It wasn’t the typical Charlotte Hersch goal, but it was equally as effective.
The Dalton sophomore, known for her long, well-placed blasts, scored the last of her four goals off some good old-fashioned grit and determination. Hersch fought for position on a defender just inside the box, got a head on a high pass that dropped to her feet and scored to the lower left in hand corner with four minutes left to play in the second overtime.
“I played an aggressive game and fought for each ball just to put it in the back of the net,” she said. “I wasn’t trying to do anything pretty.”
The goal ended the hopes of a No. 7 St. Ann’s comeback and gave No. 2 Dalton a thrilling 4-3 win in the quarterfinals of the NYSAISAA girls soccer tournament Thursday on Randall’s Island. The Tigers (9-2-4) host No. 3 Rye Country Day 2:30 p.m. back on Randall’s Island in the semifinals after handing the Steamers (16-0-1) their first loss of the season.
“It felt amazing,” Hersch said. “It helps a lot when your teammates set you up so nicely with an assist.”
St. Ann’s, the AAIS champion, scored first when Sienna Giraldi heading in a cross just four minutes in the game. Hersch answered with three goals of her own to give Dalton, which finished second on the Ivy League, a 3-1 lead at the half. She fought for position against a defender and scored from inside the box, headed in a corner kick from Taylor Wright and kicked home the rebound of a Jemma Issroff shot that hit off St. Ann’s goalie Ava Anderson and then the crossbar.
“She’s scored a lot of pretty goals,” Dalton coach Sandy Taylor said. “The header on Taylor’s corner was pretty, but the rest are just hard work.”
He felt his team let up and tired a little bit and St. Ann’s took advantage. Steamers star Joe Haller scored to the upper corner from 15 yards out. Junior Chin Odim fought through a defender on a breakaway, slide and popped the ball into the top of the net to tie the score at 3 with 10 minutes left in regulation.
“They were both spectacular goals,” Taylor said. “They had all the pressure at the time.”
The Tigers slowly revved things up in overtime and really turned the pressure up in the second 10 minutes of the extra frame before Hersch finally broke through. She and her team will try to do the same thing against Rye and earn a berth in Sunday’s final.
“All we can think about is [today],” Hersch said. “We have all been communicating all night. It’s going to be hard to sleep.”
Fieldston 2, Horace Mann 1: Chloe Chasanoff scored twice for No. 4 Fieldston (7-4-2) in the first round of the NYSAISAA tournament. In the 25th minute she took a touch on a pass from sister Jenna Chasanoff into the box, turned and scored. Midway through the second half Chasanoff ran onto a long through ball from Serwer and found the back of net. Sarah Heintz collected a goal to pull No. 5 Horace Mann (6-5-3) within 2-1. The Eagles face No. 1 Riverdale 2:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.
PSAL CLASS B
Newcomers 2, Julia Richman 1: Anamaria Amaya scored a goal in each half for No. 6 Newcomers (10-2-1) in the PSAL Class B quarterfinals. Jessica Melchiorre collected 12 saves. Nicole Martinez scored off a feed from Diana Morales in the second half for No. 3 Julia Richman (11-2-0). Newcomers, last year’s runner up advances to the semifinals, where it meets the winner for No. 2 Madison and No. 7 Beach Channel 12 p.m. No. 11 at Lincoln.
OTHER SCORES
Rye Country Day 4, Poly Prep 0