Photo for the Mirror by Chuck Meyers Kate Steiner works for possession against Fox Chapel’s Summer Hill.

By Nate Ritchey

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HOLLIDAYSBURG — Hollidaysburg faced a Fox Chapel team Tuesday night that possessed the ball, kept spacing, used speed and timed its runs very well.

And they seemed to be one step ahead of Hollidaysburg all night.

The Lady Tigers hadn’t seen a team like this all year to know how to handle all of these problems presented by the Lady Foxes.

The end result was Hollidaysburg suffering a season-ending 5-1 loss to Fox Chapel in the PIAA Class 3A first round at Tiger Stadium.

“They (Fox Chapel) are a good team,” Hollidaysburg coach Tristan delGiudice said. “The ball control, their first touch was better than anything we’ve seen all year. I recorded the game because it will be a good opportunity for our girls to look back and see where we need to develop in the coming year.

The District 6 champion Lady Tigers finished their season with a 15-5-1 record. Meanwhile, the District 7 second-seeded Lady Foxes improved to 19-4-0.

“We had a little disappointment in the WPIAL final, so we were excited to get back into the swing of things,” Fox Chapel coach Carlo Prati said. “I thought we did a tremendous job moving the ball, and we really didn’t give the other team (Hollidaysburg) much until that last goal.”

Fox Chapel liked to get deep into their attack and look for a teammate in front of goal. The Lady Tigers struggled to score and account for any Foxes that entered the box.

Fox Chapel capitalized twice in the first half on 17 total shots, including 12 that kept Hollidaysburg goalie Natalie Foster extremely busy.

Less than five minutes into the first half, Fox Chapel’s Maddie Grimsley used her speed to carry the ball down the right side of the box before finding teammate Antonia Linzoain in front for a 1-0 lead.

“Our team is super fast up top, so anything we can do on the wings with our team is pretty dangerous,” Prati said. “…It seemed like they (Hollidaysburg) were kind of giving us some space, so we kind of started to really neutralize it and find those gaps. This seems to work pretty well for us.

FC continued to control the ball and despite several other chances, including two corners, their shots went wide of the goal where the Tigres managed to repel the visitors.

Paige Solomon scored the second goal at 17:30 on a layup from Emily McKee in the same way as the first. McKee used a 45-degree pass to Solomon who, with one touch, sent the ball into the goal for a 2-0 advantage.

“On that second goal, Jillian Buffone (of Hollidaysburg) was all over her (Solomon) and she still managed to deflect it and put it through the keeper,” Prati said.

The Lady Tigers are accustomed to possessing the ball and attacking, but the Lady Foxes’ ball control not only kept the ball mostly away from Hollidaysburg, but also kept it without a shot through the first 40 minutes.

After five missed chances from corners in the first half, FC capitalized on their first opportunity in the second half. Cassie Classen’s kick in front of the goalmouth was knocked back to Grimsley’s foot with 26:28 on the clock.

Grimsley added a second goal just over 15 minutes later when she received a pass from McKee and used her left foot to hit the ball to Foster’s left for a 4-0.

Fox Chapel’s Lily McLaughlin put her team number five two minutes later on a Classen header.

“All their (Fox Chapel) goals were nightmares,” delGiudice said. “Crosses that were deflected while making excellent plays that our goalkeeper, who had played exceptionally well all year, never even attempted.”

Hollidaysburg’s first and only shot on goal found its way into the back of the net as Lauren Stevenson played a corner through the middle where Bella Vent used her head to head the ball in at 7:18 to make it 5-1 .

“I’m extremely proud of how well the team played and how they fought throughout the game,” delGiudice said.

Score per half

Fox Chapel 2 3 — 5

Hollidaysburg 0 1 — 1

First half: FC – Linzoain (Grimsley), 35:14; FC – Salomon (McKee), 5:30 p.m.

Second half: FC – Grimsley (Classen), 26:28; FC-Grimsley (McKee), 10:12; FC-McLaughlin (Classen), 8:11; H – Stevenson (Wind), 7:14.

Goalkeepers: Fox Chapel — Patterson: 0 saves, 1 shot on goal; Hollidaysburg — Foster: 15 saves, 20 shots on goal.

Maps: Fox Chapel 31, Hollidaysburg 1.

Corners: Fox Chapel 6, Hollidaysburg 2.

Records: Fox Chapel (19-4-0); Hollidaysburg (15-5-1).