Late goal propels Lady Hawks into semis

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Holley’s Samantha Bates gets set to line a shot for the game winning goal in the final two minutes of tonight’s sectional game as Taylor Norris tries to defend for visiting Bishop Kearney.

A fast start and a strong finish earned No. 4 seed Holley a narrow 3-2 victory over visiting No. 5 Bishop Kearney this evening in the quarterfinals of the Section V Class C1 girls soccer playoffs.

Holley jumped out to an early 2-0 lead as Halee Passarell scored on a penalty kick with 20:03 to go in the first half and Samantha Bates tallied off an assist from Hayley Skidmore with 5:20 remaining in the half.

However, Bishop Kearney came battling back to knot the contest as Emily Tytler scored with 2:33 remaining in the first half and again at the 29:58 mark of the second half.

That set the stage for an exciting fashion as Bates scored the game winner for the Lady Hawks with just 1:15 remaining in regulation time.

Improving to 12-1-2, Holley will next visit top seeded Avon in the semifinals on Monday.  Avon, which is 13-0, shutout No. 8 Marcus Whitman this evening in the quarterfinals.

Byron-Bergen 1, Kendall 0

No. 7 Kendall dropped a narrow 1-0 decision to Genesee Region League foe host No. 2 Byron-Bergen in the quarterfinal round of the Class C2 playoffs.

The Lady Eagles and Lady Bees also split a pair of 1-0 decisions during the G-R campaign.

Holley’s Halee Passarell heads up field ahead of Kearney defender Kaia Goode.