The Girls’ Soccer Team defeat #3 seeded in the conference and 1st place in the white division, Bishop Ahr, in an intense penalty shootout after Senior captain, Melanie Albanese, ties the game 1-1.
It was clear that Saturday would become a historical moment for the Colonia Patriots as Senior Captain, Jess Malinchok, slams in the penalty that secured the win when Junior captain, Kelly Silva, makes two penalty saves.
Hardwork is the word of the week after heart and dedication drove the girls soccer team back to Bishop Ahr for a third time after defeating Middlesex in the preliminary round 1-0. The Trojans were believed to have the upper hand after defeating Colonia 2-0 not once, but twice during the season. Doubt floated like flies in the air as many thought Bishop Ahr could do it a third time, but Colonia had other plans. “I was extremely excited to play BGA for the third time. I felt like we had something to prove because we made silly mistakes the first two times which caused us to lose”, Silva exclaimed.
After the Trojans scored a goal in the first half by Jill Balsamo, the Patriots refused to let down. “When they scored the first goal I was upset at myself. I knew it was going to be a hard game and by me letting in the goal I knew I made it even harder. I thought to myself I could’ve stopped that and that I let my team down by letting it in,” Silva confessed as she talks about being the last line of defense. Silva continued on to make 13 more saves in the game, and their strong motivation to keep going drove Albanese to tie the game up in the second half.
The girls were overjoyed with excitement, but they knew they couldn’t let it go to their heads as Malinchok spoke out, “When I saw Mel score, I was at loss for words. I was beyond happy, but I also knew BGA was going to be super mad and we had to stay focused and keep our heads in it, because they were going to come out tougher than they already were. We couldn’t let this slip away from us.” Slide tackles, pushes, fouls and kicks were thrown as the last whistle was coming to a close.
The worry was beginning to show as the Bishop Ahr coach and players started to take their frustrations on each other as they simply couldn’t believe they were at over time with a 19th seed team. By the time the whistle blew, they knew this was a matter of who can use their fear in their favor. Silva once again confessed how nervous she was through the process, “ When the whistle blew and it was time for penalties I was extremely nervous. Not because I wasn’t confident in my team, but mainly because it’s just so much pressure being in a penalty shoot out. As I was getting ready I tried to shut everyone out, I just focused on the penalties because I knew if I started listening to the crowd or to all the girls I was going to become nervous and mess up.”
Sophomore, Ally Poulakowski, walked up to take the first penalty. Determination in her stature as she stood a few yards behind the ball. After perfectly placing the ball behind the net, she went to hug her teammates with the weight lifted off her shoulders for even just a few seconds. Silva managed to save Jenna Shed’s penalty kick, but after Junior, Daniela Cruz, missed her penalty for Colonia, it was all about sudden death. Silva once again made a save against Junior, Emma Herban, and then it was all up to Malinchok to put it away and bring home the win against a team that hasn’t been defeated by Colonia in nearly 10 years. “Being able to a part of the team that finally beat them after such a long time, was an amazing feeling. We knocked out the first place team in our division and the #3 seed in the conference in penalties. Scoring the winning PK was the best feeling ever, and I don’t think that game couldn’t have gone any better,” Malinchok exclaimed.
The expectations of everybody, including Bishop Ahr, did not affect Colonia, and if anything, it gave them more motivation to win. “I would like to tell any athlete to never let a number, record or any type of label define your team. Your team is what you make of it not what others make it out to be,” Silva declared.
“I wanna wish my underclassmen teammates the best of luck next season. I wish I could be on the field with them. I want them to remember to keep working as a team and I remember they’re family no matter what…. I hope BGA realizes that Colonia isn’t the same “easy” team they think we are…I hope our conference opponents are ready for a new Colonia next season, because we got a whole new boat of confidence coming.” Malinchok finished. The Patriots of 2016 cleared the dry route and finally, defeated former state champions Bishop Ahr.
