Bishop Feehan edges Brookline to earn state championship berth

Forced to fire off shots from distance against Brookline throughout 80 minutes of scoreless regulation in the Division 1 girls soccer state semifinal, Bishop Feehan finally got an opportunity inside the box early in overtime.

And all it took was one good look for Kelly Coady to send the Shamrocks to the program’s first state final as the junior forward ran on to a Hailey Goodman service at the back post and finished with her left foot for a 1-0 victory Wednesday night in Norwell.

“I was just back post ready for it and touched it in,” said Coady. “I think we all just really wanted it. We didn’t want to go to PKs. We wanted to get it over with.”

Feehan (22-0-1) dominated scoring chances, outshooting the Warriors 15-5 for the contest and earning six corner kicks to Brookline’s one. But a physical Warriors squad kept those bids at a high degree of difficulty and the Shamrocks — particularly career 100-goal scorer Francesca Yanchuk — frustratingly sent offerings high and wide.

But in overtime, Goodman sent a high, arcing ball from the right side to the far post, where Coady snuck in on a late run and deposited it for the game-winner in the 84th minute. Feehan will face Westfield on Saturday at Worcester State (5 p.m.) for the Div. 1 crown.

“Without question, they did a good job of making Frannie shoot from outside and Hailey did not get in the box with the ball, so someone else was going to have to score a goal, so if I would have guessed it would have been Coady or (Grace) Robison, and she did it. Got her chance and put it in the back side perfectly.”

Brookline (15-2-5) struggled to get much going offensively against a defense that, despite the Shamrocks’ offensive prowess, Silva considers the key to this year’s historic campaign. Keeper Madison Bruckner made five saves for the shutout.

“I knew we were going to score some goals but I think right now what has gotten us here is being able to defend great teams well,” said Silva. “That’s how you get to the championship game is putting up a zero on the board every once in a while, and we did that tonight.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2qwfH9u