
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