Daiutolo connection sparks Radnor in to Central semis

RADNOR — A season ago, then-sophomore Emily Daiutolo earned All-Central recognition at center back for Radnor. This year, as tactical needs have shifted, Daiutolo has found herself farther up the park, dictating the game from midfield.

Tuesday, she showed that in either position, she can have plenty of influence.

Daiutolo’s header off a corner kick by younger sister Jane with seven seconds left in the first half was the decider, leading Radnor to a 1-0 win over No. 6 Springfield in the Central League quarterfinals. The victory sends third-seeded Radnor into Thursday’s semifinal against No. 2 Conestoga, which advanced via forfeit over Strath Haven.

The sisterly connection paid off on the corner. Radnor had two corners minutes before being turned away, one on an insane goalmouth scramble cleared only for Jane Daiutolo to lash a volley that goalie Olivia Hannah dove to save, the second another scramble that ended in a blocked shot from outside the box.

With time ticking down and the whipping wind at Encke Field still at Radnor’s back, Jane Daiutolo lofted in a perfect ball that Emily ran onto and planted a forceful downward header, leaving Hannah no chance.

“We prefer a driven ball into the six anywhere, just try to get a head on it or any body part,” Emily said. “It was a prefect ball, and I just had to get something on it.”

It’s but one way in which Emily Daiutolo applied her stamp on the game. The same traits that serve her in defense – field vision, poise under pressure, the ability to pick the right ball at the right moment – are magnified in midfield. She’s not just the defense’s escape valve but an early wave of attack, the conduit between the two phases. She has the calming presence that allows the game to settle around her when the ball finds her.

In the first half, for instance, the game was fairly sedate, both teams acclimating to the shifting wind, before the raft of Radnor set-piece chances. That allowed Daiutolo to put her foot on the ball and dictate tempo, switching sides, engaging wingers and keeping Radnor’s defense out of trouble by pushing the ball into Springfield’s end of the field.

“You have to be quicker on your feet and know where everyone else is,” Daiutolo said. “You have to pretty much have a decision on where you’re going to play it before you even get the ball. It’s much quicker, but I like it a lot.”

“She’s such a rock-solid player in the middle,” Radnor goalie and senior captain Elise Palmer said. “She knows what she wants to do with the ball, and she makes me so much more comfortable and is a good communicator, so she’s amazing anywhere on the field. … She’s such an intelligent player that if you’re in trouble, get it to Emily and she’ll calm things down.”

Radnor, which won the regular-season meeting between the teams 2-0, largely controlled the first half, the wind a definite factor. Hannah, a sophomore backup who came into the lineup three games ago when Emily Boyer was injured and pitched a shutout in the opening round over Marple Newtown, had to make a save within the first two minutes and was kept busy.

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