Girls Soccer | McAuley starts playoffs with rout, but falls to LW East in regional title game

By Steve Millar
Correspondent

Hosting a playoff game on its new turf field for the first time, Mother McAuley made it a memorable occasion.

Four players scored two goals each and the eighth-seeded Mighty Macs rolled to an 8-1 win over 10^th-seeded T.F. United in a Class 4A Mother McAuley Regional semifinal on May 17.

The season ended for Mother McAuley (10-8-3) on May 19, however, with a 4-1 loss to second-seeded Lincoln-Way East in the regional championship game.

Against United, Macs senior forward Ciara Hosty, freshman forward Calli Edwards, junior midfielder Ava Grace Sales and senior midfielder Riley McKee each scored twice for Mother McAuley. Hosty also had three assists and Gabriella Martin made six saves.

“We said we wanted to start strong,” Mother McAuley coach Jenna Ryan said. “They ended up having the first shot, but from there we turned it on. I think in the midfield, Xotchil (Ramirez) and Emily Kovar were able to control the game. We were able to rely on them.

“So often we’re just kicking the ball around, but today we kept finding them and they were able to control it. We were able to connect and get all our passes going.”

After Edwards opened the scoring in the ninth minute, Hosty made it 2-0 four minutes later.

Sales then scored the prettiest goal of the night, volleying in Ramirez’s cross to increase the lead to 3-0.

“It was an awesome ball from Xotchil and honestly I just threw myself at it to get it in the back of the net,” Sales said. “It felt amazing. It was unreal. I feel like I’ve been working hard and it feels great to make it happen like that.”

T.F. United was still in relative striking distance down 3-0 at halftime, but the Mighty Macs poured it on in the second half as Edwards, Hosty and Sales each scored their second goal in the same order that they struck in the first half.

McKee added the final two goals, her second and third of the season.

“It was awesome,” McKee said. “I got the other goal on our senior night, but doing it in this game was awesome, too. Especially the celebrations with our team after.”