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Williamsport girls beat Greater Nanticoke in 2 OT thriller to reach district final

By Jon Gerardi 6 min read

Once she got done doing an interview after the game, Williamsport freshman Brnyli Carnevale walked back to her teammates who were all huddled together waiting for a post-game speech from coach Beckham Sibiski.

And once Carnevale got close, her teammates cheered loudly and quickly engulfed her for a hug. And it was more than deserving.

Carnevale is a freshman, but needless to say in Tuesday evening's game, she delivered the biggest performance of her young career so far. Carnevale scored with 9 minutes, 10 seconds left in the second overtime period to give Williamsport a thrilling 1-0 win in the District 2-4 Class AAAA semifinals over Greater Nanticoke to advance to the district final for a fourth straight year.

"I saw the goalie started to hesitate and I was so scared that It would be my last game with my team. All I saw was someone caving in on me and the goalie right in front of me," Carnevale said. "Yeah (I knew it was good). Once I saw her starting back further, I just knew."

"She'll chase after everything. I told my assistants in the first half she's a woman possessed for that soccer ball, and she'll do whatever it takes to put it in the net. And what a finish, too," Sibiski said.

Carnevale got fed the ball roughly 30 yards out and chased in on it, getting possession and turning inside of the 18. And with two Greater Nanticoke defenders closing in on her from either side, she ripped a shot to the right post  out of the reach of Trojanette keeper Penelope Serrano for the game-winner.

"To get in between the defenders is one thing, but then to put her laces through it, side netting volley with the keeper coming out at you? That's just next-level stuff. I couldn't be more proud of her," Sibiski said.

It was a thrilling contest on Tuesday that, as the game went along, had the makings of a game destined for penalty kicks before Carnevale decided it in double overtime to prevent it.

"A shootouts always kind of 50/50. ... I think we played the better soccer. It wasn't our best game, but I thought we had the better of the opportunities," Sibiski said ."Soccer-wise, we looked to do the right thing and wanted to get it done before penalties kicks because it's a 50/50 shot, and we didn't wanna leave it to that."

Williamsport out-shot Greater Nanticoke 11-2 through two overtime periods, but Serrano did well in keeping it scoreless through 105 minutes of soccer.

In the first overtime period with 9:55 to play, Carnevale got 15 yards out and tried sneaking a shot into the right post only for it to go wide. And with 3:40 left, it was Breah Phillipes who rifled a shot inside the 18 to the right but Serrano caught it.

Greater Nanticoke had a huge opportunity to put in a game winner in the first overtime period. With eight minutes left in the period, Greater Nanticoke's Karlie Atkins went down the near side of the field outside of the 18 and near the end of the field, crossed a great pass to her right in front of the goal. But the Trojanettes weren't able to get a shot off at a would-be open net as the ball went just past Greater Nanticoke's forward and eventually cleared out.

It was the only chance in either overtime period the Trojanettes would get as Williamsport didn't let up a single shot in the two overtime periods.

"With the way game was going, we knew the only way they would score would be from a silly defensive mistake and our back line did a really good job of limiting those. But, in the first half a few happened and we were fortunate Val (Beiter) was there," Sibiski said. "That's why she's there. She stepped up as a freshman all year long, owned the position best she could and she got it done. We'll take it."

Williamsport's back line and Beiter in goal did well preserving the shutout. The Trojanettes had just two shots on goal, both coming on chances in the first half.

Atkins rifled a shot from inside of the 18 near the end line to the near post, which Beiter blocked. Another shot came later that half from 15 yards out that was blocked.

"That was kind of the halftime talk. We weren't playing poorly. If we could just step it up a little bit technically to really connect passes after winning it, connect that final pass or that final touch out of our feet to finish, then we could score and win this game," Sibiski said. "Our possession has been a lot better and the girls across the back are finding a little more comfort in keeping the ball and connecting in the midfield or out wide or to Brynli's feet. I'm really proud of them how they've progressed throughout the season."

The Millionaires fired three shots on goal in the first half and had four in the second half. 

"We just kept doing give-and-go’s and finding any shot we could possibly find," Carnevale said.

Once regulation ended, Williamsport came out in the first overtime aggressive and kept possession for nearly the entire 15 minutes and never let Greater Nanticoke threaten.

"We just needed to keep up what we were doing," Carnevale said about what the talk was before the first overtime period started.

In the second half, Ella Brelsford nearly put the game away. The Millionaire got a 1-v-1 look to the 18 with a defender close and took a hard shot that Serrano blocked.

With 7:10 left in the first half, Williamsport had a chance to strike and go ahead before the break.

Carnevale got a loose ball to the left side of the 6-yard box and an open net near her. The shot went high, hitting the crossbar and bouncing down. But it never rolled over the goal line, and was grabbed by Serrano before it could be shot off a rebound in.

Brelsford had a direct kick with 24:40 left in the first half that she sent high. It looked like it was a good shot, but it went just over the net to remain scoreless.

Williamsport 1, Greater Nanticoke 0 (2 OT)

(DISTRICT 2-4 CLASS AAAA SEMIFINALS)

W--Brynli Carnevale, 9:10.

Shots: GN 2, W 11. Corners: GN 2, W 3. Saves: GN 10 (Penelope Serrano), W 2 (Valerie Beiter).

Records: Greater Nanticoke (10-9-1), Williamsport (9-4-7).

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