Nicole Breece scored in the 36th minute as the St. Louis Scott Gallagher IL Premier girls defeated the FC Pennsylvania Strikers 1-0 late Friday night in the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in Phoenix to earn a spot in the Under-17 championship match Sunday.
SLSG (2-1) will meet the NSA Premier Fury (2-0-1) of Illinois for the title Sunday at 11 a.m. St. Louis time. In the opening round of the event Wednesday, the Fury blasted the local squad 6-0.
“It’s been a crazy couple of days, but we’re right where we wanted to be,’’ SLSG coach Tony Schmitt said. “We’ve played NSA quite a bit over the years and there’s a mutual respect that has developed. They embarrassed us Wednesday, but I know there’s no team our girls would rather face.
“We’re a little numb right now, but tomorrow, we’ll turn the page and start working on the next chapter of this unbelievable story.’’
SLSG, which rallied to beat the So Cal Blues 2-1 Thursday on a goal from Jenn Miller (Cor Jesu Academy) in the 90th minute, carried that momentum into Friday’s match against the Strikers (1-1-1). About 15 minutes in, Miller hit the goal post from about 20 yards out.
Later in the half, Breece, a senior-to-be from Parkway South, broke in and scored with a blast from about 18 yards out.
“Under pressure, Nicole hit a screamer into the far corner,’’ Schmitt said. “To me, the best part was the celebration; just seeing all those smiles made my night.’’
The Strikers turned up the pressure as the match progressed, but SLSG and goalkeeper Jessica Perry (Webster Groves) held it together for the shutout victory.
“We stayed organized and did what we needed to do,’’ said Schmitt, crediting his team’s ability to battle through injury and illness in Phoenix. “This truly was a team effort; you don’t win a game like that unless every one of your players is doing her job. At this level, because of the intensity and what’s at stake, it doesn’t matter if you’re playing the last five minutes of the half or if you’re on the field for the full 90 minutes, everybody has to play well if you’re going to come out on top.’’
Schmitt does not expect either team to focus too much on Wednesday’s 6-0 result.
“That first game got away from us in the second half, but I honestly felt like we had the better of the play in the first half,’’ Schmitt said. “Our tactics and our organization will be a bit different (Sunday), but in the end it’s going to come down to execution. If we go out and play the way we’re capable, there’s no doubt in my mind we can win this thing.’’
