Perkiomen Valley fends off PAC rival Methacton 1-0 in District 1-3A playoffs

PARKER FORD >> A week after a late Perkiomen Valley offensive push was shut down in their Pioneer Athletic Conference semifinal loss, the Vikings were on the defensive in the final minutes of a postseason contest.

No. 4 Perk Valley survived a shot off the post and several other that came within inches of goal to pull out a 1-0 win over No. 13 Methacton in the District 1-3A second round.

Saige Shine’s first-half goal stood up as the Vikings’ defense and goalie Ashley Derrick, who made three saves, withstood a relentless Methacton attack in the final 15 minutes of play to advance to Friday’s District 1-3A quarterfinal against No. 5 CB East, winners over Haverford.

“You just gotta keep playing, gotta put your head down and not let anything get through,” PV’s Savannah Silvestre said. “You just gotta be focused.”

“It’s tough. Because it’s so close, there’s so much that matters in the game,” she added. “There’s so much you have to go through. You really just have to keep playing and you gotta finish it.”

Methacton and Perkiomen Valley met one year ago in the district playoffs. It was just a few more rounds down the line.

A season after three Pioneer Athletic Conference teams made the District 1-3A semifinals, the district seeding prevented that from happening again with all four PAC teams meeting in the second round. Owen J. Roberts played Spring-Ford in a night game Tuesday.

After defeating the Warriors in the district semifinals by a goal one year ago, the Vikings nabbed another one-goal win over their Liberty Division rival to advance to the district quarterfinals.

“We play in the toughest league in the area,” Perk Valley coach Erik Enters said. “It’s as simple as that. Today, unfortunately two PAC teams are getting sent home, and that’s just how the district points fell this year.”

Shine’s goal game with 16:44 left in the first half. Danielle Hamm got the ball up to Shine in front of the goal. Shine had her two forwards with her, but when the defenders crashed, she decided to go for goal.

The ball deflected off a defender and in, satisfying the request of Enters, who was imploring his team to shoot the ball on goal throughout the contest.

“We were hoping to get it in, get the forwards to get a touch on it,” Shine said. “Get someone to get a touch on it.”

Methacton couldn’t follow up last season’s magic when the Warriors advanced to the district semifinals as a No. 14 seed.

Alexa Kratz had a shot off a corner go just wide near the end of the first half and put another shot off the post in the first two minutes of the second half. Rachel Alderfer had the Warriors’ final good luck, her shot off a corner going past Derrick and off a PV defender before rolling just inches past the left side of the net.

First-year coach Amanda Fuertsch, an Owen J. Roberts standout and Temple product, guided the Warriors to a district playoff win for the second straight year and picked up wins over Liberty Division rivals Perk Valley and Spring-Ford in her first season at the helm.

“It was awesome, a dream come true,” an emotional Fuertsch said after the game. “It’s something I always wanted to do ever since I was in high school because I had such a great example with Clarence Jennelle as my coach.

“I could not have asked for a better team to walk into, a better group of players and young ladies to coach. It was an awesome first experience, and I don’t think I could have asked for anything different or have changed anything that happened.”

While Fuertsch is very excited about the future of her program with some talented juniors and a deep sophomore class, she said the Warriors’ five seniors played a special role in the team’s success this year.

Methacton will miss the leadership of all-area players Liz Chipman and Rachel Alderfer, senior Olivia Massar and senior goalkeepers Sarah Woolston and Kelly O’Donnell next seasons.

“I think in the very beginning we were kind of tip-toeing to kind of figure out what my coaching style is, as they as seniors what their leadership style was going to be,” Fuertsch said. “As soon as I gave them the green light to step up and be leaders, they took the bull by the horns.”

“There were times in practice where it looked really bad, and they just pulled everybody together. They made the change happen…To have the senior leadership that we had was amazing.”