Trojans headed to playoffs after beating rival Bulldogs
With only 11 to 12 players in uniform for a given game, the 2024 season has been a grind for the California girls’ soccer team.
But all the hard work paid off Wednesday night, as the Trojans picked up a home win against a rival and clinched a playoff berth in the program’s inaugural season.
Cal’s Leah Hartley scored three minutes into the contest, and that proved to the be the game-winner, as the Trojans upended Beth-Center 1-0 to clinch the final postseason berth out of Section 2-1A with three games left in the regular season.
“To make the playoffs is huge for this group,” Cal coach Sarah Meiss said. “I only came out here so that these girls could have a team this year. All the credit goes to them and their effort has been outstanding this season. They know their soccer. To make the playoffs says a lot of about these girls.”
The Trojans (4-5-1, 3-3-1) are currently in fourth place behind Chartiers-Houston, Waynesburg and Bentworth. Cal will finish the regular season against those three teams, but they are a combined 3-0-1 against Beth-Center and Brownsville, owning all the tiebreakers with those two squads.
Cal, which co-op with Monessen the last couple of seasons before becoming the school’s standalone varsity sport, swept the regular season series against the Bulldogs (2-8, 1-7), as earlier in the fall they claimed a 4-3 victory on the road at Fredericktown.
“Win or lose, these girls compete for every night,” Meiss said. “They never stop fighting. They never take a play off. We cannot afford them to either because most of these girls play the whole game. They are a team and I am a glad to be a part of it. I love their heart and they make coaching fun.”
On the Trojans’ first shot of the night, Leah Hartley received a pass from her sister Lauren and got behind the visitors’ defense to tally the opening goal at 37:39.
Both Hartley sisters had most of Cal’s scoring chances in the game and their speed was hard to defend against in open space for B-C.
“Those two have great chemistry,” Meiss said. “You cannot say enough about those two and they are just fun to watch. They definitely have that unspoken, sister connection. They both had so many, beautiful scoring chances tonight. They just kept on coming and never stopped attacking.”
The Bulldogs garnered their first scoring threat of the night with 19 minutes left before halftime when Kendall Welsh unleashed a corner kick that found its way in the front of the box before the Trojans’ keeper Ashley Volosin was able to secure the ball.
Cal held a 1-0 lead at halftime, outshooting the visitors by a 7-6 margin.
The field was tilted in B-C’s favor the first 15 minutes of the second half, but Cal’s defense and Volosin were up to the task.
Carrie Corbett had a close-in shot for the Bulldogs that was stopped by Volosin at the 36th minute mark and then Corbett got behind the defense for a partial breakaway nine minutes later, but Volosin roamed out of her net and was able to kick the ball away.
Three minutes later, the Trojans had a chance of doubling their lead when Leah Hartley broke free and poured in a shot that deflected off the B-C’s keeper and then the rebound shot from Lauren Hartley was high over the crossbar.
The Bulldogs’ Marsala Formentelli was awarded a free kick from about 15 yards out at a unique angle, but her shot was stymied by Volosin. Volosin’s final save of the night came at the 10-minute mark when she was able to make a diving stop on a free kick from 25 yards out by Bailey Bernott.
“Ashley was so big for us,” Meiss said. “She is incredible and she knows the game. Every game she is getting better. She kept us in the game with some incredible saves tonight. They took some great shots and nothing was easy for her. She was aggressive, but also knew when to attack the ball in space.”
The final couple of minutes were owned by Cal, as they controlled most of the possession time and limited any scoring tries by the visitors. The Trojans outshot the Bulldogs 17-13. B-C’s keeper, Athena Tulech, ended her night with six stops in net.
Volosin finished with eight saves for the Trojans, and she had support from her defenders.
Ella Fike had a solid game in the defensive end, as well as Olivia Gibson, Dani Volosin, Kylie Johnson and Peyton Sunderman.
Lucy Meiss, Hailee Brown and Angelina Eperjesi did a solid job as well on the night in the midfield, controlling the ball and calming the Trojans’ offense down at key situations.
“It was a total team effort,” Coach Meiss said. “I love watching these girls play soccer. Our mids did a nice job of controlling things for us out there. Ella was very strong for us on defense tonight. We moved Kylie (Johnson) from mid to defense tonight and she was on point. She is only a freshman, too. Lucy was steady for us, and I thought Hailee Brown shined for us and showcased her overall speed.”
Cal continues Section 2-1A action Monday with a road matchup versus Chartiers- Houston.