Harriton knocks off Unionville in district opener
EAST MARLBOROUGH – Statistics can tell a false narrative, and that was certainly the case on Tuesday in the District 1 4A Playoff opener for Unionville.
The host Indians had a big edge in shots, corners and possession time with the ball, but Harriton came away with a 2-1 triumph that knocked ninth-seeded Unionville from the tournament and ended its season.
“That’s the way soccer is,” said Indians’ head coach Joe Ratasiewicz. “The bottom line is the score — that’s what counts. You can watch the pros and somebody had 80 percent possession and they still lose 1-0.”
As the 24th seed, the Rams were the final team to make the district field. But at 11-5-1 overall, Harriton advances to round two to play No. 8 Souderton on Thursday.
“The girls dug deep,” said Rams’ head coach Jeff Rhodes. “Our seniors set the tone and everybody followed. We played as a team in the second half.
“Unionville is a super tough team and we just happened to be on the lucky side of it today.”
The Indians, who won the Ches-Mont American crown this fall, fall to 13-6 overall. And when it was over, the entire team looked a bit shocked.
“We were really confident heading in and maybe we needed to have our heads into this game more,” said junior Jackie Hug.
“I think we went into the game feeling confident because we’ve been playing well,” Ratasiewicz. “And we had some good practice sessions heading in. But (Harriton) played well.
“I thought we controlled most of the game, but you have to finish.”
Despite a clear territorial advantage, and a 6-0 edge in corner kicks, the Indians had to settle for a scoreless draw at the half. About six minutes into the second half, however, Unionville opened the scoring when a Harriton defender whiffed on a clearing opportunity and sophomore Sara Darlington beat her to the ball and scored.
“There were some opportunities but we didn’t get a lot of clean chances,” Ratasiewicz said. “We went into the half thinking, OK just stay with it and we should be OK.”
But just two minutes later, the Rams knotted it when senior Gabriela Mazzone lofted a perfect free kick over the outstretched arms of Indians’ keeper Zoe Gill-Gorence. And then at the 23:09 mark, Harriton seized the lead on another excellent free kick from distance by Reilly Short that was headed in by Ashley Wald.
“(Harriton) was good on restarts,” Ratasiewicz said.
“Gabby has a great foot,” Rhodes added. “She’s a senior captain that stepped up big-time.
“And Ashley’s been a tough player all season long and she made the most of her opportunity.”
Ratasiewicz termed the 25-yard direct kick by Mazzone “a great shot.” As for what would eventually be the game-winner, he said: “It was placed really well and (Wahl) somehow sliced through and headed it in.
“But we still had 23 minutes left and we had two other opportunities and we just missed them.”
The first chance came with just over 13 minutes on the clock, when Hayden Wilson delivered a pass to Darlington in front, but her shot was right at the Harriton keeper. And then, a few minutes later, Claire Matson had a breakaway, but her shot was also directly at the goaltender.
“After we missed those chances, doubt starts to creep in,” Ratasiewicz acknowledged.
“We were just kicking it and hoping that something would happen,” added senior Makayla Bucci. “The hope is that with the constant pressure something would go through, but it just didn’t happen.
“We were too frantic down the stretch.”
Harriton 2, Unionville 1
Harriton 0 2 — 2
Unionville 0 1 — 1
Harriton goals: Mazzone, Wald.
Unionville goal: Darlington.
Goalie saves: Calhoun (H) 9; Gill-Gorence (U) 3.
