HS soccer: Pal-Mac girls advance in Class B
By Jadon Ceravolojceravolo@messengerpostmedia.com
Red Raiders shut out Dansville in state qualifier and advance to play Section VI champion on Saturday in Webster
EAST ROCHESTER — It was a tale of two halves on Tuesday night for the Palmyra-Macedon girls varsity soccer team.
The Red Raiders were flat in the first half. Then in the final 40 minutes, they were a completely different squad.
In the end, Pal-Mac walked away with a 2-0 victory over the Dansville Mustangs in the Class B state qualifier match at East Rochster High School.
Pal-Mac coach Mike Karns went into detail after the game on his team's performance, which included his team's slow start.
"We struggled. We did not play well in the first half," he said. "The whole team was just flat. We talked about it at halftime.
"Then in the second half, I thought it was a great half for us. I thought we dominated the second half. Put a couple of chances away. Two nice goals. I thought we were in their end most of the second half."
The Red Raiders came out in the second half and clearly were on a mission. They had several shots on goal within the first five minutes. One of which barely missed the crossbar.
But pressure like that eventually pays off.
The first score for Pal-Mac came in the 58th minute. Sophomore midfielder Grace Seither had a gorgeous shot that was out of reach of Dansville's leaping goalkeeper. That gave the Red Raiders a 1-0 lead.
Just two minutes later, Pal-Mac struck again. In the 60th minute, freshman forward Mercedes Buckingham had a picture-perfect corner kick to senior captain Abie LaRocca and LaRocca headed it in to extend the lead to 2-0.
Those situations are something Pal-Mac constantly works on. And finally, it paid off.
"In the first half we had three or four corners. We got our heads to every one of them, but they were all off target," said Karns. "We practice that stuff almost every day. So, about time."
With the win, the Red Raiders advance to Regionals and keep its season alive. They'll take on Alleghany-Limestone out of Section VI on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Webster Schroeder. Pal-Mac advanced to this round of the state tournament two years ago, where it lost to Newfane.