LOWER POTTSGROVE >> Three years of hard work and constant improvement paid off for the Boyertown field hockey team on Friday afternoon as it earned a berth in the PIAA Class 3A Tournament with a 2-1 win over Methacton.
The Bears (18-4) built a 2-0 advantage through three quarters of the District 1-3A quarterfinal at Pottsgrove’s Falcon Field and then hung on as freshman goalkeeper Addie Galianese – who had stopped a penalty stroke earlier – came up with two clutch saves in the final seconds.
Emily Ulrich and Peyton Shellaway scored for No. 4 seed Boyertown, which will face Conestoga or Great Valley in a semifinal match on Wednesday. Carmela Maro tallied for the No.5 seed Warriors (17-4-1), who will need one win in two playback games next week to earn one of the district’s seven spots in state play.
“I just can’t say enough about how proud I am of the girls and the coaching staff,” said Bear coach Alicia Terrizzi. “I’m so proud of them, going from winning just four games (in 2020).”
“It feels amazing,” said Boyertown senior Hannah Ulrich, who assisted on the first goal of the match. “It shows all the hard work we put in. It makes it all worthwhile and showcases what we have to offer.”
The Bears dominated play early in the match, but Warrior goalkeeper Maddy McKenney kept the score at 0-0 with five saves. Boyertown finally scored with just 1:03 to go in the first quarter when Hannah Ulrich put the ball out in front of the cage for the score by Emily Ulrich. The Bears made it 2-0 when Shellaway shot down the middle for a score with 2:41 left in the third.
“We were just trying to get someone on the ball and make something happen,” said senior Hannah Ulrich.
Boyertown leads as Emily Ulrich finishes on doorstep after corner
1-0, 1:03 1QEnd 1Q: Boyertown 1, Methacton 0 pic.twitter.com/WOxgaqh8BM
— Austin Hertzog (@AustinHertzog) October 27, 2023
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Addie Galianese with the save on the penalty stroke to preserve Boyertown 2-0 lead, 12 min 4Q pic.twitter.com/qyoA7VTPM7
— Austin Hertzog (@AustinHertzog) October 27, 2023
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“In practice we really focused on shifting to the ball and not letting it in our backfield,” Bear senior right back Mary Catherine Maloney said concerning her team’s strong defense in the first half. “And not making it a back-and-forth the whole game.”
But the Warriors took over in the fourth quarter with attack after attack on the Bear goal. Galianese made a save on the penalty stroke three minutes into the fourth quarter Then Maro scored off a rebound with 9:27 to go.
Methacton kept the pressure on while earning five corner opportunities in the final quarter. Galianese made a save with 10 seconds to go and the Warriors got the ball back in the circle and drew another corner, running the play after time had expired. But Galianese knocked the shot away to finally end the contest.
“I just threw out my leg to hit the ball and it went out of the circle,” said the freshman keeper. “It’s so fun. It feels great.”
“We changed our press and it worked,” Methacton coach Amanda Parrezzi said concerning her team’s comeback effort in the second half. “If you look at the statistics, we dominated the second half. If we would have played like that for four quarters, it would have been a different outcome.”
Boyertown had two starters go down with injuries, but hung on despite the Methacton push throughout the second half.
“Today was 100 percent heart and battling,” said Terrizzi. “We lost two starters in the middle of the game. We were playing more defensively than we’d like to. Our girls will learn to be more composed in these situations. But we did what we needed to do.”
Boyertown had beaten Methacton twice during the regular season, but the Warriors turned the tables by winning the Pioneer Athletic Conference championship game over the Bears 1-0 last week.
“They’re fast and very scary,” Terrizzi said concerning the Warriors. “I think the fact that they beat us last week helped us.”
Boyertown bounced back from that setback with a 6-2 win over Kennett in the district second round on Wednesday after being eliminated at that same stage the past two seasons.
“We worked on turf and worked on our game,” said Maloney. “Each year we picked up a notch, even after getting knocked out in the second round of districts the last two years.”
And while the Bears will try to win a district title before heading to states, the Warriors will try to make it to the PIAA Tournament for the third straight year by winning on Wednesday.
“The girls are so looking forward to that game,” said Parrezzi.
