KC soccer teams flex their muscles
KARNS CITY — The Karns City boys and girls soccer teams have hopes for District 9 titles.
Both looked like championship-caliber squads on Thursday.
The boys cruised to a 10-1 rout of Coudersport, before the girls earned a 9-0 shutout over Redbank Valley in a pair of District 9 Class A quarterfinal matchups at Karns City High School.
Anthony Easley had five goals and two assists for the Gremlins (15-2), while Evan McGarvey scored three times and added two helpers.
“If they mark Evan, Anthony is wide open. If they go with Anthony, Evan is wide open,” said Karns City coach Jim Grenninger, filling in for an absent Roy Parker. “The two work very well off each other.”
The duo is among the 10 seniors who played their final home game Monday.
“We're a senior-laden team,” Grenninger said. “It was their last home game and they didn't want to leave on a bad impression.”
Tyler Pollock started the scoring with a goal less than seven minutes into the contest off a pass from McGarvey.
Coudersport (7-7-1) answered, though, as Aaron Vansickles found the back of the net to draw the Falcons even with 26:30 to play in the first half.
From there, it was all Gremlins.
McGarvey scored on a 15-yard shot, before adding his second goal on an assist from Easley with 18:49 to go.
Just two minutes later, Andrew Johnston blasted a long pass to Easley for a breakaway and a 4-1 lead.
More teamwork led to a 6-1 cushion by halftime.
McGarvey set up Easley in front of the net on a direct kick just outside the penalty box and Easley returned the favor with a deep pass down the sideline, which led to a McGarvey breakaway goal.
“They're pretty tough all around,” said Coudersport coach Erich Zaun. “They come with different people attacking each time and we weren't able to cover it.”Johnston registered his second assist with another lengthy pass on the first of Easley's three second-half goals. Austin Murray capped the scoring off a feed from Matt Slagle.Karns City put 20 shots on goal, while the Falcons mustered just three. David Olszak made two saves for the Gremlins. Bobby Brown had 10 for Coudersport.The Gremlins will travel to Brockway on Tuesday to face off with Port Allegany at 7 p.m. in the semifinals.Karns City 9, Redbank Valley 0 — Breann Wood paced the Gremlins with four goals and Caterina LoPresti added two in the lopsided victory.“It's a very good first step. We look at one game at a time,” said Karns City coach Lisa Castiglione. “We make sure we don't ever look ahead because that seems to sometimes bite us.“It was a good first win, we'll move on from it and get ready for our next game.”The Gremlins (19-0) will face DuBois Central Catholic at Brockway in the semifinals at 5 p.m.LoPresti provided Karns City with an early lead, dribbling down the sideline and sneaking a shot past the goalie, before Emily LoPresti made it 2-0 with a header in front of the net off a cross from Aubrie Ball.The Gremlins padded the cushion to 3-0 less than 11 minutes into the game after Wood scored her first goal on a give-and-go play with Emily LoPresti.Caterina LoPresti later found the back of the net off an assist from Maggie McKain, as Karns City took a 4-0 advantage into halftime.“Karns City is talented. We knew that they were going to be a tough team to beat,” said Redbank Valley coach Greg Campbell. “Against a team like that, it's just a couple of meltdowns and then three or four goals are on you before you know it.”Emily Schumacher started the second-half scoring, before Wood piled up three goals in a four-minute span. The final tally came off the foot of Abby Wolfe.The Gremlins allowed just two shots on goal, as Morgan Deal earned the shutout. Savannah Walker had 13 saves and Emma Kennemuth made two for Redbank Valley.“It's an extremely unselfish team,” said Castiglione. “Our defense is always a good, solid constant for us.”
