Second half burst sends Boyertown back to PAC girls lacrosse championship in win over Phoenixville

ROYERSFORD >> No. 3 Boyertown and No. 2 Phoenixville couldn’t get a leg up on one another through 20 minutes. When one gained a sliver of ground, the other had a perfect answer.

Tied 4-4 at halftime during the Pioneer Athletic Conference semifinals, the game was at a pace where each goal was precious. But after four separate ties, the pendulum swayed in the Bears’ favor.

Boyertown pieced together a five-goal run in the second half to pull away permanently, 13-9 over the Phantoms at Spring-Ford’s Coach McNelly Stadium.

With the win, the Bears (13-5) have advanced to their first PAC final since 2018 and will face top-seeded Owen J. Roberts for the conference crown Thursday at Upper Merion at 7 p.m.

“I think we’re all really excited,” Boyertown senior Delaney Fox said on the program’s return to the championship stage. “This is a good opportunity to put our names out there and that we’re ready to compete.”

FINAL — No. 3 Boyertown 13, No. 2 Phoenixville 9

For the first time since 2018, the Bears are in the PAC Final. pic.twitter.com/gOB5yWc5wf

— Evan Wheaton (@EvanWheaton) May 9, 2023

Fox led the Bears with four goals and four draw controls. Down 6-5 with 17 minutes left in the game, Boyertown ignited its five-goal burst with an equalizer from Alina Fitz (two goals, five assists).

Less than a minute later, Hannah Adamski (three goals, two draw controls) buried a go-ahead goal to give the Bears the lead — and their first in 24 minutes, 20 seconds of play — 7-6.

With 13:20 left, Peyton Shellaway (four draw controls) drove down a lane between defenders and unloaded a shot to go up 8-6. Just 48 seconds later, Friz notched her second goal of the night. Bailey Leatherman capped the scoring onslaught with a goal to balloon Boyertown’s lead 10-6.

“We had a really encouraging halftime,” Fox said on the sudden shift in pace. “We talked about what we needed to do and the things we needed to change. I think the energy had a big shift.”

H2, 13:20 — Peyton Shellaway goal, that’s three straight for the Bears.

Boyertown 8, Phoenixville 6 pic.twitter.com/Svo9q8hgnD

— Evan Wheaton (@EvanWheaton) May 9, 2023

The most the Bears led by was by five goals, 12-7 after Fox buried her fourth goal of the game with 8:51 to go and 13-8 after a dish over the middle from Adamski with 3:06 left in the game.

Boyertown ran into early trouble in the form of Phoenixville (11-8) attack Erin Reedy. The sophomore wasted no time scoring a hat trick within the first six minutes of the game, peppering the crease while putting up four goals on the night past Elli Ferraro (four saves) and Teagan Tyson (four saves).

“She was beating us badly on the crease. I just made some personnel changes and asked us to play her differently than what we had seen,” Boyertown coach Pam Wernersbach said. “The other defenders started to communicate more and be in better positions to help each other as well.”

The Phantoms led by as much as two points two separate times during the opening minutes as both teams traded blows. Adison Harner opened the scoring for the Bears just under two minutes into the game before Bridget Kelly tied things up for Phoenixville.

Reedy poured on back-to-back goals to go up 3-1 before Fox found her first of the night. Both players alternated scores once more before Leatherman tied the game for the second time of the night for the Bears, taking the 4-4 stalemate into halftime.

It was evident from the jump that Phoenixville wasn’t allowing a repeat of its 15-7 margin of loss against Boyertown on April 3.

“They didn’t think about the game as it being Boyertown. It was just another game to them,” Phantoms coach Aamina Thornton said. “We came out like, ‘We have nothing to lose.’ We played them already, we know what they’re capable of. Boyertown’s a good team, obviously they made adjustments.

“We made adjustments too but key turnovers kind of turned the game around. But I thought they played their butts off.”

Phoenixville, ranked No. 24 in District 1 Class 3A, found a pair of goals from senior midfielder Caroline Flick. Addison Graver and Jaime Michaud also found the back of the net for their squad.

The Phantoms won back-to-back PAC titles in 1987 and 1988, but have been on a title drought since.

“I’m proud of my girls, they fought to the end,” Thornton said. “You play Boyertown … they’ve been the Queenpins for God knows how long now.”

The Bears have a PAC-high 19 conference titles, the last coming in 2014 after a 17-6 win over Phoenixville. Ranked No. 16 in District 1-3A, Boyertown would need to pull off an upset of Owen J. Roberts — nationally ranked No. 16 by Inside Lacrosse.

“We’re just taking it day by day,” Fox said. “I think we’ll be real excited to play on Thursday and we’re looking forward to districts.”

Boyertown 13, Phoenixville 9

SCORING
Boyertown goals: Delaney Fox 4; Hannah Adamski 3 goals; Alina Friz 2 goals, 5 assists; Bailey Leatherman 2 goals; Adison Harner 1 goal; Peyton Shellaway 1 goal; Cori Bieber 1 assist; Kamryn Pier assist.
Phoenixville: Erin Reedy 4 goals; Caroline Flick 2 goals; Bridget Kelly 1 goal; Addison Graver 1 goal; Jaime Michaud 1 goal.