St. Vincent girls capture NCS Division 3 soccer crown

The St. Vincent de Paul High School girls soccer team stormed the field in elation Saturday afternoon after completing a perfect season with a 4-0 championship win against Rohnert Park’s Credo High.

The top-seeded Mustangs, 19-0 overall and 16-0 in the North Central League II, prevailed through injuries and a controversial ruling to claim the North Coast Section Division 3 title in a defensive slugfest.

Mustangs senior forward Katie Gross sliced through the defense before arrowing a laser to score the game’s first point in the 15th minute. She later took a hard hit from Credo’s Shasta Oru in extra time before the end of the first half, leaving her immobile on the ground for four minutes before her sister and teammate Neila Gross helped her off the field. St. Vincent fans and coaches protested when no foul was called. Gross passed concussion tests and was subbed in for 12 minutes in the second half.

“I’m OK - no concussion, thankfully,” Gross said after the game. “I thought it should have been a call. My coaches thought it could have been a yellow card because the ball was nowhere near me.”

The injury “was unfortunate, but they responded well, to get a goal that quick after the hit was important,” assistant coach T.J. Perez said.

When the injury looked to change momentum toward the Gryphons, St. Vincent’s sophomore striker Athena Edwards sucked the life out of the Credo faithful. She shot a rifle goal on the last possession of the first half to put the Mustangs up 3-0. It was one of two goals on the day for Edwards.

A penalty shot by St. Vincent senior Grace Hosbein scored the second goal of the half.

Credo failed to penetrate the Mustangs’ brick-wall defense of junior Julia Murphy, junior Patti Chelini and senior Rebecca Wolff, which stopped every drive. Credo only had a pair of goal attempts in the first half.

Defense paved the way to the the championship for St. Vincent, which allowed just one goal during its dominant three-game playoff run. The Mustangs outscored opponents 17-1 in that span.

“19-0, championship confirmed!” St. Vincent head coach Kevin Richardson declared after the game. “We had a lot of depth and they all worked really hard to get here.”

After the game, NCS commissioner Gil Lemmon congratulated the Mustangs players and coaches and presented the championship banner, which will hang in the school’s gymnasium.

Credo finishes with a 12-5-1 overall record, 10-3-1 in NCL II.