St. Pius got two goals from Caroline Orman and key defensive plays in the second half from fullback Elizabeth Freeman and keeper Emory Wegener, fueling the Golden Lions’ 2-0 win over rival and top-ranked Marist on Saturday at Mercer University’s Anderson Field.
It's the fourth straight state championship for the St. Pius girls and the program's 10th overall. Coach Sara Schmitt has six of those state titles during her nine seasons.
Marist entered the match undefeated and with a 2-1 win over St. Pius during the regular season under its belt, but the War Eagles couldn’t solve Wegener, who made multiple clutch saves and got help from Freeman to thwart an open-net opportunity that would have tied the score 1-1 13 minutes in the second half.
Instead, Orman, a junior midfielder, delivered the clincher, corralling a loose ball just outside the Marist box and beating War Eagles keeper Courtney Peters on the short side to give the Lions a 2-0 lead with 16 minutes to play. Orman opened the scoring with a goal 13 minutes into the game.
"She hasn't scored a goal in a few games," Schmitt said of Orman. "We've been waiting and waiting. We felt like this was going to be her game and it was. she was in the right place at the right time, and she put the ball were it needed to go."
St. Pius had only one senior starter and was undersized in the majority of matches this season. Twice, the Golden Lions suffered back-to-back loses during the regular season, including against McIntosh and Marist in late March. They didn't the rest of the season and celebrated with big hugs and smiles.
"If you would have asked me in January, I don't know if we would have been here," Schmitt said. "But they slowly just stepped up every game and got better and better, playing our best in the state championship game."
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