Focused from the start, Great Valley blanks Bishop Shanahan
EAST WHITELAND >> Up and down. Hot and cold.
It’s been a topsy-turvy soccer season for the Great Valley boys, who have beaten and been blown out by first-place Ches-Mont foes alike. And on Thursday — coming off a disappointing draw at Coatesville – the Patriots were hosting Bishop Shanahan in an afternoon contest, which is a setting that has been trouble previously.
But maybe Great Valley is learning how to be more consistent. That’s because the Pats went out and clobbered the Eagles 6-0, to stay in contention near the top of the league title chase.
“We’ve struggled when we’ve played right after school, but today we were locked in during classes,” said Patriots’ senior Ethan Pfau.
“We’ve been focusing in the night before, we know who we are playing and we are coming in strong. The energy before this game was great and we came out flying from the first whistle.”
Now 9-4 overall, Great Valley is unbeaten in its last five outings. And at 5-2-2 in the Ches-Mont, the Patriots trail only West Chester Henderson (8-2 heading into a Thursday night clash against Avon Grove), West Chester Rustin (7-2 heading into a late match against Downingtown West) and Downingtown East (6-2-1). Others like Downingtown West and Unionville are also still in the mix.
“I think, top-to-bottom, this is the best the Ches-Mont’s been in my ninth season of coaching,” said Shanahan head coach Mike Melesky.
The Eagles fall to 3-7 (5-8 overall), but are fighting to grab one of eight spots available in the District 1 3A Playoffs. Shanahan entered the day eighth in the power rankings.
“Every game is important, but this is the point of the season where it becomes crystalized,” Melesky said.
“It’s hard sometimes to see the lessons you are learning in a game like this. We are going to talk about it, but I am going to give them a little time to process things.”
Great Valley had a big advantage in shots (18-7), a lesser edge in corners (5-3), and Pfau was a big reason. The big, left-footed forward notched the first hat-trick of his high school career, and came close to scoring a fourth.
“It feels great to finally get one,” he said. “My little cousin, Cole Briscoe, is the captain of the (Great Valley) freshmen team, and he’s already got two hat tricks. So maybe I am catching up to him.”
Pats’ head coach Dave Moffett added: “(Pfau) has got a cannon for a left leg. Even though everyone knows it’s coming, Ethan finds a way to pull the trigger, and it really is a danger.”
For a good portion of the first half, the Eagles kept it close. The only goal in the opening 36 minutes was a bang-bang scoring connection from Ved Law to Pfau with 28:09 on the clock.
“Early, (Shanahan’s) counter attack was very dangerous,” Moffett said. “(Sophomore Michael Ziegler) was so dynamic, and it was a big worry. But we made some adjustments.”
In the final four minutes of action, Great Valley increased the lead to 3-0. Senior midfielder Rikin Rakesh maneuvered through and around several defenders to score. And then with 2:07 on the clock, Pfau got behind the Shanahan defense and notched his second tally of the match.
“Hats off to Great Valley,” Melesky said. “They really finished off that first half.
“They kept up the pressure, and when they got up they put the pedal to the metal.”
Three more goals followed in the first 13 minutes of the second half. Sophomore Owen Peters had a goal and notched an assist on a tally by teammate Liam Hutchinson. And then Pfau registered his third to round out the scoring.
“It was such a fun game,” Pfau said. “I had a great time blitzing through. And getting it past the keeper – I love that too.
“This team just needs to stay positive. In some of the past games we’ve been negative toward each other. But today it was all positivity and that’s what got us through.”
Shanahan only had a couple decent scoring chances, and the best came off the foot of sophomore midfielder Will Kristoff in the second half, but Patriots’ keeper Seth Turner came up with a quick deflection.
“We saw some opportunities and our guys sensed that we could attack, so let’s get numbers forward,” Moffett said. “Everybody was on the same page, which is something we’ve been working on. It paid off.”
The Eagles had just four seniors in their starting 11. It is normally five, but co-captain Adam Shirker, a defender, was one of two starters to miss the game due to injury or illness.
“It’s a process, and when you see a result like today, the process doesn’t necessarily reflect it,” Melesky said.
Moffett was quick to point out that his team usually plays well when it is able to get the first goal.
“We are a team that goes on that first-goal momentum,” he explained. “It’s like we are playing downhill from there. We just seem to play well when we score that early goal.
“Our issue has been when we struggle to score, or we let an opponent stay on the game and make things interesting.”
Great Valley 6, Bishop Shanahan 0
Bishop Shanahan 0 0 — 0
Great Valley 3 3 — 6
Great Valley goals: Pfau 3, Rakesh, Hutchinson, Peters.
Goalie saves: Hughes (BS) 11; Roddy (BS) 1; Turner (GV) 7.
