DUBOIS — It was a historic night for the DuBois girls’ soccer program on Tuesday night, as they played their first-ever home game in the PIAA State Championships and added to it by picking up their first-ever win in the state playoffs, outpacing Moon Area High School, the third seed out of District 7 (the WPIAL) by a final tally of 4-2 to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals.
DuBois managed to score the game’s first two goals in quick fashion one by Anna Korney and the other by Katelyn Rhodes, with the two assisting on each other’s goals. Moon Area didn’t go down without a fight, though, answering with two quick tallies of their own to even the score just 16 minutes into the contest.
The home team got the game’s two final goals, though, with Reese Glass scoring what would prove to be the winning mark with 4:20 left in the first half, then Korney adding an insurance goal on a Lauren Graeca assist in the third minute of the second half to set the final, 4-2.
The four goals DuBois scored doubled their all-time total of goals scored in state playoff games, as they’d been outscored 34-2 in their first six games at that level, dating back to 2008. The competition is stiff at this level, though, and that says a lot about how special this DuBois group is.
“This being our first state playoff game at home was a really big part of our win tonight,” DuBois head coach Steve Graeca said. “I told the team that this win started back in August. The entire team contributed to this win tonight, and we’ve been in good form as of late. It was just a matter of convincing the girls that we could win.”
Graeca also credited all of his players at every position saying this truly was a full-team win. He pointed to outstanding play by Graeca and Korney up front to create opportunities, while defenders Eva Korney, Jasmine Robinson, Maddie Sawtelle, Madisyn Sedor and keeper Harper Johnson limited the Moon attack all night.
“I’m just super proud of everyone on the team and the coaches,” he said.
DuBois fired out of the gate with a strong pace, and their controlled aggression ended up paying off with the two early goals. They recorded the game’s first shot just 2:10 into the contest when Korney made a run and fired a shot on net. Ainslie Romasco stopped it, though, and her team cleared the ensuing corner.
Two minutes later, Korney barely missed on her second shot attempt, sailing one high and wide, but her persistence paid off soon after, as she sent one from center to her left wing, where Rhodes pushed it back to her, and when she turned, Korney had a seam to the net, and her shot barely avoided Romasco’s leg, then snuck inside the far post to make it 1-0 with 34:01 showing on the clock.
Less than a minute later, Romasco made a save on a shot by Rhodes, but DuBois kept pressing and got another goal less than two minutes after their first when Korney carried deep into Moon territory on the right goal line, then crossed it through the box to Rhodes, waiting on the left side to bang it home and make it 2-0 in the 8th minute.
Moon didn’t go quietly into the night, though, as the Lady Tigers roared back with a pair of goals less than 5 minutes apart to even the score at twos prior to the midpoint of the first half. The first came off the boot of Julia Shaver, as she broke around the defense on the baseline, made a nice juke and tucked it into the net, and the second went to Kendall Dydek, who finished one on the doorstep within the 16th minute to tie it 2-2.
Over the course of the next 20 minutes, the teams traded opportunities, with the best chances going to Moon, including a near-miss off the foot of Riley Lafayette in the 24th minute, a pair of corners that were cleared in the 28th, and two saves on soft shots by DuBois keeper Harper Johnson.
The next scoring chance went to DuBois with exactly 10 minutes to play in the half, as a Moon clear attempt bounced off Korney, springing her free for a wide open run. She drew a pair of defenders, then sent the ball across to Rhodes, whose shot just barely missed the mark.
The next chance also belonged to the Lady Beavers, and this time, they made it count. The play started with some nifty passing between Korney and Graeca, forcing Moon to clear it for a DuBois throw-in. Korney’s throw came to Graeca, who touched it back to Korney, and she moved to center, then sent a pass through to Glass, who redirected it with her left foot, enough for it to bounce off Romasco and cross the goal line to put DuBois ahead 3-2 with 4:20 left in the half.
“I was telling the girls on the bench here that the next goal was going to win when it was 2-2, and I felt like if we could get that one, our home fans’ excitement would be a big help,” Coach Graeca said. “I just felt like it was our night tonight.”
Scoring opportunities were much more limited in the second half, but the first one was a big one for DuBois, as Korney scored her second of the game to push the lead to two goals just over 2 minutes into the fresh clock.
The play started with a nice play by Graeca to shield the Moon defenders and push it ahead to Korney, who made a nice play on the left sideline to keep it in and on her toe, then outran her defender and turned in at the goal line before touching it under Romasco’s reach at the 2:13 mark of the half.
Romasco was forced to make a pair of big saves on Korney just inside of 25 minutes to play, with one hitting the bar after she blocked it. Then, with just 13 minutes to play, Eva Korney jumped up on a play, passed to Anna Korney, and she found Graeca streaking down the right side, only to have her shot bang off the outside of the post.
Moon’s final big opportunity came on a free kick after a penalty deep in DuBois territory on the left wing. Madison Shaver fired the free kick toward the net, and Johnson managed to punch it aside, then Anna Korney got a big boot on it to clear the zone and take the heat out of the hot kitchen.
DuBois had the game’s final scoring opportunity, as a free kick by Graeca rolled through in front of the keeper, but was touched out by Moon for a Graeca corner. She fired a high ball, and Rhodes headed it wide. Still, DuBois had plenty of cushion, and the clock wound down on their 4-2 victory.
“Hats off to Moon; they’re a great coaching staff and a great program,” Graeca said. “… Having players the caliber that we do who have had success, that just brings the whole team along, and we had some contributions from players who haven’t played a lot this year. For example, Layne (Fairman), who was injured this year, was able to be a sparkplug.”
Up next for DuBois is a quarterfinal tilt with the WPIAL champion Fox Chapel , a 2-0 winner over District 10 champion Harbor Creek, to be played Saturday at a site and time to be determined.
“It’s a surreal experience, because just making states was sort of the barometer that boys’ and girls’ soccer had here, and now the fact that we’ve won a game, it’s like we’re playing with house money now,” Graeca said. “We have some great midfielders, some great strikers, our keeper is hot … our defense has been very stout, and at the end of the day, we know we’ll go against someone who’s really good, as Moon was, but we’ll take it as it comes and give it our best shot.”