Boyertown shuts out Spring-Ford to win PAC championship
BUCKTOWN >> Boyertown fought off a Spring-Ford onslaught early in Thursday night’s Pioneer Athletic Conference boys soccer championship match. Then a goal by Nick Willson took some of the pressure off the Bears, who rode their usual solid defense and strong goalkeeping by Mason Kurtz to a 2-0 win and their fifth PAC title.
Willson scored in the 22nd minute off a pass from Landon Wenger and then set up Wenger with a nifty feed with 11 minutes to go at Owen J. Roberts’ Wildcat Stadium to give the No. 1 seed Bears (8-1-1 Liberty Division champions, 10-1-2 PAC, 17-1-2 overall) their first title since 2016.
“It’s something I will never forget,” said Willson. “I think we played pretty well and deserved it. A nice win.”
“It was a great fight by them, but a better fight by us,” said Kurtz.
First wild card and No. 3 seed Spring-Ford (8-2, 11-2, 15-5) dominated the play and repeatedly blasted away at the Boyertown goal in the opening 10 minutes. But a good run down the left side by Wenger finally got the ball deep into Ram territory and the Bears were able to keep the ball in scoring range.
Then Wenger passed the ball to the right wing to an open Willson, who headed the ball into the far corner.
“That did take a lot of pressure off,” said Willson. “We had to keep our heads. It’s always a hectic game against them.”
“They started off better than we did,” Kurtz (6 saves) added. “It was getting really hectic. Somehow we were able to respond with the first goal.”
The Bears, who have allowed only 11 goals the entire season, continued to fight off the Ram attack after that. And when they had trouble clearing the ball, Kurtz made a couple of diving saves and roamed far and wide to corral dangerous loose balls.
“It starts with our captain being right in the center,” Kurtz said concerning the stellar defense. “Ryan Foskey controls everything. We take pride in the defense.
The offense comes and goes and shows up when we need them. But we take pride in our defense.”
“It’s just about sticking with it, clearing the ball,” said Willson. “We always have to be the first ones there.”
Boyertown doubled the lead when Willson, facing away from the goal, pushed a through ball around the last defender to Wenger, who broke away and drilled home the clinching goal.
“I saw Landon out of the corner of my eye and cut it across right to him,” said Willson. “Good finish by him.”
Boyertown had lost to the Rams 2-1 in last year’s semifinals, but won 1-0 and 3-2 in this year’s regular season matches.
Spring-Ford lost in the final for the third consecutive season.
“They have great defense … 11 goals on them,” said Ram coach Brent Kissel. “You have to finish every opportunity. Kurtz is a great goalkeeper and they have solid defense. We tried to change the point of attack, drive it to space. We worked on that in practice. They got the early goal and the wind was a factor too.”
Both teams will play in the District 1-3A playoffs that begin next week.
“Last year we lost this game and made it to the state tournament,” said Kissel. “It’s a rivalry game for the PAC. I know the guys wanted it. But the playoffs really start next week.”
