AUBURN — It didn’t take long before St. Dom’s was watching Saturday’s soccer game begin to slip away.

The St. Dom’s girls owned a one-goal lead entering the second half, but a strong start by Mountain Valley put that lead in jeopardy. The Falcons not only played great to start the second half, but soon tied the game.

St. Dom’s picked up its play late in the second half and then produced a pair of goals that lifted the Saints to a 3-1 win over the Falcons.

“(Mountain Valley) came out hard,” St. Dom’s coach Alicia Pelletier said. “They wanted it. Sometimes we kind of sit back because we have the lead. I’m really happy with the response we had. They didn’t let up. They kept fighting until the end. It allowed them to see what happens when we get into tougher games against teams, that if we get down, we need to keep fighting.”

Faith Grady had two goals and an assist for the 2-1 Saints, who were coming off a tough 2-1 loss at Madison.

“We knew by getting the penalty kick in the first (half) that we couldn’t sit on our lead, because it’s proven in the past that they take advantage of that, especially strong teams like this,” said Grady. “We knew we had to come out strong in the second half. They came out much stronger than we did. So we were flat at first, but then we stepped it up a little bit.”

The Falcons (1-2) got a great effort and had a number of chances to build off the early goal in the second half but just could finished another.

“We had plenty of opportunities,” Mountain Valley coach Lynn Gould said. “We just couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities that we had, unfortunately.”

The Saints took a 1-0 lead with 23:55 left in the first half when Grady scored on a penalty kick. Mountain Valley was whistled for a hand ball when a corner kick came into the goalmouth, and it was inadvertently hit by a defender’s hands. Grady chipped it high and to the left side for the goal.

The Falcons had some good tries to finish the half. Abby Mazza had a couple of shots. One of hers deflected off a defender and Michelle Hale put the shot over the net. Sarah Klein had a shot saved by St. Dom’s goalie Nicole Robitaille and LeAnne McNally had a nice run and cross, but none of the Falcons were there to steer it on net.

In the second half, Mountain Valley increased the pressure and created a number of chances.

“They just come out and stepped it up,” Gould said. “They turned it up. They did what they needed to do. As far as field positioning, we didn’t really change anything at all.”

Mazza nearly got by Robitaille for a goal, but the Saints keeper made the initial stop on the rush and recovered the loose ball.

Then at 5:35, Mazza finished one off. McNally had a corner from the right side. She put it in front where Mazza was able to redirect it into an open net.

The Falcons had another great chance when McNally set up Mazza again but Saints defender Sam Ladd broke up the play.

The Saints began to counter and Grady had a nice try off a turnover that was stopped by Falcons keeper Karen Flaherty. Then a nice passing play led to a Grady shot that went wide.

With 16:56 left in the game, Grady had a quickness advantage on the defense and used her space well to give St. Dom’s the lead. She raced past a defender on the right side and then cut back to the front of the net. Flaherty was caught in between staying in goal and charging. That gave Grady and easy open look.

“I learned freshman year that if the goalie comes out, to tap around them,” Grady said. “Then it’s an easy pass into the net. When I saw her take that lead, I knew I could just tap it around and make an easy pass.”

Just over a minute later, Grady’s cross from the right side set up Kirsten Connor at the left post.

The Saints were shorthanded defensively with senior starter Hailey Eason out of the lineup. Kym Johnson filled her spot, while Ladd and Robitaille did a nice job thwarting the Falcons attack.

“They were ready,” Pelletier said of Mountain Valley’s pressure to start the second half. “We were a little flat. We’re still missing one of our starters. So we’re switching a little bit in positions. It hurts us a little bit. We had some people stepping up. Kym did a nice job filling a position she doesn’t normally play. It was hard on her but she got the job done in the middle.”

kmills@sunjournal.com

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