Gretna East's Sonora DeFini scored three goals in Saturday's semifinal, boosting her season total to 42. The Griffins will go for their second straight state title Monday while DeFini and some other seniors are looking for their fourth in a row, having won two previously at Gretna.
NICK RUBEK
WorldHerald Staff Writer
The state's best player led the state's top team to the state's last game.
Senior forward Sonora DeFini had a hat trick Saturday afternoon, helping Class B No. 1 Gretna East to a 5-1 win over fifth-ranked Blair in the girls semifinal.
It puts DeFini and a handful of seniors one win away from a fourth title after having won two at Gretna in 2022 and 2023. The Griffins will go for their second straight championship at 5:30 p.m. Monday.
The Oklahoma State signee's goals -- her 40th, 41st and 42nd of the season -- marked her seventh match with three or more.
"That's just what she does," Gretna East coach Chace Hutchison said. "We know that we have something special in our attack, with Sonora and then also with our other attackers, as well. You can always expect that when the moment needs her, she's going to be there. She's always composed and she's always in the right spot, and she buries it most of the time."
After Addison LaRock put the Griffins up in the 16th minute, DeFini's first -- a physical charge in the box -- doubled the lead six minutes later.
Blair pulled one back late in the first half, when sophomore Laynie Brown put in an angled shot from left to right for her 13th on the year.
DeFini gave the Griffins some breathing room early in the second half, spinning in the top left corner of the box and going with a right-footed shot to the far post past keeper Kaitlynn O'Neil.
Teammate Kendall Dobberstein added another in the 64th minute, finding space in the area with a move to her left and firing home the 23rd of her senior campaign.
The third for DeFini came nine minutes later, a header on an assist from Dobberstein.
"We got back to our principles of possession," Hutchison said of the second half. "Obviously, Kendall and Sonora are very enticing options up top to try to get them to try to run behind, but what we saw in the first half is that a lot of things were open underneath, and we needed to play ball to feet and move it side to side, and then the ball over the top or the ball behind would be there.
"And so we talked about that real quick, made the adjustment, and the girls did well to possess and the move the ball as a team."
Blair coach Nick Hall said his team wasn't connected enough in the midfield.
"We were dropping, we weren't pushing them," Hall said. "I felt like we were worried about getting beaten behind. That's kind of the difference right there."
Gretna East outshot the Bears 20-5.
The Griffins won both regular-season matchups between the two, but Blair's three goals in the first in mid-April were the most the Griffins conceded all year.
"Our conversation at halftime is, 'Go out in the second half and keep our principles and keep our heads,'" Hutchison said. "You're in the state semifinals, so Blair is a good team. They are a quality team not only this year, but if anyone looks at their roster, they're going to be here for a couple years.
"We just had to keep our confidence and say, 'Good teams are going to get some chances, and we've just got to get more.' We have a veteran team that's been on this stage before, and they handled the second half pretty great."