HEPBURNVILLE - Mount Carmel got all the usual contributions from its offensive stars Saturday to earn a trip to the state tournament with a 6-2 win over Millville in the District 4 Class A consolation game, but the biggest contributor may have been the strong right foot of midfielder Taylor Getty.
Getty got the Red Tornadoes off to a good start with a goal on a free kick about 19 minutes into the game, and although she didn't score again, her booming corner kicks led to two of Mount Carmel's four second-half goals.
Leading scorers Ranotta Ahrensfield had a hat trick, and Ali Varano scored two goals, with each player scoring a breakaway of their own. The combination of their speed and Getty's power eventually overwhelmed Millville goalie Lea Bogart, who kept the Quakers in the game for about 40 minutes before the onslaught of 22 shots and 10 corner kicks got to be too much.
"We played them in the preseason and beat them, but after we learned they had Loyalsock in overtime on Thursday, we were a little concerned," said Getty. "But we also knew that if you got under their skin, they'd get flustered. One of the things we wanted to do was start out well. Everybody really went to the ball. We all wanted it so bad."
Millville strikers Maci and Madison Bower presented a problem as well. Likely the two most skilled players on the field, each scored a goal, and Mandy assisted on the first one, dribbling up the middle through players and deftly passing to Maci for the tying score in the first half.
"Our defense really did a good job of covering their strikers," Getty said.
But the Quakers just didn't offer enough backup, and their players spent much of the game bickering with each other.
Varano put the Tornadoes ahead with 6:42 remaining in the first half with a breakaway goal, but Madison Bower's goal quickly tied the game in the second minute of the second half.
But then Getty took over. Just four minutes after the tying score, she kicked a beautiful ball from the right corner which Varano headed into the net.
Ahrensfield's breakaway down the left side of the field made it 4-2 with 22:42 remaining.
Fourteen minutes later, Getty crossed another corner kick right to the goal mouth. The ball bounced to the other side, from where Paige Hornung sent it back strongly. The ball glanced off Ahrensfield and into the goal, although Hornung was given initial credit for the score and Mount Carmel led 5-2 with just 8:33 left.
The final goal was also credited to Ahrensfield two minutes later, but it was really an own goal, bouncing off a Millville player in a scrum in front of the net, again initiate by a strong corner kick.
"At the beginning of the season we had a goal to get into districts, and a wish, that this group of seniors would end their careers in states," said Mount Carmel coach Rich Miller. "We got both."
Mount Carmel (14-8) will play Distict 11 champion Schuylkill Haven on Tuesday at a site to be announced.
This is Mount Carmel's third trip to the state tournament.
"Ironically, the last time we made it, we beat Millville in a shootout for the spot," Miller said.
Loyalsock beat Warrior Run 1-0 in the championship game, in a battle of the past two state champions in the class.
Millville 1 1 - 2
Mount Carmel 2 4 - 6
MC - Taylor Getty, free kick, 18:55
M - Maci Bower (Mandy Bower), 27:17
MC - Ali Varano, 33:18
M - Mandy Bower, 41:14
MC - Varano (Getty), 45:31
MC - Ranotta Ahrensfield, 57:18
MC - Ahrensfield (Paige Hornung), 71:27
MC - Ahrensfield, 73:48
Shots: Millville 12, Mount Carmel 22. Corner kicks: Millville 1, Mount Carmel 10. Saves: Millville (Lea Bogart) 15, Mount Carmel (Megan Van Doren) 8.