WILLIAMSTON -- Heading into its Division 3 girls soccer regional semifinal with Williamston, Father Gabriel Richard High School hadn't allowed a single postseason goal, outscoring the opposition 12-0.

Wednesday, fortunes changed for the Fighting Irish, who were blanked by the Hornets 2-0 at Williamston High School.

"We just didn't match their intensity, their physicalness, their aggression on the ball and going to those 50-50 balls," admitted Gabriel Richard coach Matt Carroll. "They're a heck of a team. I don't see anyone in this regional beating them."

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Gabriel Richard's inability to play toe-to-toe with Williamston glared early in the first half.

Before the Irish (11-3-5) covered much of any ground on Williamston's side of the field, the Hornets managed three well-orchestrated shots on Richard's net -- the latter coming on a one-timer shot from Lisa Vogel that was batted away by goalie Anna Zekany.

"The first 10 minutes we didn't look very good, but they didn't score," noted Carroll, whose team was outshot 15-13 by game's end. "They had lots of opportunities, probably four or five shots, but we got away from it 0-0."

But not for long. Midway through the half, Williamston's Adrienne Watts weaved through the Irish defense and drove a shot into the back of the net to put Richard down 1-0.

Seven minutes later, the Irish managed their first shot on the Hornets' net, coming on an attempt from Martha Sorenson. She found daylight for another shot at the 14-minute mark, but Williamston goalie Courtney Clem weathered the brief flurry.

The Fighting Irish wouldn't see a better shot the rest of the half.

"We told the girls at halftime, 'Hey, you're right in this'...and what happens?" said Carroll, alluding to the penalty kick awarded to Williamston just two minutes into the second half.

Gabriel Richard was whistled for a penalty on on Vogel, who was charging into the box for a shot attempt. Though Zekany saved the penalty shot, Vogel buried her own rebound in the top right corner, extending the gap to 2-0.

"I thought Anna made a great save to stop the first one," said Carroll. "That's all you ask the goalie to do.

"If we could've stopped that, I thought the momentum was huge right there."

The Irish came inches away from trimming the lead 16 minutes in when Mary Yocum crossed a center pass to Caitlin Brown, whose shot pinged off the right post.

"We just couldn't convert," said Carroll. "You get one of those and it's 2-1 and it's a little different."

Zekany prevented any further damage the rest of the way, finishing the game with seven saves. Clem finished with six.

"I thought we picked it up, but just not enough," said Carroll, who departs nine seniors from this year's team.

"The seniors have just been a tremendous asset to the program," he continued. "Just watching them grow and seeing them out here, really upset that they lost, and just down, that's probably what I'll take away the most from this season."

Williamston, meanwhile, advances to the regional final against Detroit Country Day, which beat Riverview Gabriel Richard in Wednesday's opening semifinal.