St. Francis girls lose in division semifinal St. Francis girls lose in division semifinal (February 27, 2004)

Game ends 1-0 in Belmont's favor

By Reza Kazempour

The St. Francis Lancers' conservative style of play in the first half and missed opportunities in the second half were deciding factors in a 1-0 loss Tuesday to Notre-Dame Belmont in the division semifinal match. St. Francis opened its game playing defense to the Tiger's fast-break offense.

Despite an early goal scored in the 15th minute of play by Belmont's Michelle Ancelj, the Lancers turned their game around.

"They dominated the first half, but it was all us in the second half," said St. Francis freshman Liz Behlen.

Behlen created several opportunities in the second half by dominating the right side but they weren't converted into goals.

With ten minutes left, St. Francis increased its pressure by creating corner-kick opportunities. One of them resulted in St. Francis' Sarah Doyle going one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Doyle shot the ball under the keeper, but it went to the left of the post.

Another chance to score came when April Grolle shot the ball 30 yards from the net. The ball bounced over the keeper and barely over the crossbar.

Despite several chances in the second half for St. Francis to score, the early goal by Ancelj allowed Belmont to advance to the division championship game on Saturday.

"We came out slow in the first half," said St. Francis head coach Dawn Hill. "In the second half, we were able to push up on our forwards, and it created tons of opportunities for us, but the ball would just not go to the back of the net for us."

The Lancers finished the season 15-2-8 overall. Their road to the semifinal match included a 4-1 victory over Saratoga last Saturday and an 8-0 shutout in the first round against Sequoia.

E-mail Reza Kazempour at sports@mv-voice.com

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