Santina’s hat trick leads Ringgold past Charleroi

The 2-1 Rams bounced back from a tough loss Monday at Keystone Oaks.

After suffering a 2-1 loss to Keystone Oaks in its Section 1-2A opener Monday, the Ringgold girls’ soccer team needed to forget about the close setback and focus on the next game.

Mission accomplished. The Rams were firing from everywhere and controlled the play as Miranda Santina netted a hat trick in a 6-1 rout of rival Charleroi Wednesday night at Joe Montana Stadium.

“Monday’s loss was difficult for us and we watched the film,” Ringgold coach Ed Rosensteel said. “We were trying to force it against Keystone Oaks, but tonight we got things corrected. We were more patient and we were able to use our speed. Things opened for us and we took advantage.”

In their first three games of the fall, the Rams (2-1, 1-1) have outscored the opposition by a 13-3 margin.

The Cougars (0-2, 0-2) opened section play at South Park with an 8-1 loss Monday.

“We are still learning and we are still defining ourselves,” Charleroi coach Tom Cameron said. “We’ve got new kids to this sport on our team and we’ve got players in new positions.

“The one positive I like about this team is that they are willing to learn and willing to listen. The effort is there and they did not quit tonight. It is going to be rough this season, but all I ask is they give me 110 % effort.”

Charleroi travels to Beth-Center today for a non-section contest.

Ringgold struck early in the Section 1-2 affair, as Santina pounced on a loose ball in front of the net and the senior captain scored the opening goal at 36:30.

“There was a lot of space open in the midfield and we were aware of it,” Santina said. “We were finding each other and making the smart passes. It was a tough loss Monday, but we watched some film and forgot about the loss. Our goal was to look forward and to be ready to score first.”

The field was tilted in the Cougars’ favor, as they had the game’s first eight shots and held a 14-2 shot advantage in the opening 40 minutes.

Charleroi got its first solid scoring chance with 18 minutes left before halftime when Rhianna Grogan found space in the offensive zone and uncorked a pointblank shot that was gobbled up by Rams’ keeper Alayna Macioce.

Over a four-minute span, the home team continued to put pressure on the visitors and increased its lead to 3-0.

Imani Arnold had a breakaway and converted a pass from Rihanna Fordham for a goal at 10:50, while Santina tallied her second marker of the night with a successful free kick from 30 yards out at the 6:39 mark.

“Miranda is our quarterback and is just a smart, soccer player,” Rosensteel said. “She loves the game and she can talk to you about the game of soccer for hours. Her soccer IQ is huge and she really gets the mental aspect of the game. She is a student of the game with tremendous, all-around talent.”

Santina completed the hat trick in the first half with a shot from 10 yards out off a pass from Arnold with 52 seconds remaining before intermission for a 4-0 lead.

“We took over the game near the end of the first half,” Santina said. “It is a big win when you can beat a rival like Charleroi. That motivated us and playing such a strong rival put us back on track. We are young, but we have a lot of speed and talent. We are just going to give it our max effort every game.”

Ringgold collected a pair of goals in the first eight minutes of the second half when Fordham connected on a goal from a pass by Emily Bucchianeri at 35:32.

Four minutes later, Arnold added her second goal of the night to stretch the lead to 6-0 and evoke the running clock for the rest of the game.

The Cougars avoided a shutout when Grogan broke loose from the Rams’ defense and unleashed a hard, high shot for a tally with 23:32 left in regulation.

Charleroi’s keeper Breslin Trubiani was busy all night with 12 saves. Macioce picked up the win and recorded four stops.

The Rams will be idle until a section clash at Belle Vernon Sept. 4.

“I was 1-0 for a long time tonight, but I really like how we closed out the first half,” Rosensteel said. “We took advantage of our opportunities and our girls never stop working. We were determined and some of our players were playing with a chip on their shoulder. I like that attitude from our girls.”

Fransko honored

Before the game, the Rams recognized 2009 graduate Kayla Fransko and her fight against breast cancer. After graduating from Ringgold, Fransko had a stellar career at California University of Pennsylvania with 41 career points.

She took over the head coaching duties at Ringgold in 2015, becoming the youngest head coach in program’s history at age 25. She had a winning career record and one playoff berth in three years coaching the Rams.

Fransko and her family received the game ball before the contest, and the Rams wore pink shirts during warmups.