Girls soccer: Marin Catholic rolls into NorCal semifinals

The Marin Catholic girls soccer team had controlled the first half hour of the NorCal Division IV quarterfinal at home against Winters on Tuesday but only had a one-goal cushion to show for it.

Nora Snearly changed all of that in the last few minutes of the half, making a pair of dazzling runs – the first to score a goal in the 35th minute and the second to set up a goal by Siena White on the last kick of the half – as MC rolled to a 4-0 victory.

The No. 1 Wildcats (10-7-5) are set to host No. 4 Fresno Christian (23-1-1) in the semifinals at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

Against Winters (21-3-0), Snearly starred in the game’s decisive moments. Claire Hunnewell, who scored the first goal for MC in the 14th minute, found Snearly with a through ball in the 35th minute that set her loose behind Winters’ back line. Snearly was one-on-one with goalie Kylie Baker, took a touch to round the keeper then chased after the ball, finishing from a tricky angle with two defenders racing back toward the goal.

“When I first got the ball, I knew I needed to drive straight at the keeper and make her make a decision – either come out or stay in the goal,” Snearly said. “She ended up coming out and when a keeper is coming out at you, you can either chip them or move around them. I decided to move around because she was sprinting at me. If she was coming a bit slower, I probably would have chipped it.

“So she was sprinting at me, I took a little touch to the left of her and smooth finish into the back of the net.”

Snearly was at it again in first-half stoppage time, dribbling the ball along the right sideline to the end line. Snearly turned her defender a la Dutch legend Johan Cruyff then made a run along the end line and into the 18-yard box. Snearly picked out White, who struck the ball first time into the net to put MC ahead 3-0 and effectively put the game to bed.

“This girl had just come in and started marking me,” Snearly said. “I knew that on the other side, she was marking our left winger pretty tightly. She was just on your back all the time so I was able to face her up a little bit, Cruyff it, get past her, drive into the box where it’s dangerous then look for a pass. I played it with my left foot to Siena and she finished it beautifully.”

At that point, the damage was done and there was no way back for Winters despite its spectacular scoring prowess this season – 136 goals for, 11 against prior to Tuesday’s game. Five of those goals conceded came in a loss to Consumes Oaks. In the other 22 games, Winters — ranked No. 228 in the state by MaxPreps, 114 spots lower than MC — conceded just six times.

MC’s next opponent, Fresno Christian (ranked No. 140 in the state), boasts a similar scoring profile with 133 goals against just 12 conceded. MC has scored 54 times this season against 16 conceded. Snearly leads the way in both goals (12) and assists (10). White, typically a center back, ranks second in both stats with eight and six, respectively.

MC continued to pile on the pressure after Winters changed goalies at halftime. New keeper Violet Tuel made a string of impressive saves to keep the score line at 3-0, punching away a dangerous corner kick taken by Ava Korich in the 48th minute then denying Snearly on a shot from distance in the 51st minute.

Kate Batdorf hit the post for MC in the 54th minute then Tuel denied Katie McConneloug a goal in the 63rd minute.

“That’s a very tricky save because you don’t know when to go down and block the ball,” Snearly said. “You just have to kind of guess. She was incredible honestly. … She just played fantastic. She should be proud of that performance.”

MC eventually went up 4-0 following a corner kick taken by Elodie Snearly to the back post. Tuel made yet another strong save, stretching high to her right to get a hand on the ball. Batdorf was crashing the net and pounced on the loose ball for the final margin.

MC’s defense shut the door from there, claiming its fifth consecutive clean sheet despite facing an opponent that came in averaging 5.9 goals per game.

“Our back line, they’re powerful for us right now,” MC coach Elizabeth Snearly said. “They’re really making big plays. They’re playing very smart. They play off of each other and move with each other. That’s awesome to see and something that we’ve definitely developed throughout the season.”