Powered by unstoppable sophomore Rachel Nuzzolese and unbeatable senior Arianna Efstathiou, the Friars never had any doubt. St. Anthony's jumped in front 4-0 and cruised to a 6-1 win over Buffalo champ Nichols late Sunday.
Just as she had done one day earlier against Fontbonne Hall, Nuzzolese scored just 30 seconds intro the game. She took a pass from senior midfielder Katie Nagy and dribbled through the Nichols defense for a quick 1-0 edge.
According to Prutting, it was the seventh hat trick of the season for Nuzzolese.
Nichols didn't respond until 10 minutes remained in the half. By then the Friars (19-0), ranked 15th in the NSCAA national high school poll and No. 1 in the Class AA rankings by the NYSSWA, held a commanding 4-0 edge.
All that was left was to collect the championship hardware.
STATE CHSAA SEMIS: FONTBONNE HALL
MVP
One day after ringing up four goals in a state semifinal win over Fontbonne Hall, sophomore striker Rachel Nuzzolese scored three times against Buffalo-Nichols. That's a remarkable showing in the crush of the postseason.SCORING
TEAM..........................................1.....2 — FINALBuffalo-Nichols............................1.....1 — 2
St. Anthony's................................4.....2 — 6
GOALS — BN: Smith 2; SA: Nuzzolese 3, Muzak, D'Aprile, Nagy. SAVES — BN: Novak 11; SA: Efstathiou 4.
©2007-08 Early Edition Media, Inc. Terms of Service are applicable to you. All rights reserved.