Ringgold, McGuffey finish scoreless

The Ringgold girls’ soccer team has been in a funk on offense the last couple of games, being shutout in their last three games ahead of their Section 1-2A contest against McGuffey Wednesday night.

Unfortunately for the Rams, their scoring drought continues.

But fortunately for Ringgold, a strong defensive effort and a stout performance by freshman goalkeeper Alayna Macioce gave them a 0-0 tie against the visiting Highlanders at Joe Montana Stadium.

“We have been snake-bitten on offense these last couple of games,” Ringgold coach Ed Rosensteel said. “The defense and Alayna carried us tonight. She was awesome for us. In my last three years here, that is by far the most saves I have seen our keeper have in a game. Hats off to her play tonight.”

After scoring 13 goals in their first three games of the season, the Rams (2-4-1, 1-41) have been stymied on offense in their last four games. The last time they found the back of the net was a 6-1 triumph over Charleroi Aug. 28.

“We’ve been trying to find the back of the net,” Rosensteel said. “It has been frustrating, but the girls are keeping with it. We created plenty of opportunities and we had plenty of chances tonight. I do not know the magic trick for getting a goal, but these girls are trying their very best out there.”

The Highlanders (4-3-1, 2-3-1) were coming off backto- back, section losses to Steel Valley and South Park, but Coach Vincent Schmidt liked the grit of his team in the section stalemate.

“It was a highly, competitive match,” Schmidt said. “I loved the way the girls fought through every thing tonight. When we had to change the momentum and put pressure on their defense, we did it. We were exhausted and only had one sub tonight. That is a solid team over there and nobody could get one in.”

McGuffey had their chances all night, but Macioce was up to the task and finished with 15 saves.

“As a freshman, Alayna has put in the work and is just a resilient kid,” Rosensteel said. “She has been working with our goal keeper coach constantly and is improving in several areas. She has good movement and is very aggressive. We took more risks on offense because of our confidence in Alayna.”

After both teams were jockeying for possession in the opening minutes of the contest, Ringgold registered the first shot on net when Imani Arnold came down the sidelines and put a hard shot that was stopped by McGuffey’s keeper Miranda Weaver.

The Highlanders rebounded with the next two scoring chances, as Madison Crowe uncorked a shot from 15 yards out at the 22nd minute mark and Grace Vanatta received a give-and-go pass from a corner kick at the 14th minute mark that was gobbled up by Macioce.

The home team tallied three of the next four shots. With 10 minutes left in the first half, Bridget Callihan broke loose from the defense and put a good foot on a shot from 10 yards out. Four minutes later off a free kick attempt, Lauren Steele had a look at the net, but couldn’t put enough on her shot.

McGuffey had the final scoring chance in the opening 40 minutes when Ella Wolfe raced for the ball near midfield and had a quality, breakaway chance, but Macioce smothered the ball when it got close for the critical save.

“We just preach doing the simple things on defense,” Rosensteel said. “We had to keep the ball in front of us and make sure we did not make that crucial mistake. I loved the communication on defense. I think we are a better defensive team now than we were at the beginning of the season.”

The Rams had the initial scoring chance in the second half with a shot that went wide left off the foot of Rihanna Fordham, but the visitors countered with the next two scoring opportunities.

Crowe unleashed a corner kick for the visitors that bent in towards the net that was halted by Macioce and then Hannah McDonald got behind the home team’s defense with a breakaway attempt, but once again Macioce stood tall in between the pipes with the save at the 31st minute of the second half.

After receiving a pass from the midfield by Arnold, Foreman had some space in the attacking zone, but her shot clanged off the post with 26:23 left in regulation.

Two minutes later, the field continued to swift in Ringgold’s favor when Arnold used her speed and got a breakaway shot that was stoned by McGuffey’s Weaver to preserve the shutout.

Ringgold had the final, quality chance in the second half with four minutes remaining when Miranda Santina carved out some room to the right of the keeper and sent a pass to the front of the net that was deflected by Arnold wide of the net.

In the first overtime period, the Rams tallied the first two shots off a header from a corner kick by Santina and then Arnold laced a shot that went wide right.

The best scoring opportunity for either team in the first overtime was by the visitors when the home team was called for a foul in the box. The Highlanders were awarded a penalty shot with 5:09 left, but Vanatta’s shot ricochet off the crossbar.

The Rams had the final shot in the first overtime when Olive Dibernardo tried to cross a pass in front of the net, but Weaver corralled the loose ball with under a minute remaining.

Both teams got defensive in the second overtime, as neither offense could sustain any consistent pressure in the attacking zone.

Weaver was steady as well with nine stops for the Highlanders.

Ringgold will take a step out of section play today and travel to Bentworth for a non-section affair. The varsity only game will kick off at Ellsworth Field at 7 p.m.

“I know the girls are looking forward to it,” Rosensteel said. “It should be a fun night against a rival. The girls are actually pretty excited to play on a grass field. Bentworth always has a solid team.”