Nemeth’s hat trick guides No. 2 Greensburg Central Catholic girls past OLSH in quarterfinals

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, October 24, 2018 | 8:27 PM

Coming off the heels of a dominating win over Riverside in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs, the Greensburg Central Catholic girls soccer team continued its quest to win the district title for the second year in a row.

The No. 2-seeded Centurions followed up their strong first-round performance with an 8-1 win over No. 7 OLSH (10-5) in the quarterfinals Wednesday night at South Park.

“I was very pleased with our performance tonight,” GCC coach Ashley Davis said. “I think we’ve been getting better every game. That’s what you hope for with the team. I just think we’re clicking.”

Greensburg Central Catholic (12-2) was led by junior midfielder Sam Nemeth, who found the net three times in the first half against the Chargers.

Nemeth started off the scoring with a goal four minutes into the game. Her second goal came with around 18 minutes remaining in the half when she rocketed a shot from 10 yards over the outstretched arms of OLSH goalkeeper Isabella Costanzo.

She scored 10 minutes later when her cross attempt was knocked in on accident by an OLSH defender.

“She works so hard. She just outworks whoever she’s against, and she’s able to put it in the back of the net,” Davis said.

Greensburg Central Catholic sustained the pressure in OLSH’s end of the field throughout the night as the Chargers had a limited amount of scoring attempts.

Sophomore Brenna Springer finished with two goals, and sophomore midfielder Jesse Nemeth, sophomore forward Sam Felder and freshman midfielder Tatum Gretz all found the back of the net once for the Centurions, who led 6-0 at halftime.

OLSH got on the scoreboard when junior Francesca Taylor scored on a penalty kick late in the match.

“We like to play a more possession style, but I’ve also been teaching them to play a little bit more direct. We saw a nice mix of that tonight, and I think that helps us out a lot,” Davis said.

Heading into their matchup against the defending champions, OLSH had won six of its last seven games, including a 6-0 win over Beth-Center in the opening round.

“They really have good foot skills. We’re a really young team so our girls have a little ways to go. With being young, this is a good experience for our team,” OLSH coach Tom Dongilli said.

“This is was my first year coaching with this team. When I came in, I didn’t know what to expect. The girls have come a long way with being so young. I think making it to the second round of the playoffs with such a young team is very encouraging for us.”

Greensburg Central Catholic has now won seven straight games by a combined score of 50-3.

The Centurions will face No. 3 Bentworth (16-2) in the semifinals Saturday at time and site to be determined. Bentworth advanced with a 3-2 win in overtime over No. 6 Bishop Canevin (11-4-1).

Andrew John is a freelance writer.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Our Lady of the Sacred Heart