St. Pius Girls Advance to Second Round

No. 1-ranked is through to the second round of the Class AAA playoffs after outclassing Dalton 5-0 at home Thursday night.

Molly Donehoo’s well-worked early goal gave the hosts the perfect start during a dominant first half in which Taylor Glenn was also on target.

Dalton could do little to thwart St. Pius’ speedy attacks, and Glenn, Kelsey Keown and Amanda Vocelka added more goals after the break.

“We did some good things but we’ve got a lot to work on though,” said head coach Sara Geiger. “It wasn’t the best we’ve ever played, but we realize that every team wants to beat you.”

Donehoo’s opening goal underlined St. Pius’ attacking style. A move stretching the length of the field culminated with Caroline Wootten slipping a defense-splitting pass for Donahue to finish up with a straightforward, close-range finish.

Dalton’s back line was constantly turned inside out by St. Pius’ intricate passing game and it didn’t take long for another goal to arrive.

Glenn, just outside the penalty area, beat a defender and sent a low shot past goalkeeper Julie Parham.

The second half was a mirror of the first, the hosts dominating possession and attacking at will. However, St. Pius had to wait until the 56^th minute for another goal. Elizabeth Kinsel fired a shot off the crossbar and Glenn was on hand to tuck away the goal-line rebound.

Keown made it 4-0 just minutes later, dispatching an unstoppable shot into the top corner after latching on to Andrea Papania’s through ball.

Dalton soon gave way again as Amanda Vocelka continued the rout with a simple tap in after the goalkeeper failed to handle a loose ball.

“Not many teams match our speed. We have incredible speed on the field and on the bench,” said Geiger, assessing her team’s strengths. “If they want to come out to play, they’ll come out to play.”

The Lady Golden Lions will host No. 3 seed Columbus in the second round on Tuesday, May 3. Columbus edged No. 2 seed Johnson High School 3-2 in the first round on Thursday.