Lower Dauphin girls soccer starts fast, dominates Mars to advance to state championship game

ALTOONA — In the chilly air of Mansion Park, Lower Dauphin girls soccer coach Nic Amici told his team to take one breath.

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In between those two gasps of air were two halves of dominance, as the Falcons girls soccer team executed from whistle to whistle in the PIAA 3A girls soccer semifinal against Mars, defeating the Planets 4-0 to advance to the program's second-ever state championship game.

Here's how the Falcons did it.

The stars

Ashley Economopoulos had another standout showing for the Eagles, scoring a pair of goals.

Bella Tran scored a goal and notched an assist, while Adrienne Debock also netted a goal.

Nahla Raab was huge in net for the Falcons, snagging eight saves and a shutout for LD.

Game-deciding moments

Lower Dauphin was aggressive from the whistle, and created chances early. That resulted in Debock, sprinting down the right wing, to fire a laser into the top of the goal to put Lower Dauphin up 1-0 two minutes in.

Raab would then pass her first test of the game, standing tall in traffic to prevent a scoring chance for the Planets.

Shortly after, Economopoulos would drill a line-drive goal of her own to the top left corner, putting the Falcons up 2-0 just 11 minutes in.

The Planets put together more chances to halve the deficit, but again Raab and the backline of the defense was able to either clear or corral the ball, with only Julia Lishia getting a direct look on goal.

Then, with 11 minutes left in the first half, Bella Tran, deep in the Mars territory, would cross a perfect grounded feed to Economopoulos, who tapped the ball in to put LD up 3-0 and really have the team cruising.

Tran would put a goal in 10 minutes into the fourth quarter to put the garish on the win.

Up next

The Falcons will head to Eagle View in Mechanicsburg for the 3A state championship game, where they will take on Strath Haven of District 1.

They said it

"One game at a time. We always come into the game with nothing to lose. We have nothing to lose. Give it everything. Play every game like it's your last game. And I think having that mentality has honestly gotten us through this whole postseason run. I don't think we ever expected to make this far, and it is just a blessing."- Lower Dauphin midfielder Ashley Economopoulos on the team's mindset

"My teammates do such a good job. They make sure I just stay focused. Obviously, we still need some energy, some excitement, but they also we make sure that we calm down at times so we're not too excited and don't get too ahead of ourselves. But we definitely are all team players, and we just work together." - Lower Dauphin keeper Nahla Raab on staying in the moment in big situations

"Big difference between our last game against Fox Chapel [in the quarterfinals], when I didn't think we came out with the right energy and everything else. I think we were a little little off to get things started. [Tonight] they came out with both feet, and were ready to go. And that goal was huge for us. It was awesome." - Lower Dauphin head coach Nic Amici on Adrienne Debock's quick goal in the win