Bishop Feehan girls complete unbeaten dream season with 3-2 D1 soccer title over Westfield

WORCESTER — Some athletes spend their entire lives dreaming of making the title-winning play.

For Francesca Yanchuk, and for Bishop Feehan, you could not have scripted a better storybook ending. The junior and Providence College recruit’s dreams became reality Saturday night, as she buried a game-ending goal in the 80th minute to power the Shamrocks to their first ever Div. 1 girls soccer title with an astonishing 3-2 victory over Westfield.

“I saw a one opening, and I just knew I had to kick it,” Yanchuk said. “Far post.”

The Shamrocks out-shot Westfield, 15-7, but that wasn’t a true indicator of the game’s tempo. It didn’t take a stroke of luck so much for Bishop Feehan to get going, so much as it did a sudden tally in the 40th minute. As she has proven to be countless times in the past, Yanchuk was the culprit.

Despite receiving virtually no offense in the first half, the Shamrocks (23-0-1) found themselves in front, 1-0, at the break, as Yanchuk plucked the ball out of a crowd of defenders, then went far post for her first score of the evening.

But, Westfield (17-3-2) didn’t trail for long. As soon as the second half began, the Bombers dropped some artillery on the Shamrocks’ defensive core, as junior Chandler Pedolzky potted a goal in the 41st minute to knot the score at a goal apiece.

Flash forward 20 minutes to the 61st minute, and once again, Yanchuk found herself in the middle of yet another critical play, one which originated deep within Westfield’s end off the foot of sophomore Grace Robison. The midfielder simply tapped a pass left to Hailey Goodman, who rolled the ball to Yanchuk. Rather than taking a shot herself, Yanchuk saw Kelly Coady in just the right spot, and fed the junior.

Coady didn’t miss her chance, launching a magnificent shot over the head of Westfield goalkeeper Adrianna Arona to make it a 2-1 contest.

But just as they did earlier, Westfield responded, as Pedolzky rolled what appeared to be a pass attempt into a pile in front of Bishop Feehan’s net. A few bounces later, the ball crossed the line, tying the game at 2-all in the 70th minute, stunning fans at Worcester State.

“Amazing … amazing game,” Shamrocks coach Phil Silva said. “What a great second half we played. I can’t believe it came down to that, but (Yanchuk), unbelievable goal. I thought we played incredible in the second half though. We just dominated. (Westfield) came out opportunistic. (Pedolzky), what a game she had. But as a team, I felt we just controlled, and obviously when you have someone special like that, putting something in, back post, just an amazing goal. Just an amazing last 20 minutes of soccer, beautiful to watch.”

When the time came to seize her moment in stoppage time following a turnover by Westfield, Yanchuk made her opponents pay, dodging two defenders, then sniping a shot far post once again. Seconds later, her teammates stormed the field, now state champions.

“This year, we just bonded from the beginning,” Yanchuk said of the final moments. “We just all stick together. We did a ton of team bonding, and we all just worked together, on and off the field. And we all just knew everything, where everyone was going. We just played like a family.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2OCvKL6