Dakota Fitzgerald scored two goals and Silvia Ramirez one while freshman goalie Allison Clifton allowed one goal.
Greer will host a second round game Wednesday night at Dooley Field at 7 o’clock versus an opponent to be named Tuesday.
“I told them, ‘Ladies, you made history tonight.’ They got me pretty good when I walked into the locker room,” DePaol said.
Greer’s girls and boys won Region III soccer championships for the first time in school history. The boys play York at Dooley Field tonight at 7 in a first round game.
York took a 1-0 lead at the 25-minute mark but Greer didn’t appear to let that bother them. DePaol said he has seen the team mature in the past year. “Last year this group lost a lot of these games (when an opponent scored first). This year it’s like, ‘OK, take a breath and we’ll be all right.’”
Five minutes after York’s goal, Fitzgerald tied the game 1-1 with a cross from Alex Banks. Ninety seconds later Rameriz scored to give Greer the lead 2-1 at intermission.
Fitzgerald scored her second goal on a penalty kick three minutes into the second half.
Clifton played well in goal. “I don’t know that we should have let any goals in. We made a young mistake on their goal and Allison wasn’t able to bail her out,” DePaol said. “I tell the girls if you make an incorrect mistake, that’s fine. Don’t make another mistake on top of that.”
DePaol said he anticipated a different beginning. “I thought we would have a lot of energy to start and not worry about the fear and nervousness. I think they started out nervous. I think it took that goal to calm us down and for us to say, ‘we’ll figure it out from here.”
Greer’s crowd pleased DePaol. “The crowd was great tonight. We always have a good amount of students and parents and our fans were enough to overwhelm the other team’s.”
Soccer has raised attention in the community. “I think it’s good that the community seems to be getting involved and is looking at what’s happening over here with both of our programs doing well,” DePaol said.