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Blake, Devlin propel Central Columbia girls to 6-0 win in districts over Montoursville

By GARRETT CARR 3 min read

Montoursville knew it was in for a challenge in Monday night's District 4 Class AA semifinal game at Loyalsock against Central Columbia. After all, the Blue Jays feature one of the best attacking pairs in all of Pennsylvania in 100-goal scorers Quinlan Blake and Joey Devlin.

The Warriors played well for stretches, but were ultimately overwhelmed by the pair, as they combined for all six Central Columbia goals en route to a 6-0 win over Montoursville.

"They’re just very talented. They have so much speed and skill, and they play really well together. Clearly, they're one of the best teams in the state, so there’s no shame in losing to them," Montoursville coach Vic Gorini said. "We would like to have competed a little better in the final stretch, but it didn’t happen tonight."

Blake and Devlin were simply dazzling.

The two work in sync at the top of the Blue Jay attack, and have proven impossible to contain this year. Heading into the match, they had a combined 92 goals, and showed why on Monday. Blake got the scoring started in the first five minutes, though Montoursville was able to hold the Blue Jays off the scoreboard for the next half-hour. But, when Blake scored again less than five minutes before half, it felt like the floodgates were going to open, especially with a crucial injury in the Montoursville back line.

"We were really just trying to get around the ball as much as possible and defend with numbers up because they're so good one-on-one. It was just a matter of us hustling, trying to put pressure on them and playing as a team defensively," Gorini said. "They kind of broke us down in the second half, and we had some injuries. They're just very good. They have a lot of offensive power, and we struggled to find our offensive groove tonight."

And with Central Columbia constantly pressuring the Montoursville goal, the Warriors couldn't sustain any success in the attacking third.

"They're just so good. They're so quick, and they move the ball really well. They had us playing defense a lot tonight, just by the nature of their play," Gorini said. "We were often forced to react to them as opposed to dictating play on the field."

While it's a disappointing end to the season, Gorini senses a bright future for one of the district's top perennial winning programs.

"We were happy with the season. We play a really tough schedule. It's a very solid league in the PHAC, especially the second division, and we're happy. We finished 11-6, I think, so it's a good season. We'll look to improve heading into next year," Gorini said. "Of course, we had a lot of young kids on the field out there. We had a good handful of freshmen and sophomores out there at any given time, so we feel good about our future moving forward."

Central Colmbia 6, Montoursville 0

CC--Quinlan Blake, 4:59. CC--Blake, 35:30. CC--‚Blake, 41:50. CC--Joey Devlin, 46:22. CC--Devlin 56:55. CC--Blake, 71:24.

Shots: M 2, CC 17. Corners: M 1, CC 6. Saves: M 11 (Abby Strassner), CC 1 (Braelyn Moran).

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