Pazdziorko sparks Souderton rally past Gwynedd Mercy Academy

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FRANCONIA >> Katie Pazdziorko didn’t say much Monday night.

It wasn’t an issue as the Souderton sophomore’s performance had said more than enough, more like shouted at the top of its lungs really. Spurred by Pazdziorko’s remarkable second half shift, the Indians were able to concoct a stirring rally against visiting Gwynedd Mercy Academy.

Pazdziorko scored the final two goals after helping set up two others as Souderton netted four in 10 minutes to top the Monarchs 4-2.

“She’s super-speedy and it’s nice being able to take advantage of her speed up front,” Souderton coach Lindsy Jones said. “Usually we play her out wide but I wanted to push (Averie) Doughty back so she was the right person to slot in there. She was on it, she struggled in the first half a little bit with her passing but the second half, she was right on it.”

After 40 minutes on Monday it didn’t feel like one goal, much less six, were on the way. The teams went to the halftime break deadlocked at 0-0, but it was far from a dull half of soccer. Defensively, both sides had some sterling moments and neither group wanted to give up anything easy.

Gwynedd Mercy defender Hailey Morris waged a really good duel with Souderton forward Averie Doughty, Monarchs midfielders Sarah White and Mollie Hanson were everywhere winning tackles and headers and fullbacks Kiera Thomas and Paige Johnson helped lock down the speed on the flanks. On the other side, Soudy’s senior co-captain center back duo of Darby Kramer and Payton Carroll were lockdown against GMA’s Sam Berish, Maddie Mele, Payton Palazzo and Grace Hirschmann and Sarah Toche-Manley broke up plenty from her defensive midfield spot.

“Everyone has been coming out extra-hard against us after last year (winning the 4A state title),” Carroll said. “We had to let that go and just come out confident we know how to play and just let it work itself out.”

“We’d given up a lot of easy goals from diving in so we’ve been working a lot on moving our feet and not letting them get those shots off,” Kramer said. “We worked on cutting off the angle so they can’t get a clear shot.”

Coming off a pair of shutout losses to end last week, the Indians wanted to change their fortunes on Monday. While the team is still forming its identity this season, the comeback win was definitely a needed result.

“We’ve been down before but we’ve made plenty of comebacks this season so we knew we’d have the opportunities,” Carroll said. “We needed to capitalize on those.”

“We struggled the last few games mentally and we wanted to turn that around and try to get a win,” Kramer said.

The Monarchs had been knocking for a goal most of the match, with Hanson even striking the crossbar on a corner kick header and a follow-up saved early in the second half. Hanson, a terrific senior midfielder, continued to menace the Indians until she forced Souderton keeper Ashlyn Odenwald into a save with 26 minutes left. Odenwald made the save, but Sam Berish bashed home the rebound for the goal.

Almost in a blink, Gwynedd Mercy Academy went up 2-0 when Berish bagged a second goal just 30 seconds later when she slipped in behind the back line for a composed finish.

“Possession-wise, we controlled a lot of the game, we out-shot them 25-11 and had a couple off the crossbar but they caught the one fastbreak and had some tired legs there, so they saw it and put them away,” GMA coach Bill Dailey said. “I’m really proud of the girls, they hung in there and played hard. We’ve come a long way to play like that against a great team like Souderton.”

The Monarchs had more chances to build their lead, with White forcing a save off a distance try and Hanson forcing Odenwald, who’s filled in for Morgan Molyneaux the last two games, into a palming save off the crossbar for a corner.

“I think we are knocking at the door of that next level we are trying to take this program to,” Dailey said. “We’re taking the Villa Joes to task, we’re really close with Souderton who won a state championship last year. We were up 2-0, could of have three or four, they played a great game and I’m just really proud of how they stayed with it and continued to hustle the whole time.”

As the clock wound under 20 minutes, Jones made a couple tactical switches. Dropping Doughty back to attack center mid would put the forward in a better position to win the ball and get it moving, while Pazdziorko with Hannah Alderfer and Taylor Yoder flanking put a lot of speed against the Monarchs’ back line.

Pazdziorko, who had her best run of the first half broken up by a perfectly-timed Morris slide tackle, went in and went to work. While not as vocal as older sister Lindsey, the goalkeeper for last year’s state title team now at Towson, Katie’s impact was felt pretty quickly.

“She put me up at striker, which is different for me, so I guess that counts as a change,” Pazdziorko said. “I think they started getting tired in the back, so they slowed down.”

Souderton’s first goal came off a nice string of passes started with Toche-Manley winning a tackle in the midfield and finding Gianna Natale, who played a give-and-go with Alderfer before the junior found Pazdziorko up the left touchline.

Pazdziorko played it across the top of the box, with Yoder flicking it along to Doughty on the far side for the finish with 18 minutes left.

“Scoring was an issue for us last year, but since the start of the season, we’ve been putting up a lot of goals,” Carroll said. “Our momentum has definitely changed once we get those goals in the net.”

Avery Nogami sent a long ball up the right flank to Pazdziorko, who played it back into the middle for Alderfer. The junior won a 50/50 against White, then used the space it created to rip a mortar shot from 20 yards out with 11 minutes left to tie the score.

Pazdziorko then pounced on a through ball for the go-ahead goal to keep the run going. Two minutes later, Doughty took the full brunt of a collision in the middle of the field to win a 50/50, sending it up to Pazdziorko.

The sophomore played it out to Alderfer, who touched it right back into Pazdziorko’s path and the striker just outran the back line and slipped her effort past the onrushing keeper for a fourth goal in less than 10 minutes.

“I love seeing when a player can go, correct themselves and just be dominating,” Jones said. “She connected really well with Taylor and Hannah on the outsides, she didn’t give up and kept fighting. We’ve talked about attitude on the field and being positive and I think we showed that today as a team and Katie led that.”

While Jones is thrilled with her team’s ability to fight back and make these rallies, she doesn’t want it to become a habit. Carroll and Kramer echoed that, saying they’re not happy with the number of goals they’ve allowed as a defense but feel this team’s best is still to come this season.

Gwynedd Mercy left knowing it could hang with a top team as it continues to build its identity and push for more. The Indians got a much-needed result and a lesson that they don’t have to try and replicate last year’s model, but embrace what they do well this season.

“We kept saying we’re not the same team we were last year but that doesn’t mean we’re not a good team,” Kramer said. “We’re starting to get into the momentum and understanding how our game this year is different than last year and how can we work to win games and get that result we want.”

SOUDERTON 0 4 – 4

GWYNEDD MERCY ACADEMY 0 2 – 2

Goals: S – Averie Doughty (Taylor Yoder, Katie Pazdziorko), Hannah Alderfer (Pazdziorko), Pazdziorko, Pazdziorko (Alderfer); GMA – Sam Berish (Mollie Hanson), Berish.

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Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson
Montgomery Media/Lansdale Reporter sports writer.

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