Sports

Rubin kicks Gators to Archdiocesan semifinals rematch with Hill

Free kicks are Shannon Rubin’s specialty and it didn’t take long for Good Counsel to find out the hard way.

Both of Notre Dame Academy’s goals came off the senior sweeper’s left leg on set pieces, which helped the Gators to a 2-0 win over Good Counsel in the CHSAA Archdiocesan girls soccer quarterfinals Monday at Miller Field. NDA (6-2-4) advances to play rival St. Joseph Hill in the semifinals 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, back in New Dorp.

“Shannon’s got tremendous skills especially with the left foot,” Notre Dame coach Nick Senise said. “It’s very hard for goalkeepers to really judge that. So from the right side of the field she can really swing the ball, even with her left foot.”

Rubin put in a blast from 20 yards out just two minutes into the game. In the 50th minute, she sent a free kick into the box that Alanna Bergstrom ran on to and headed in to extend the Gators lead. It stayed that way thanks to the play of keeper Laine Cialdella. She stopped a point-blank blast in the closing minute and a penalty kick with no time remaining.

“I think it was a shot in the arm, a little bit of confidence for the girls tomorrow,” Senise said.

His team is in a similar spot as lit was ast season when it shocked the unbeaten Hilltoppers in the semifinals. Hill beat the Gators twice by matching scores of 2-0 in the regular season and again enters the match favored to advance.

“Without stealing Yogi’s line, ‘It’s déjà vu all over again’,” he said.

The hope is that scoring first might be enough with a defensive-minded strategy. He feels his team has a good sense of how they want to play and his seniors will not want to let it be their last game.

“Hill goes into the season with the bull’s eye on their back,” Senise said. “Everyone wants to knock off the guy who’s on top. They have everything to lose and we have everything to gain.”

Maria Regina 6, Moore Catholic 1: Kristen Welch scored the lone goal for the Mavericks (2-8-1) off a feed from Alexis Strahl in the CHSAA Archdiocesan quarterfinals. Maria Regina, the CHSAA Bronx/Westchester champion, advances to play St. Joseph by the Sea Tuesday at Miller Field at 3:30 p.m.