Kaleigh Missimer’s goal the difference in Plymouth Whitemarsh’s District 1-3A 1st-round win over Avon Grove
WHITEMARSH >> It took 27 shots and more than 51 minutes, but No. 3 Plymouth Whitemarsh finally solved No. 14 Avon Grove’s defense and found the back of the cage in the first round of the District 1-3A playoffs Monday afternoon at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.
Senior captain Kaleigh Missimer scored one of the more impressive goals of the season, stickhandling through defenders into the circle, moving left in front of the cage and lifting the ball back to the right. Her score with 8:37 remaining in the fourth quarter was the lone tally in a 1-0 win over Avon Grove to advance to the quarterfinals.
“They were covering Ava (Borkowski) a lot,” Missimer said, “so we knew we couldn’t go to her and as I was dribbling in the circle I saw that they all stuck to her. I saw a good one-on-one opportunity and I love lifting it. I said, ‘I can make this look really cool!’”
The Colonials (11-0) were generating opportunities all game. In addition to the 27 shots, they totaled 15 corners and dominated possession, keeping the ball in the offensive half.
Missimer believes Avon Grove’s defensive strategy led to the Colonials dominating possession but also made it difficult to score. She said the Red Devils kept their players within 25 yards of the cage – a strategy PW is familiar with from facing Hatboro-Horsham twice during league play.
“I knew I’ve seen this before and once I realized that we said we know it gets frustrating, we just have to keep calm, keep our heads up and look where we’re going and we should be fine,” she said.
“I always talk about recognizing patterns and I think after the half we recognized that pattern and tried to start to play based on what they were doing.”
Avon Grove’s defense also focused on stopping PW’s leading scorer Borkowski, who was only able to put a few shots on goal. Missimer, known for her passing ability, was distributing inside the circle early in the game before taking the shot herself on the game-winner.
“What I noticed is I would dribble really far and try to pass it,” Missimer, an American University commit, said, “which I normally do because I love getting assists and our forwards can get it in. What I noticed with this game is all the defense was crowding around Ava so I said I could probably get myself my own space. There was one play where Alexa (DeLucca) almost tipped it in. After that my team said, ‘You know what, you can shoot it yourself. It’s OK.’”
Avon Grove totaled four shots and earned one penalty corner. The Red Devils (4-4-1) best scoring chance came on that corner in the second quarter, but PW goalie Sarah Trask was there to turn it away.
Red Devils goalie Megan Gula kept the score even for three-and-a-half quarters. She stopped 12 shots in the game and left the cage to influence a handful of other opportunities.
Plymouth Whitemarsh will host No. 6 Kennett in the quarterfinals Thursday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1, Avon Grove 0
No. 14 Avon Grove (4-4-1) 0 0 0 0 – 0
No. 3 Plymouth Whitemarsh (11-0) 0 0 0 1 – 1
Goals: PW: Kaleigh Missimer.
Saves: AG: Megan Gula 12. PW: Sarah Trask 4.
Corners: AG: 1. PW: 15.
