In a physical game played mostly between the 18s, an early goal from Shaye Dougherty proved to be the difference as Warhill’s girls soccer team outlasted York 2-0 in Thursday’s 3A Colonial Rivers Conference 25 championship.
With standout midfielder Lindsey Williams leading the attack, Warhill dictated the tempo for the most part for a majority of the game. While neither side produced many threatening scoring chances, the Lions made the most of the opportunities they saw.
“It was pretty physical,” said Williams, who was a freshman playing alongside her older sister Ashley the last time Warhill won a girls soccer conference title. “We started strong and then had some weak moments in there, but we capitalized well on our opportunities I think.”
Neither side threatened in the game’s early stages as the only shot during the first 10 minutes was a header by Warhill’s Tammi Stauffer that sailed wide left.
The Lions made good on their next chance, though, as Williams slotted a pass over to Shaye Dougherty who, from 10 yards out on the right side, shot across goal to give Warhill a 1-0 lead.
“I’m just giving it my all out there,” said Dougherty, who has now found the back of he net three times in Warhill’s past two games. “We needed [a goal] bad to get our confidence up.”
With Stauffer, Emma Johnson, Julia Shawver and Amber Shea anchoring the back line for Warhill, quality scoring chances came few and far between for York. Stauffer in particular did a great job preventing York’s attackers from penetrating deep into the box and clearing balls away.
“She cleans up everything,” Warhill Coach Todd Williams said.
Leading 1-0 at the half, Warhill packed it in defensively for most of the final 40 minutes, which made York’s push for an equalizer even more difficult.
The Falcons, behind the aggressive play of freshman Madison Van Dyke, finally built some momentum out of their attack and held possession on Warhill’s side of the field often during the final 10 minutes but never once put a shot on goal.
With 3:19 left on the clock, Allie Darcy iced the game with a great goal from 15 yards out after a nifty cutback from the left side put her in perfect position to tuck a low line drive shot into the right corner of the net.
“I was getting pretty frustrated out there because I kept losing the ball,” Darcy said. “But I just to focus and rebuild my confidence.”
Both Warhill and York punched their tickets to regionals after advancing past Tuesday’s semifinals.
By virtue of winning the conference title, Warhill will host regional play at home Monday against an opponent to be determined.
“It feels great,” Lindsey Williams said of being conference champs. “We came into the season hoping we’d be at the top of our conference, and then had some letdowns games we should have won, and came back strong in the tournament.”
Doherty said their strong performance in the conference tournament gives them confidence heading into the regional playoffs.
“We’re going into regionals strong,” Doherty said.
