Gianna Smith was only doing what coaches have told her a million times to do. Teammate Alexandra D’Acunto sent a sharp through ball into the box and the St. Joseph Hill star striker followed after it not thinking much of it.
“We are always told to follow the ball,” Smith said. “I never thought it would actually happen. I listened and it went through and I scored.”
Notre Dame Academy goal keeper Ashley Bellomo fell prematurely on the ball and appeared to have it in her grasp, but the ball popped loose. Smith pounced on it and easily scored to the left post in the 32nd minute. It was the only goal the Hilltoppers would need during a 2-0 victory against the Gators in the CHSAA Archdiocesan girls soccer semifinals Tuesday at Miller Field.
“I turned around. I didn’t see it,” Hill coach Tom Siller said. “I saw the girl catch it, but didn’t know she released. So I missed the goal, but I heard the screams.”
Added Smith: “I was shocked.”
The loudest cheers came after the final whistle blew. Last season in this exact game NDA upset the unbeaten Hilltoppers (13-0-0) ranked No. 1 in the city by The Post, derailing their hopes at a second straight Archdiocesan title. Since the summer the players haven’t stopped thinking about regaining what they thought was theirs and had to go through the Gators again to do so. Hill meets rival and defending champion St. Joseph by Sea in Friday’s final 1:30 p.m. at CSI.
“It came real quick,” senior midfielder Krista Spano said. “We worked hard. We deserve it.”
Smith felt scoring first both energized and relaxed her team. The normally defensive-minded Spano provided insurance in the 60th minute when she pushed up, ran on to a Victoria Chirico through ball and scored inside the box. Siller lauded Spano’s all-around play and quickly knew the mindset of his team, which was outworked by the Gators last year, was different as it began to put scoring combinations together.
“I just saw the shot took it quick before anybody could get to the ball,” Spano said.
Despite the loss, Notre Dame coach Nick Senise felt his defense led by sweeper Shannon Rubin did its job. They contained Smith and Chirico and were down just 1-0 with 20 minutes to play. He felt Bellomo made up for the mishap in back, which he attributed to the unevenness at Miller Field, which other tough saves. The Gators (5-3-4) were playing without leading goal scorer Rayna Walburger, who suffered a concussion last week against Christ the King.
“[Hill] came to play more physical than my kids did,” Senise said.
The Hilltoppers defense, led by sweeper Kristina Bucellato, continued being near impenetrable in league play. Minutes before Spano’s goal, Rubin sent a free kick into the box that Alanna Bergstrom kicked wide. Hill goalie Kristy Ricca beat Bergstrom to a dangerous through ball up the middle.
“They were defusing most of the things the Notre Dame team was trying to do,” Siller said.
So far no one has been able to extinguish his team’s desire to win the Archdiocesan crown and compete in the Catholic state tournament. After months of waiting Hill is a win away from accomplishing just that.
“We felt we underperformed last year,” Siller said. “This year we are trying to recapture what we lost [from] the 2009 season. There is still a big step ahead of us.”