DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
Considering the last two regional matchups between Yorktown and Bellmont went to overtime and finished 1-0, there didn’t seem to be much of a chance of a blowout Thursday night, but that’s exactly what Carly Gilbert and the Bellmont Braves did, smashing the back of the net seven times and humiliating Yorktown in a match that was never in doubt.
Gilbert set up two of Bellmont’s first three goals in the first half, then scored early in the second half, but it was her goal in the 80th minute that had everyone talking.
Having missed a sitter just a minute earlier, Gilbert took a perfectly-weighted pass from Arabelle Laurent, who had just scored a few minutes earlier to make it 6-0, and beat a defender. The senior tied Bellmont’s all-time goal-scoring record by beating the keeper and the clock with a toe poke into the back of the net. In an incredible moment, the ball crossed the line with a tenth of a second to go.
Gilbert now sits even with Rylie Velez with 90 career goals. She will have a chance to move into first if she can score against Leo Saturday.
Anna Ruble was the early star of the game, deflecting Gilbert’s first shot of the game past keeper Lilly Kleinschmidt to open the scoring.
Four minutes later it was Emma Scheumann finding space in the midfield and then playing the ball forward to Arabelle Laurent, who found Ruble at the penalty stripe and a chance to make it 2-0. Ruble did just that, scoring her sixth goal of the season. The junior has now scored in each of Bellmont’s last three postseason matches.
In the 19th minute, Carly Gilbert took a throw-in in the far corner and played the ball past a defender into the box. She picked out a wide-open Kate Kitson all the way across the box with a strong pass and the freshman left back struck a shot perfectly, lofting the ball over Kleinschmidt and into the top corner for a highlight-reel finish and a 3-0 lead.
The Braves continued to pressure Yorktown and were very direct with their play, but it was an atypical pass over the top by Scheumann to Gilbert that nearly left the Tigers with just 10 men on the field. Gilbert used her speed to run onto the ball and she got a touch on the ball just as Kleinschmidt exited the box. The Yorktown keeper swept the feet out from under Gilbert, committing a clear foul as the ball went into the box (wide of goal) and the forward went tumbling.
The play caused a stoppage of play and of the clock while the center official discussed what had transpired with the side judge. Despite the denial of a clear goal-scoring opportunity by the last defender, Kleinschmidt was only shown yellow, sparing the Tigers the indignation of having to play the final 57 minutes down a man.
Kleinschmidt was, by rule, forced to leave the game momentarily and backup keeper Mya Hargreaves came in. Gilbert smashed the Yorktown wall with her shot, but just a minute later she entered the box with three Tiger defenders on her tail and still managed to thread a pass into Alberding, whose shot at close range was saved by Kleinschmidt, who had returned to the game moments earlier when the ball went out of play. The rebound from the shot came all the way to the top of the box where Emma Scheumann was ready to pounce. She buried the ball in the back of the net for the third goal of her senior season.
Bellmont carried their 4-0 lead into halftime and with the game out of reach, Yorktown went with Hargreaves between the posts and elected to play Kleinschmidt up top at forward.
It made little difference to the Braves.
After assisting on two scores in the first half, Gilbert scored one of her wilder goals in the 49th minute. An attempt to pass the ball away from goal by Lilly Alberding was blocked by a Yorktown defender and looped its way to the feet of a Tiger center back, but her attempt to clear was a miss and the slightest of touches by Gilbert on a bouncing ball sent the ball over the head of the freshman Yorktown keeper and across the goal line for a 5-0 Bellmont lead.
With just minutes remaining, Arabelle Laurent made her best attempt to get Gilbert her record-breaking goal, but it was Gilbert who ultimately fed Laurent at the top of the box for a chance to score. Laurent went left and then right and slotted the ball across the mouth of the goal to the far post, leaving Hargreaves no chance and it was 6-0.
Now the team must prepare for what has always seemed like an inevitable rematch with the Leo Lions. The Braves’ season came to an end last October when they fell to the Lions 1-0 in the same game.
Saturday’s regional final will be broadcast on WZBD’s YouTube channel.
Scoring Summary
4′-Anna Ruble (Gilbert assist)
8′-Anna Ruble (Laurent assist)
19′-Kate Kitson (Gilbert assist)
24′-Emma Scheumann (Alberding assist)
49′-Carly Gilbert (A. Laurent assist)
76′-Arabelle Laurent (Gilbert assist)
80′-Carly Gilbert (A. Laurent assist)
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