PIAA girls soccer: Katelyn VanDyke’s OT winner lifts Karns City past Winchester Thurston in opener
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Karns City celebrate its win over Winchester Thurston in a PIAA Class 1A girls soccer first-round game Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at Karns City High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Butler Eagle
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Karns City celebrate its win over Winchester Thurston in a PIAA Class 1A girls soccer first-round game Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at Karns City High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Butler Eagle
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Karns City's Sophia Bonetto scored the first goal against Winchester Thurston in a PIAA Class 1A girls soccer first-round game Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at Karns City High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Butler Eagle
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Karns City's Phoebe Brandon heads the ball in front of a Winchester Thurston defender in a PIAA Class 1A girls soccer first-round game Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at Karns City High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Butler Eagle
KARNS CITY — When you have a young team, leave it to a freshman.
Sporting only two seniors on its roster, Karns City advanced in the PIAA Class 1A girls soccer tournament Tuesday night at Diehl Stadium, heading to the quarterfinals with a 2-1 overtime victory over Winchester Thurston.
The Gremlins (17-4), the District 9 champions, will play WPIAL third-place finisher Seton La Salle (16-3-2) — a 2-1 winner over District 5 champ McConnellsburg on Tuesday — in the quarterfinals Saturday at a site and time to be determined.
KC’s winning goal was score by freshman midfielder Katelyn VanDyke. She has more than 20 goals on the season.
“(Sophomore) Aubrey Taylor threw the ball in, and it ricocheted around a little bit before coming right to me,” VanDyke said. “I’m not sure how the shot went in. I just hoped it would.”
Standing 15 yards from the net, to the right of the goal, VanDyke kicked a chip shot that sailed over goalkeeper Maeve Dever’s head and nestled into the left corner of the net. The goal occurred just 3 minutes, 42 seconds into overtime.
“This was a game that could have gone either way and we knew that coming in,” Gremlins coach Tracy Dailey said. “We’re down to the best 16 teams in the state. You don’t expect to blow anybody out.
“Scoring the first goal was huge for us. Our girls could just settle down and play at that point.”
Karns City got on the board less than two minutes into the game. Senior midfielder Sarah Dodd booted a corner kick that was headed hard off the crossbar by junior Hanna Dailey. The rebound came out to junior defender Sophia Bonetto, who drilled it into the net.
Winchester Thurston (15-7) had shut out seven consecutive opponents before dropping a 5-3 decision to Springdale in the WPIAL championship game. The Bears were making their first-ever appearance in the state playoffs.
The visitors got even in the 18th minute of the first half when senior midfielder Meredith Snyder scored on a free kick from 31 yards out. Snyder took free kicks from 27 yards twice more and another from 31 later in the game, but could not get another ball past KC netminder Savanna Prescott.
Prescott and Dodd are the Gremlins’ lone seniors.
“Meredith tore her ACL last year and did not return to action until late this season,” Bears coach Jason Snyder said. “She quickly re-established herself as a force in our lineup. She’s one of 11 seniors on this team, and we’re going to miss them all.
“This is only the 10th year our school has had girls soccer. We’re making the right progress toward the ultimate goal.”
Coach Dailey said Snyder and senior Marghenta Memoli “were their biggest offensive threats, and our girls executed our defensive game-plan to keep them neutralized.”
Both teams had eight shots on net in regulation. Prescott snared Snyder’s free kick from 31 yards in the fourth minute of overtime to keep the Gremlins alive.
“Savanna played another solid game for us,“ Coach Dailey said.
The Gremlins had five corner kicks to Winchester Thurston’s three in the contest.
