Penalty strokes propel Perk Valley past Methacton

WORCESTER >> Neither Perk Valley or Methacton spend any practice time working on penalty strokes, but two flicks played a huge role in the Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division meeting between the two rivals Thursday evening.

Within 77 seconds late in the second half, the Vikings converted a penalty stroke to take the lead and saved one to maintain it in a 2-1 win over the Warriors at Methacton High School.

Senior captain Danielle Hamm scored the game-winning goal for Perk Valley. She took the penalty stroke with 11:09 remaining in the game and put her shot into the bottom corner.

“I knew that I had to make it,” Hamm said. “I was just thinking what corner that I wanted to get. I heard the (Methacton) coach say, ‘You know where it’s going.’ So I decided to switch it up and go left.”

Just over a minute later, Liz Chipman tried to tie the game with a penalty stroke of her own. She elevated her shot, but Vikings goalie Ashley Derrick was there to turn it away.

“Ashley made a phenomenal save,” PV coach Erik Enters said. “That was the back-breaker for them. Danielle just totally faked the goalie out.”

Methacton coach Amanda Fuertsch didn’t think the penalty strokes were the deciding factor in the game. Her team had plenty of chances – eight shots on goal and nine penalty corners – but only found the back of the cage once.

“We had really great intensity the entire game,” Fuertsch said. “We had good attacking opportunities the entire game. The deciding factor was just that we couldn’t put the ball in the goal. That was it. We had opportunities to put it in the goal and we didn’t do it.

“We lost to CB East last Saturday. They’re a very skilled team, very good at attacking, using the aerials to their advantage. We had plenty of attacking opportunities. Literally the ball would go right in front of the goal and we couldn’t get it in. That has been something that we’re working on recently.”

The Warriors, after celebrating their seniors prior to the game, started fast. They earned a penalty corner in the first minute and converted it into a goal just 64 seconds into the game. Bayla Plower sent the insert pass to Chipman, who took a strong shot. Plower got back in front of the cage and deflected it past the goalie.

Perk Valley responded quickly. Less than three minutes later, the Vikings had possession in transition and quickly advanced after a Methacton foul. Katie Wuerstle carried the ball from the spot of the foul to the front of the cage and tied the game at one.

“This is this team,” Enters said. “They’re just like, ‘OK. No worries. We’ve been down before. We’ll just come back.’ There was no panic, that’s for sure. It was just go out and take care of business.”

As the regular season winds down, both teams have their sights set on the PAC playoffs. PV improved to 6-2 in league play with the win while Methacton fell to 5-3.

“We still stand a chance of (getting in the league playoffs),” Fuertsch said, “but today’s loss definitely lowered our chances of doing that … That’s been the goal this whole entire time.”