Bessette scores two as Perkiomen Valley tops Methacton, 2-0
FAIRVIEW VILLAGE – Perkiomen Valley’s Kyle Bessette has earned himself a unique moniker because of his smile.
“They call me ‘ Mousey’ because I look like a mouse when I smile,’ the sophomore midfielder said.
On Thursday, however, there was nothing small about his performance as Bessette struck for both of the Vikings’ goals as PV added some points to its District 1 stock with a 2-0 victory over Methacton in the PAC-10 finale for both teams.
“I never know where our goals are coming from game to game,’ PV head coach Bob McCabe said. “We haven’t had a legitimate striker all year. It’s usually a different guy every game, and Mousey was the guy today that got us what we needed. I thought overall everyone played well. We had a lull there for a little bit but they were disciplined and did what we asked them to do today.
“Methacton is a good team. Getting a win off a 10-win team is a good morale booster for us going into our last two non-league games.’
Bessette scored his first goal when he headed in a Michael Weir free kick in the 15th minute before scoring his second in the 49th minute, leaving his teammates on the bench screaming “Eww!’ as the ball left his foot.
Bessette had faked a shot with his right foot before going up in the air, playing the ball off his chest from a Danny Quirk pass. He then played it off his knee before striking it home with a left footer that bounced off the bottom portion of the crossbar and in.
“It felt great to score those goals,’ Bessette said. “We’re playing as a team and connecting.’
While Perkiomen Valley has surged over the recent week with wins over Boyertown and Spring-Ford, Methacton, ravaged by injuries to eight of their players (including starting goalkeeper Vinny Tasca) lost its fourth straight PAC-10 game after an 8-1 start in the league.
Tasca started in net for the Warriors on Wednesday, making four saves, but he took a knee to his injured ankle early in the second half and had to miss the rest of the game. That coupled with Jake Tagland’s two yellow cards in the second half spelled doom for the Warriors as they could only register three shots in the loss. Backup goalkeeper Eric Dietch made three saves in relief. Methacton hosts Norristown Friday.
“We’re always playing small-ball possession,’ Methacton head coach John Smeykal said. “That’s the way we want to play, we’ve been doing well with it all year until the injuries hit us.
“Tomorrow (we just have to) play our regular game. Get it going in the right direction.’
Corey Jackson made three saves, including a kick save on a Trent Taylor shot that was labeled for the lower right corner, for the Vikings as they look to move up from No. 27 in the latest District 1-AAA Power Rankings. The win over a 10-win team will certainly help, but the Vikings district hopes will hinge on the next two games against Souderton and Conestoga.
“Once we got out of the PAC-10 race, basically our focus was on keeping our district seeding alive,’ McCabe said. “We had a loss to Phoenixville, which kind of knocked us out of things (in the PAC-10) but we have rebounded nicely from that. Our goal right now is to maintain our standing, get points wherever we can and stay in the district hunt and kind of use that as our next season.
“We’re playing well. I’m hoping we can just continue along. (Friday), Souderton will be another good test for us. We’ll really see what we’re made of next Friday when we go to ‘ Stoga.’
