Gabrielle Schwartz’s goal carries Young into Public League final

Young took the early initiative against Northside on Tuesday at Lane, and it paid off.

Sophomore Gabrielle Schwartz’s header off a corner kick from senior Margaret Zahrah in the the sixth minute resulted in a 1-0 win in the semifinals of the Public League championship.

“That is my third goal off a header,” Schwartz said. “As a team we have gotten a lot better at crashing the net. I was in an adrenaline rush. I don’t think I have screamed so loud in so long.”

Young (17-4-1) failed to stretch the lead in the first half, and nearly paid for it in the second half. It withstood a bevy of solid scoring chances from Northside (10-6-1) to hold on for a win.

“It was for sure very nerve racking,” Schwartz said. “Our defense did a good job of communicating and making sure that we were aware of their pressure.”

Northside junior Megan Trick’s connected on a through pass to senior Nora O’Brien in the 57th minute, but was unable to finish the breakaway.

“The second half they had us on our heels with some of those through balls,” Young coach Spero Mandakos said.

In the 62nd minute, Northside junior Bella Manobianco got past the keeper, but couldn’t get between the ball and the final defender.

O’Brien just missed out on rounding the keeper as her heavy touch put the ball over the touchline in the 63rd minute.

“We are just really proud of the effort that our girls put in and the resiliency they showed,” Northside coach Robert Albritton. “We came off a 6-1 loss to them in the first game, where we looked really bad. We talked about how we have improved since then as a team.”

Young had two solid chances late in the first half and at the outset of the second half to build the lead.

In the 22 minute, Schwartz nearly scored for a second time with a blast from 30 yards that was bound for the near post, but was saved.

Four minutes into the second half, Zahrah dribbled 15 yards to the left corner off the box and pushed her strike wide.