Sports

Bertagna, Riverdale best upstart Columbia Prep

Isabella Bertagna had a split second to react.

With Riverdale in need of creativity and a goal, the senior headed a 50/50 ball past a defender along the right side and took a dribble into the box. Columbia Prep keeper Lucy Rubin had been aggressive all day and Bertagna knew she would have to make a decision quickly.

“My coach always tells me look up before you shoot it,” she said. “I saw she was on the left side of the goal so I knew to kick it to the right corner. It was really quick.”

The goal broke a scoreless tie in the 52nd minute as top-seeded Riverdale went on to beat No. 9 Columbia Prep, 2-0, in the NYSAISAA girls soccer quarterfinals Thursday at Gaelic Park in The Bronx. The Falcons, the defending champions, host No. 4 and rival Fieldston 2:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals. Riverdale (15-0-2), ranked No. 3 in the city by The Post, is now unbeaten in its last 36 games.

“The sweeper [Isabella Branco-Lo] did an outstanding job marking her and she finally set herself free and was able to put it away right in the corner where it needed to go,” Falcons coach Orlando Osorio said.

He said he felt his team played with some nerves early on as numerous first-half scoring chances were created, but not put away. At halftime it was said that something needed to happen in the next 40 minutes if they were going to avoid the prospect of overtime against a team that upset last year’s runner-up Staten Island Academy the day before.

The Falcons were playing without forward Ali Hyman, who has a broken bone in her foot, and Lindsay Picard replaced Jennifer Kronish in net because of a broken tibia.

“I think there might have been a little bit of frustration in the first half,” Bertagna said. “They did a good job keeping us from scoring. We just kept going. You could probably tell the first half to the second half was a huge change.”

One of the big reason’s Riverdale was kept off the scoreboard was the play of Rubin, who had seven saves. The sophomore who Lions coach Andy Chappell called “a beast,” was aggressive to balls and made a leaping stop on Emily Dann in the 25th minute.

The coach was proud that his young team hung tough for the first 40 minutes. Madison Rosegarten and Rubin’s twin sister Ella created some scoring chances early, but after playing 110 minutes of soccer yesterday Columbia Prep (18-3-0) ran out of gas against a deep and fast-paced Falcons team.

“It gives them a lot to build on,” Chappell said. “They know they can compete with the best teams around.”

Riverdale got an insurance goal from an unlikely source. Speedy freshman Amaris Hemmings ran onto a Sam Light through ball up the right side, sped past a defender and tapped the ball in off the far left post in the 67th minute to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead. It was her first varsity goal after being brought up from the JV for the regular-season finale with Fieldston.

“I saw the goalie diving toward me so I thought that it would deflect off the goal,” Hemmings said. “When it went in, I had to watch it. It all had to process for 10 seconds.”

Her team has begun the process of winning a second straight NYSAISAA title. To do so it will need to beat a Fieldston team that it tied 2-2 in the last regular-season meeting and is known for playing them tough.

“Everyone is so excited and wants to get to that game so badly,” Bertagna said. “We can be undefeated state champs again.”