Holy Redeemer’s Hayleigh Dunsmuir (18) and Lakeland’s Ari Aquino (4) go after the ball during the District 2 Class 1A Girls Soccer Quarterfinals on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. FRANK LAURI / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
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Holy Redeemer’s Hayleigh Dunsmuir (18) and Lakeland’s Ari Aquino (4) go after the ball during the District 2 Class 1A Girls Soccer Quarterfinals on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. FRANK LAURI / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
FORTY FORT — It’s no secret, really.
Holy Redeemer senior co-captain Grace Stetz-Madden knows it. So does her coach, Robert Hughes.
It doesn’t matter if the Royals are the No. 1 seed or the last team in the bracket. Both understand that everyone is going to take their best shot at them.
“We’ve been hearing it for the past few years that people want to beat Redeemer because we have been winning,” Stetz-Madden said. “This year, I think we definitely felt that pressure a little bit more.”
Holy Redeemer landed a knockout punch before Lakeland even had a chance to take a good swing Thursday afternoon.
Elyse Kunec and Nina Lombardi each had hat tricks in the first half as the third-seeded Royals jumped out to an early, three-goal lead and rolled to a 12-1 win over the sixth-seeded Chiefs in the District 2 Class 1A quarterfinals.
Redeemer, the four-time defending district champ, advances into Saturday’s Class 1A semifinals against either No. 2 seed Holy Cross or No. 7 seed Forest City.
“Every year, I try to remind the girls that it’s a new year and we are a different team than we were last year. You can’t rest on your laurels,” Hughes said. “We have a target on our back every year with four district championships in a row. The girls need to understand that everyone is playing us like it’s a district championship.”
Hughes is always weary when the postseason comes. And if a poll was taken, most coaches would probably agree with his assessment.
It’s one-and-done in the playoff. A slip up, an off night, and the season comes to a crashing end.
In Holy Redeemer’s case, it’s about taking everyone’s best shot.
It’s a deserved honor. The Royals won four-straight district titles — three of them coming in Class 2A before Redeemer rolled to the Class 1A title last season.
It’s why seeds and records are sometimes a tricky thing to read.
Yes, Holy Redeemer is the three seed. Yes, the Royals entered Thursday with an 8-9 record. That speaks of the quality of schedule Hughes’ club played: Twice against Lake-Lehman, Wyoming Area and Nanticoke Area in addition to nonleague matches with Wilkes-Barre Area, Valley View and Montrose — handing the Meteors one of their three losses.
And yes, there’s no doubt Holy Redeemer is the favorite in the bracket.
“The competition we play all year gets us ready for these games,” Hughes said. “We are sort of ready and prepared when we get into districts.”
Redeemer (9-9) peppered Lakeland’s freshman keeper Greta Takach with 21 shots in the first half as the Royals kept possession on their offensive end for probably 35 of the 40 first-half minutes.
Once Kunec beat Takach on a perfectly-placed pass from Lombardi to the lower right side of the goal, it seemed to open up all the offense.
The Royals scored in every possible way in the first half. One of Kunec’s three goals was a direct kick from about 30 yards out, while Lombardi scored on two break-away attempts. And to hammer the point home that Redeemer was in total control, sophomore Emily Cunningham ripped a shot that appeared to be sailing right of the goal. Instead, it whacked off Kunec’s shoulder and deflected into the goal for the sixth score of the first half.
“You get that first goal in the first five or 10 minutes, and you can see that it settles everyone down,” Hughes said. “It just allows everyone to settle into their game. We like to play possession soccer and move the ball around. We don’t want to get caught up in those long-ball games and scrambling to score.”
Lia Limongelli picked up a hat trick in the second half, while Kunec and Lombardi each recorded their fourth goal. Tessa Cegelka’s score with 15 minutes left gave the Royals a 12-0 lead before Lakeland’s Naomi Rude prevented the shutout with one second remaining.
Redeemer held a 35-3 edge in shots, and a 5-0 advantage in corners. Takach ended with 14 saves for Lakeland (8-11).
“This year, we came up short in a lot of games, losing, I think, five games by one goal,” Stetz-Madden said. “A lot of times, we were falling short in the second half, and in the last few practices, we’ve been drilling it in our head that we have to play a full, 80-minute game. We lost five starters from last year, so we had a lot of shoes to fill. I think our chemistry has gotten so much better at the end of the season.”
First: HR, Kunec (Lombardi), 33:30. HR, Lombardi (Cegelka), 27:21. HR, Lombardi (Kunec), 25:06. HR, Lombardi, 19:21. HR, Kunec, 18:01. HR, Kunec (Cunningham), 13:20; Second: HR, Kunec, 26:02. HR, Limongelli, 28:45. HR, Lombardi, 24:57. HR, Limongelli, 18:18. HR, Limongelli, 16:01. HR, Cegelka, 15:01. LL, Rude, 0:01; Shots-corners: LL 3-0, HR 35-5; Saves: LL 14 (Takach), HR 0 (Werner, Carter).
Originally Published:
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