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CONCORD >> With a starting lineup comprising four freshmen and two sophomores and a team tasked with replacing the two-time Daily Times Girls Soccer Player of the Year, it shocked few people that Strath Haven at times this season has struggled to find the back of the net. In the effort to play to the Panthers’ strengths, crossing out the possibility of widespread veteran savvy and proven goal production, what was there to rely on? Well, there’s the team’s usually well-drilled structure. And there’s that right foot of Liz DeCarlo.
DeCarlo’s set-piece deliveries set up a pair of first-half goals off corner kicks — finished by Naomi Dickey and Paige Gillespie — that sent the Panthers on their way to a 3-1 Central League win over Garnet Valley Thursday night. Grace Forbes added a second-half tally for Haven, and while Kayla Morey got Garnet Valley on the board with less than three minutes to play, it wasn’t enough. When offense is in short supply (in part because of the graduation of Lizzie King last year), Route One for Haven is via corner kicks, of which they drew six. That’s DeCarlo’s time to shine.
“We’ve been practicing corners a lot because set pieces have always been one of our strengths,” the senior left back DeCarlo said. “In the past couple of games, we’ve just really done well with connecting on them. And it was kind of like (Gillespie) knew she had to make the run — that’s the run we always make, it’s always a different person. But we knew that if we keep making those runs with the ball placement, it will come. They know where to go.”
The first goal was a picture-perfect connection with Dickey, one of a bevy of sophomores in the rotation, rushing into the box to volley a near-post corner 13 minutes into the game. Gillespie’s goal was scrappier, befitting her lack of goalscoring reputation (it’s just “the second of her life,” she said). The ball caromed off a Panther in the box, then off Garnet goalie Kayleigh Saboja and the crossbar. But Gillespie was waiting on the doorstep to head home into the yawning cage, equal parts assertive and opportunistic.
“Liz had a great cross in and I guess I was in the right place,” Gillespie said. “… We’ve been practicing. Liz’s corners are great and they often go to that same spot, and I was hoping it would go there. And she kicked a perfect ball.”
Those bursts of offense offered cushion for a freshmen skeleton to the team that shows immense promise. The central midfield duo of Ellie Malek and Maggie Forbes, both ninth-graders, controlled the pace in the middle of the pitch, with poise on the ball and passing aptitude that belies their ages. Devon Maillet took shifts running the wing. And Danielle McNeely was rock solid at right back. Malek helped set up the third goal, her driving run at the backline sucking in two defenders before playing Margo Hotham into space down the right channel. Hotham’s shot was saved by a diving Saboja — another impressive freshman with seven saves on the night — but Grace Forbes applied the pressure with her back-post run, heading home the rebound.
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Strath Haven’s Liz DeCarlo, right, tries to avoid Garnet Valley’s Nicole Barnes in the first half Thursday. DeCarlo had a hand in two goals as Strath Haven scored a 3-1 win. (Digital First Media/Pete Bannan)
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