Late first-half goal sparks Souderton over Methacton

FRANCONIA >> The clock showed zeros and the buzzer sounded to send Souderton and Methacton to halftime in a scoreless tie.

But the teams weren’t heading off the field.

The Indians earned a penalty corner in the final 10 seconds and were able to play until the ball left the circle, but that never happened.

The initial corner play was stopped, but Souderton kept at it until Alyssa Krady knocked the ball into the back of the cage to get her side on the board first.

The Indians led the rest of the way in a 3-1 win over Methacton Wednesday afternoon at Souderton Area High School.

“We have (been in that situation before) at the end of a game,” Krady said, “but it never really happened like that. It was pretty exciting.

“I think it really built up our momentum and it made us think that we could come out with the win.”

The Indians (6-1) scored again early in the second half to double their advantage. Courtney Kenah’s shot was stopped by Methacton goalie Molly Frey, but Randi Hess was in the right spot to bury the rebound and make it 2-0.

The Warriors (4-3) took little time in responding. Two minutes and two seconds later, Methacton’s Liz Chipman scored off a penalty corner to trim their deficit back to one. Frankie Lucchesi’s insert pass found Chipman, who immediately had a Souderton defender in her face. She managed to get a strong shot off and get her team back within one goal.

Souderton got an insurance goal midway through the second half. The Indians maintained pressure after a penalty corner was stopped and Anna Gwiazdzinski found Hunsicker for the score to make it 3-1.

“We have been working on our corners because they have not been good,” Souderton coach Sue Casciato said. “We haven’t been successful. We finished (Tuesday) night in the dark practicing corners, about 7:30 they hadn’t turned the stadium lights on for us. That’s what we were practicing (Tuesday) night. We had 11 corners against Pennridge Monday and I think we got one shot. It’s an area that needs some improvement.”

Frey finished with 16 saves for the Warriors, including stopping a penalty stroke in the first half when the game was scoreless.

“It could have been a way different game if she wasn’t in goal,” Methacton coach Sarah Quintois said. “I felt like she kept us in. It could have been much different.

“If you look at the stats, we didn’t play enough to win. We didn’t give ourselves enough opportunities. We allowed them too many opportunities. It was unfortunate. Could (stopping the corner at the end of the first half) have helped? Possibly, but I still don’t feel like we turned it around enough in the second half to win the game.”

Souderton goalie Jordan Michalak finished with eight saves.

Methacton controlled the pace of play early in the game. Five of the team’s nine shots on goal came in the opening 15 minutes before Souderton called a timeout.

The Indians had better possessions coming out of the break and played much better for the rest of the half, culminating in the goal with no time on the clock.

“We talked about building up momentum,” Krady said of the timeout, “because we’re more of a second-half team, but we pulled it together because we knew that we could come out with a win.”

Both teams appear set to make runs in the District 1 Class-3A playoffs. Souderton entered Wednesday’s game No. 9 in the unofficial power rankings and Methacton was No. 13.

Souderton 3, Methacton 1
Methacton 0 1 — 1
Souderton 1 2 — 3
Goals: M: Chipman.S: Krady, Hess, Hunsicker.
Assists: M: Lucchesi. S: Gwiazdzinski.
Saves: M: Frey 16. S: Michalak 8.