Lady Raiders clinch playoff berth in 2-1 victory over Lady Falcons
WAYNESBURG — A trio of Division I soccer recruits didn’t disappoint in Monday’s Section 3-AA match at Waynesburg Central High School with the hosts pulling out a 2-1 victory over Brownsville to clinch a playoff spot.
The Lady Raiders’ Rhea Kijowski, who is a West Virginia University recruit, scored both goals for her team, and sister, Jillian Kijowski, who is headed to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, had an assist. Rhea, a junior, has 30 goals this season and 105 for her career.
“I really didn’t know we had clinched a playoff spot until it was announced after the game,” Waynesburg Central coach Greg Basinger said. “We have dangerous players up top as well, and it was a battle. It is going to go back-and-forth. There are exciting players on the field. This is a super-tough section. I am super-excited for our girls, and our seniors, to hopefully go on another run.”
The Lady Falcons’ Tessa Dellarose, who is a University of North Carolina recruit, scored her 46th goal this year.
Waynesburg Central (7-5, 10-6) marked Dellarose every time she touched the ball and did its best to keep her from gaining possession.
“She (Dellarose) is a tremendous player and you got to key on her all night,” Basinger said. “She’s always dangerous. Our defensive players were fantastic. Kaley Pell, our defensive mid, was keying on Tessa tonight. She is a fantastic player and you just try to stay close to her, and I think we were able to do that tonight. Kylie Sinn, Calli Gibson and Abby Lipscomb did a fantastic job.”
The Lady Raiders’ strategy worked in the first half, and after several chances went wide and were stopped by Lady Falcons keeper Kami Franks, the home team cracked the scoreboard when Kijowski scored her first goal, an unassisted tally, with 8:55 remaining before intermission.
Jillian set up Rhea with 44 seconds left before halftime for a two-goal advantage.
Dellarose was able to get free twice for chances in Waynesburg’s end, but both shots were wide of the net.
The Lady Raiders kept up the pressure in the first part of the second half, but Brownsville (5-6, 8-6) was able to cut the deficit to 1 when Dellarose scored on a pretty move after receiving a pass from her sister, Talia, at 20:02 of the second half.
The Lady Falcons’ Gracie Stetson had three opportunities on free kicks from 30, 50 and 37-yards out, but two shots went wide and one was saved by McKenzie Booth.
“We get contributions from Gracie Stetson, Talia Dellarose, Chloe Wright and a few of our freshmen — Maleree (Duggan) and Emma (Keeney) — are coming along pretty well,” Brownsville coach Cedar Brunache said. “Kami Franks has done an excellent job for us all year. Those players can’t go unnoticed because they have been a staple of this team. It’s been a long run, and for a bunch of freshmen, it’s been tough.”
Franks had 17 saves and Booth stopped four shots.