The Keshequa Lady Indians celebrate the Class C title.
PERRY —Top-seeded Keshequa captured their first S ection V title since 1990 with a 2-1 win over third-seeded Addison at the Perry Sports Complex Friday night.
Top scoring senior Rissa Smith helped the Lady Indians get on the board just 53 seconds into the game with a rifle shot of a goal from 20 yards away that found the upper left corner of the net.Taking a pass from sophomore Gabrielle DiAngelo from the right football hash mark, Smith blasted the ball from the left hash for a quick 1-0 lead.
Smith made it a 2-0 game when she took a pass from freshman Alex Flint and blasted the ball into the net from 15 yards out with 17:19 left to play in the half.
Addison cut the lead in half midway through the second half when Autumn White scored off a corner kick with 19:21 to play.
With the momentum on Addison’s side, they continued to pressure, and launched what could have very easily been the tying goal at 14:37.
If not for junior goalie Morgan Howe.
Howe leaped high to get two hands on the shot and save the goal, but couldn’t control the ball to see it go back in play. Following the ball, she caught the rebound shot square in the midsection, and smothered it to end the threat.
“I almost lost the first shot in the lights,” she said, “but I saw enough of it to get my hands on it.”
Addison continued to push the tempo in search of the tying goal, but as the game entered into the final 10 minutes, it was the Indians who pushed the hardest.
Instead of lapsing into a defensive shell and sitting on their lead, they kept the Lady Knights on their heels most of the way until the final buzzer.
A buzzer sound that Keshequa fans had waited a long time to hear.
“I’m so excited,” said Catherine Mucha. “I’ve been waiting for this for four years, and to finally reach it is unbelievable.”
“This is great,” said Smith, who was awarded Offensive MVP honors. “It takes away the pain. I couldn’t handle sitting on the bench the second half, but I knew my team would get it done.”