Spring-Ford gets by Pottsgrove to advance to PAC championship
BUCKTOWN >> It maintained control over Pottsgrove’s number Tuesday evening.
Now, Spring-Ford is looking to get a handle on Boyertown in the Pioneer Athletic Conference “Final Four” playoffs.
The Rams had enough stamina and ball control to win their semifinal with the Falcons, 1-0, at Owen J. Roberts’ Wildcat North field. A successful penalty kick by Brett Gulati proved enough of a winning margin, the PAC’s third seed limiting second-seeded Pottsgrove to one shot on goal the entire game.
Spring-Ford will play Boyertown, winner of the other semifinal, 5 p.m. Thursday back at Owen J. The Bears were pressed into overtime by the Wildcats before scoring at the 5:20 mark, 1-0.
“We lost to them (Boyertown) twice during the season, 3-2 and 1-0,” Gulati recalled. “We’d like to get revenge on them.”
In a rematch of their Sept. 10 divisional-crossover meeting — that one went the Rams’ way, 2-1 — Spring-Ford kept the play in Pottsgrove’s end of the field most of the 80 minutes. The Rams (15-4 overall), second in the PAC’s Liberty Division during the regular season, peppered nine shots at the Falcon nets and had a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks.
But a penalty kick situation early in the second quarter ended up the decisive play. Gulati took the kick after teammate Connor Lynch was tripped up at the 38:24 mark, and he made good on the opportunity.
“I just worked to keep composed, and hoped it would go right,” he said.
The tightly-contested 0-0 first half saw Spring-Ford take eight shots to Pottsgrove’s one. Colin Trainor, the star of the Rams’ regular-season win with both scores in the first half, had four of the shots.
“That was a close game,” Gulati said of the previous match. “We worked hard this time. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
For his part, Jay Witkowski felt his team — it was the Frontier Division’s regular-season champion and holder of a 12-5-1 overall mark — performed the way he hoped. Keeping it even deep into the second half was his hope.
“I wanted to get to the second half close,” Pottsgrove’s head coach said. “I wanted to see us get it to the 25-minute mark, then start pushing and open it up. You don’t want to run with those guys.”
Gulati cited Spring-Ford’s crew of midfielders — Lynch and Ethan Mossip among them — as vital to the team’s domination of the action.
“They won every header, and played right up to the pass,” he said.
Luke Kaiser was a bright spot for Pottsgrove in goal. While recording 10 saves, the Falcon junior covered numerous other shots … among them a fast break by the Rams at the 26:21 mark of the second half.
“This may have been his best game of the year,” Witkowski said. “And it came at a perfect time.”
NOTES >> The boys championship game will precede the PAC Girls Championship, which will be staged 7 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium. … Both teams came into the PAC playoffs with high rankings in District 1. Pottsgrove is first in the district’s 3A ranks, and Spring-Ford 10th in 4A. … Pottsgrove was assessed a yellow card with 6:20 left, leaving it without Colin Deckert’s services for the remainder of the game. … Ram goalkeeper Tommy McPoyle needed to make just two stops to secure the clean sheet.
