Tri-City soccer squad overcame something they hadn’t seen to make the Final 4

The Three Rivers Black girls soccer team went 3-0 in pool play with its 3-0 win over Total Futbol Academy of Ohio at the United States Youth Soccer national championships in Orlando.

With the victory, the Tri-City team advances into the national semifinals.

It will play the SC Wave Juniors from Wisconsin, and the game is set for 7:30 a.m. Pacific on Saturday.

The other semifinal will pit Chicago Inter Red against Utah Celtic, also set at 7:30 a.m. Pacific on Saturday.

The winners will meet for the national title at 7 a.m. Pacific on Sunday.

In Thursday’s win, the Tri-City jumped out to a 2-0 first-half lead on goals from Kate Hollenberg and Kelsey Fulton.

Because of that, Three Rivers head coach Jason Quintero was able to substitute in the first half. That was key, giving some players some rest after playing three games in three days in the Florida heat and humidity.

“I was able to give Claire Potter and Emma Haertling some rest,” said Quintero.

Kelsey Lovercheck added a third goal in the second half.

Once again Three Rivers’ defense was outstanding, as was the split keeper play of Danika Galbraith and Lindsey Pasena-Littlesky.

“Our goal-keeping and defense have been solid this tournament,” said Quintero.

In the Ohio team, Three Rivers faced a Super High Offside Trap defensively.

“I haven’t seen anything like that since the early 2000s,” said Quintero.

The trap confounded Three Rivers’ offense early.

“Any ball that goes backwards, they’re defense is stepping up,” said Quintero. “Our girls were taking off from the half line too soon. We were offside 14 times in the first half.”

But eventually, Three Rivers players figured things out and jumped out to the lead.

In pool play, Three Rivers outscored its three opponents by a 10-2 margin.

And now, the team is in the Final Four.

“They are pretty stoked,” said Quintero. “The energy is up.”