Girls Soccer Downs Perry, Advances to Sectional Final
#6 Louisville 3, #9 Perry 1
The 6th Seed Louisville Leopards defeated the 9th Seed Perry Panthers 3-1 Monday in the DI 
Austintown Sectional Semifinals at Louisville Leopards Stadium. With the victory, Louisville improves to 12-1-2 overall and advances to the Sectional Finals at Canfield against the 2nd Seed Cardinals on Thursday.
The Leopards had several scoring opportunities go awry through the first 36 minutes of action. The bubble finally burst when Megan Chatelain charged into the crowded penalty box and tapped the ball into the left side of the net. The play was setup by Deana Ross who crossed the ball into the box from the right side of the field. The ball tipped off players from both teams before finding Chatelain.
Louisville added to their lead just 89 seconds later on a similar play. The ball was crossed from the right 
side into the box, Hannah Baughman pushed it to the left, and Maddie Berkebile flushed it home to put the Leopards ahead 2-0 with 1:36 left before halftime. Berkebile had just rocketed a shot on goal a few plays before that was saved by the Perry goalkeeper. This one found the back of the net and Louisville took a 2-0 lead into the break.
The Leopards took a convincing 3-0 lead early on in the second half. Kayla Gibson scored with 36:41 remaining in the game off a pass at midfield by Baughman. Louisville’s offense had several opportunities the rest of the way, but could not capitalize.
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The Panthers lone goal came via a free kick. Brianna Basham booted the ball into the top right corner of the net to cut the Leopards 3-1 with 26:32 to go. Louisville’s defense would clamp down the rest of the way clinch a Sectional Finals birth for the Lady Leopards.
Aubry Fankhauser turned aside several Panthers attacks and Goalie Celia Keefe also recorded 5 saves. Louisville would out-shoot Perry 26-9 for the game and double them up in corner kicks 6-3.
The two squads were scheduled to play three different days earlier this season and all three dates were cancelled. Yet, they still met in the tournament. With the victory, the Lady Leopards have now won 7 straight matches against the Lady Panthers. Louisville now leads the all-time head-to-head series 9-2-1 which includes a 2-0 mark against Perry in the postseason. The Lady Leopards are now 7-13 in tournament play all-time and 4-1 in home tournament games.
UP NEXT: The Lady Leopards will next travel to Canfield to take on the #2 Seed Cardinals in the DI Austintown Sectional Finals on Thursday, October 20 at 7:00 PM.
Pictures
Cover Photo Taken By Jim & Laura Photography
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