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Curwensville girls top DCC, 3-1
Thursday, October 11, 2012
By Andy Stine Sports Writer
CURWENSVILLE - The only stat that matters at the end of 80 minutes of soccer is who has a bigger number in the goal column. And despite the Curwensville girls soccer team playing defense for much of the 80 minutes against DuBois Central Catholic on Wednesday evening, the most crucial stat belonged to the Lady Tide.
Mackenzie Winebold scored two goals and an assist in the game to lead Curwensville over the Lady Cardinals, 3-1 on Senior Night at Riverside Stadium.
"Congratulations to the seniors," said Lady Tide head coach Gary Thorp. "They earned it. They also showed good team leadership out there tonight, Mackenzie Winebold especially. She scored two goals on Senior Night, which has to be very special for her. I commend her. She's worked hard all season long and it's well deserved.
"We knew that they were a talented team. They were quick offensively and they can score a lot of goals very quickly. Our defense has to give them a lot of respect to perform well and they stepped it up tonight."
In the opening minute of the game, Curwensville was called for a handball. The penalty kick was stopped by Tiffany Carter, who had nine saves in the game.
Just moments later, Winebold used slick dribbling in the middle of the field about 10 yards from the DCC keeper. Finally, Winebold took a shot and it paid off for the first goal in the game. Krista Kolesar was credited with an assist on the play.
"Krista and Mackenzie have been playing up front the whole time," said Thorp. "With good passing, she found an opening. I told her, because she hasn't been shooting and she's been a little unselfish, ‘Mackenzie, you have to be a little more selfish out there. Take the shot.' Fortunately, she found the back of the net."
It didn't take long for the Lady Tide to make it a two-goal game. With Winebold sprinting down the middle of the field, she passed to her left and found Tiara Bumbarger. Bumbarger slammed her shot home to put Curwensville up 2-0.
"Tiara is a solid player," said Thorp. "She has very good ball-handling skills. She's relentless and she knows how to find the net."
The score remained the same for the rest of the first half. Despite the two-goal lead, the Lady Tide only had four shots in the first half, while the Lady Cardinals posted six.
DuBois Central Catholic had a chance at the 59-minute mark. Kasey Baronick's cross pass fell in the feet of Maddie Meyers. But the Curwensville defense knocked the ball away downfield to keep the Lady Cardinals off the board.
But the shutout didn't remain for long. Natalie Curtis found Sara McNally in the middle of a scrum in front of the net. McNally somehow broke free and found the back of the net to cut the deficit in half.
DCC almost tied the game up on a direct kick with just nine minutes to play in the game. But Winebold put any chances of a Lady Cardinal comeback to rest on her second goal of the game off a rebound from a shot of Cheyenne Geisler.
"We had a little bit of a letdown towards the end of the game," said Thorp. "They knew that they were putting up a big push. But Cheyenne picked it up off the wing and took it down. She had a quick shot and the keeper made a great save. Mackenzie was just there to finish it off. That was a good finish on Mackenzie's part."
"These girls are top-notch. Since they were freshmen, they have always sparked our teams throughout the years. In the last two years, they've really increased their play. They're going to be sorely missed with the rest of their team and I know that. But it's the growing pains. As we lose them, the girls are going to have to step up. Hopefully they are seeing the leadership it takes to become a great team and that's what they are. They're great leaders. I'm really happy for them."
Curwensville improved to 13-2 on the season and travels to Keystone today.
Curwensville 3, DuBois Central Catholic 1
First Half
1. Mackenzie Winebold, C, (Krista Kolesar), 5:16.
2. Tiara Bumbarger, C, (Winebold), 10:12.
Second Half
3. Sara McNally, DCC, (Natalie Curtis), 69:12.
4. Winebold, C, (Cheyenne Geisler), 77:17.
Shots: DuBois Central Catholic 11, Curwensville 13.
Saves: DuBois Central Catholic (Kylee Schaffer) 9, Curwensville (Tiffany Carter) 9.
Corner kicks: DuBois Central Catholic 4, Curwensville 0.
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