Girls soccer: Marin Catholic shows resilience in comeback win at Branson

After losing a pair of league games last week and trailing by a goal at the half to The Branson School on Tuesday, the Marin Catholic girls soccer team faced a make-or-break moment.

The Wildcats responded in a big way, scoring twice in four minutes to take the lead then tacking on an insurance goal at the death to secure a 3-1 victory.

“We had a pretty tough week last week by losing to Redwood and (Terra Linda),” said Marin Catholic midfielder Nora Snearly, who scored the game-winning goal. “This week we were just focused on one game at a time.”

The victory moved MC up into third place on 12 points and kept the Wildcats still very much in the title race – two points behind Redwood and one behind Tam.

“(The win) does create a new pathway for us and a little bit more control of our destiny which feels really good after a tough week,” MC coach Isaiah Schwerin said.

After conceding a goal by Branson’s Ally Hsieh — set up by Catrin Howell — inside the first 10 minutes, the Wildcats (9-4-2, 4-2-0 MCAL) came out of the half determined to end their brief mid-season swoon.

“At halftime we really focused on bouncing back from that goal that occurred in the first half,” MC defender Siena White said. “Our captains were really strong. They led our halftime speech and without them I don’t think we could have come back even stronger in the second half.”

White was the catalyst as MC scored in the 55th minute to climb back into the game. White received a ball from Sloane Carey outside the 18-yard box and fired a shot on frame that forced an impressive save from Branson goalie Charlotte Houser, who pushed the ball out for a corner.

Snearly took the corner for MC, Ellie Seymore got a touch on it to redirect it toward White, who found the back of the net for the equalizer.

A few minutes later MC was in front 2-1 after Carey made a spectacular run through multiple defenders along the end line before finding Snearly inside the box, who took a touch then finished into the bottom corner for the goal.

“Sloane is an incredible player,” Snearly said. “When I transferred [from Cardinal Newman], she was one of the first people that I was – I mean I was excited to play with the entire team – but she was the one player that I was probably the most excited to play with. Seeing her dribble through that team, I was just like if the ball gets to me I’m going to finish it for her because she did the work.”

Branson (13-3-2, 3-2-1), which dropped to fourth place following the loss, pushed numbers forward and earned a slew of corners over the final 20 minutes.

“Savannah (Browne) and Siena were really important in this win, dropping off and then being able to get up on their striker’s back and not let them turn,” said MC goalie Finn Seymore of her two center backs. “Everyone was 110% with their marks. … I think they had 11 corners on us – for us to be able to continuously clear — it was just great marking by our team.”

After being held at bay for about 20 minutes, Branson generated a slew of great chances in the final 3 minutes of the game. Sophie Arnal had a shot that missed wide by a few inches in the 78th and Giselle Hernandez hit the left post in the 80th minute.

MC countered quickly off that miss with Carey playing a ball forward to Lana Whilborg, who slotted the ball into the net with basically the last kick of the game to secure all three points.

“Just brilliant vision from Sloane to find (Whilborg) then the composure to calmly slot it — it was a pretty exciting end to the Battle of the Blues,” Schwerin said, referring to the yearly two-legged competition between the two schools. MC won both games this year to maintain its hold on the trophy.

MC still has a pathway to winning the MCAL regular season with a game left against Tam, which has a one-point lead for second place and a game in hand over MC (12 points) and Redwood (14). Tam hosts Redwood this Thursday, then plays Archie Williams next Tuesday before hosting MC to end the regular season next Thursday.

“This was a super big step going into our game with Tam,” White said. “We had a really rough week, I think a lot of people know that, but we just wanted to prove ourselves again and I think this game really showcases how powerful we can be against Tam.”

Around the county

• A season that has already had a number of twists and turns offered up another one on Tuesday as eighth-place San Marin (2-7-2, 0-3-2) battled first-place Redwood to a 0-0 draw. The Giants (10-2-4, 4-0-2) remain in first place for now but will need a result against Tam on Thursday to stay there.
• Lauren Willard and Addie Covey combined to be involved in all six goals as Tam posted a 6-0 victory against San Rafael (10-6-0, 1-4-0) on Tuesday. Covey had one goal and two assists for the Red-tailed Hawks (10-3-5, 4-0-1) and Willard had one goal and three assists. Tam also got goals from Hana Leach, Marissa Scanlan, Kate Carvalho, and CeCi Murdoch. Ava McMahon also had an assist.
• Mari Rode scored four goals and had an assist as Archie Williams took another step toward an MCAL playoff berth following an 8-1 victory against Novato on Tuesday. The Peregrine Falcons (4-4-4, 2-2-1) also got two goals from Caroline Lozaw, plus one each from Phoebe Morf and Elsa Hunt. Piper Kelley had an assist for Archie Williams, which could clinch a playoff berth on Thursday with a win against San Rafael combined with a Terra Linda win or tie against San Marin.
• Raya Leikin scored twice and added an assist to lead Marin Academy to a 4-0 win against San Domenico (2-6-2, 0-5-1 BCL West) on Tuesday. Sadie Goodenough scored the other two goals for MA (11-1-1, 6-0-0).