Loyola 9, Burlington Central 1
THE SKINNY
The Loyola girls soccer team is loaded with offensive talent, and the Ramblers showed just how dynamic they can be in the first round of the PepsiCo Showdown on Saturday afternoon. They built a 4-0 lead in the first half. Then, after senior center back Elle Zadina’s goal put Loyola up 5-1 in the second half, Loyola coach Craig Snower allowed the squad’s seniors to leave to prepare for their senior prom later in the day. The Ramblers scored four goals after the seniors departed. Sophomore KK Phelan scored two of the four. Phelan is illustrative of the Ramblers’ depth at forward, having scored 13 goals in nine games coming off the bench.
TURNING POINT
Loyola senior midfielder Tori Iatarola opened the scoring with a perfectly-placed free kick from about 25 yards away that sailed over the outstretched arms of Burlington Central’s goalkeeper less than five minutes into the match. Loyola sophomore forward Devin Burns scored about 10 minutes after Iatarola’s strike, and the Rockets (3-1-1) never threatened Loyola (9-0) after that.
THE STARS
Burns finished with a hat trick, and Phelan and Zadina both scored two goals. Iatarola was dynamic on dead balls, scoring on a free kick and regularly sending dangerous balls into the box off corner kicks.
BY THE NUMBERS
Burlington Central’s lone goal was scored by freshman forward Kailey Newquist, who converted a penalty kick for the first goal of the second half. The Ramblers, who are the No. 2 seed in the PepsiCo Showdown, followed that with five goals, including one scored by freshman forward Katia Novi on a penalty kick.
QUOTABLE
“Oh yeah [prom provided extra motivation]. It is what it is. It’s a very unique situation, and I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but particularly for females, it’s a life-cycle event and I’m actually proud of our girls that they came to a game, got ready for a game and put a lot into it to take care of business so they could go have their time. … Give our team and our leaders a lot of credit for getting themselves here and coming out and playing a good soccer game.” — Snower
