Sophia Carbone Leads Monte Vista to NCS Final

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was looking like it was going to be an amazing night for the #3 seed Bishop O'Dowd Dragons as they got off to a quick 2-0 lead against #10 seed Monte Vista Mustangs on Wednesday night. As she has been doing all season long, [player_tooltip player_id='289538' first='Chloe' last='Keating'] scored a goal from a [player_tooltip player_id='268395' first='Paloma' last='John-Baptiste'] pass and provided an assist to [player_tooltip player_id='111260' first='Abby' last='Forsgren'] to give the Dragons an early advantage. There was almost a sense of how many is O'Dowd going to score on their way to the Championship game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior striker [player_tooltip player_id='20223' first='Sophia' last='Carbone'] had other plans. She was the best player on the field from that point on. Leading her team to a 3-2 upset win on the road. She was a major force on both ends of the field. She won the most aerial duels I have ever seen in a single soccer game and Bishop O'Dowd had no answer for her.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Amanda Kayari Monte Vista's Goalkeeper had a great game with her incredible long range distribution in which she mostly targeted Carbone was class. Monte Vista's first goal came from Carbone as she got on to a ball with her relentless press and fired it home. The second goal came right before halftime where Kayari launched a long ball into O'Dowd's half where Carbone got control of it beat two defenders, passed it back to her teammate who made a lovely cross to the back post where her teammate Lexi Bresag headed home. Making it 2-2 right before halftime. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second half for some bizarre reason Carbone found herself on the bench and Bishop O'Dowd had a handful of chances to go up 3-2 early on. [player_tooltip player_id='268387' first='Ana' last='Pintard'] was excellent with her distribution from the back breaking lines and dumping long balls in great areas for her fast strikers to run onto. Kayari made some good saves to keep it level. Once Carbone came back on the field it was all Monte Vista for almost the entirety of the second half. Even when Bishop O'Dowd got a set piece in opposition territory Carbone would head the ball away from danger every single time. Fittingly she scored the game winner with her head getting on the end of a Kayleigh Michel cross to put her team in the lead with 8 minutes to go. O'Dowd were unlucky not to win a penalty in the dying moments as Keating was dragged down in the box and the referee ultimately went with a no call. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ultimately, I thought it was a fair result and Ms. Carbone was the catalyst in her teams gutsy comeback victory. If it wasn't for Bishop O'Dowd's goalie Parker Bridgman making some incredible second half saves Carbone could have scored 3 or 4. I caught up with the senior after the game and she stressed how her team has been in playoff mode since mid-January. "The beginning of the season was kind of rough. We know how to fight and come together as a team. We needed to string some wins together over the past month and we did. The past two seasons we lost to Carondelet in the Semi-Final and we are so excited to have the opportunity to win it this year." </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Even in defeat O'Dowd's season continues as they were the highest seed in the Semi-Final. They may have the opportunity for revenge against Monte Vista and/or win on an even bigger stage. Monte Vista will be very familiar with their competition for the championship on Saturday as they will be playing against their EBAL foe Amador Valley. Amador is a physical, gritty team who has all the momentum headed into the championship game after their EBAL Playoff Victory a couple of weeks ago. They are going for the double on Saturday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->