Resiliency Pays Off For OA Girls' Soccer in First Round Tournament Win Over Falmouth

Resiliency can often be an overlooked aspect for any team and can go a long way towards success, especially in the state tournament.

On Monday, the fifth seeded girls soccer team showed its resiliency in its 3-2 first round victory over Falmouth in the Division 1 south sectional tournament.

The Tigers responded to both of Falmouth’s goals, including the game-winner from Kate Holleran with 3:40 left in regulation moments after Falmouth’s Shauna McManus tied things up in the 70th minute.

“They caught us flat when they tied it with the second goal,” said OA coach Britt Sellmayer. “We showed a lot of resiliency tonight.”

The first glimpse of the Tigers’ resiliency came when Falmouth senior captain Greer Gilbert scored the games first goal in the eighth minute. OA junior Allie Brennan responded with her header just 51 seconds later on the first of two assists from senior captain Mallory Fisher, both via corner kick.

Midway through the first half, the Tigers took a 2-1 lead when Kendall Andrew headed one past Falmouth freshman goalie Maddie Scavotto on another corner.

“We knew they were good on restarts,” said Falmouth coach Greg Gilbert. “It helped them when they got the second corner. They are definitely good in the air and they are good at restarts.

That first half response from OA eventually set the tone for the remainder of the contest.

“We were down 1-0 and dug a hole but came back and got a 2-1 lead in the first half,” said Sellmayer. “We gave up the goal with 10 minutes to go and we dug deep again and showed a lot of character to get that goal at the end of the game from Kate Holleran.”

Also helping the cause for OA was the play from goaltender Alexis Duffy-Protentis.

Despite letting up those two tough goals, the senior tri-captain showed some resiliency of her own making several key stops, including an attempt from Falmouth senior captain Tabitha Cardeiro on a penalty kick early in the second half.

“Duff played great. She was solid in net,” Sellmayer said. “She’s a four-year varisity player and has done a really great job when it matters the most. She played great tonight.”

Despite the loss, Gilbert thought his team gave it their all against the same OA team that eliminated them in the first round of last year’s sectionals.

“I liked our hustle and I liked how hard we played,” he said. “It was exciting. We played them a lot tougher this year. We had a lot of players nicked up, but I’m really proud of our girls.”

Falmouth, which entered the south sectionals as a 12th seed, ends its season at 11-4-5.

OA, meanwhile, improves to 14-2-3 on the year and will host upset-minded Needham (11-8-0) - which continued its Cinderella run with a 3-2 shootout victory in Brockton Monday - in the Division 1 South quarterfinals Wednesday night at 6 p.m. at Muscato Stadium.