Girls soccer: Richmond-Burton ends St. Edward's season

St. Edward hung in until the last minute - literally.

Anna Blaney scored with just over a minute left to lift Richmond-Burton to a 3-2 win against the Green Wave in the final of the Class 1A Harvard girls soccer regional Friday.

One night after a tough semifinal match, and missing 4 injured starters, the Green Wave gave the top-seeded Rockets all they wanted for 79 minutes.

Madison Knott had a goal and an assist and Cecilia Kochanek also scored for St. Edward (9-11-2).

"Playing less than 24 hours after what was our worst field (Thursday), we were just so dead in the legs," said Wave coach Tim Brieger. "We put everything out there. I couldn't ask for another ounce of anything from them."

Twice earlier, Richmond took 1-goal leads only to see the Wave answer each time.

Camryn Davis floated a long shot over St. Edward keeper Mariel Franco in the eighth minute. It looked like it might hold up until Kochanek scored on a similar shot, wafting into the top of the net. Knott assisted.

Then, early in the second half, the Rockets' Rachel Barrett pounced on a loose ball in front of the net and knocked it in. Again, the Wave answered about 20 minutes later.

Katie Ellsworth had a shot at a wide-open net before defender Sarah Kitterman came out of nowhere to deflect it away.

But on the ensuing corner kick, Madalynn Duffy fired a laser to Knott, who headed it in to knot the proceedings once again.

Richmond had a chance to take the lead, but Gabriella Ross shanked a penalty kick wide to the right.

Richmond dominated the game early on, outshooting the Wave 9-0 in the first 25 minutes. Franco kept the Wave in the game with some acrobatic saves.

"Mariel was standing on her head in the first half," Brieger said.

Kochanek's goal came on St. Edward's first shot of the game. That score helped the Wave regain its equilibrium and the scoring chances were more balanced the rest of the way.