Perkiomen Valley tops Spring-Ford in another tight PAC Liberty contest

Separation has been minimal for the top four teams in the Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division this season.

Entering this week, all four games between Owen J. Roberts, Methacton, Spring-Ford and Perkiomen Valley had been decided by one goal.

The trend continued Monday as Perkiomen Valley held on for a 2-1 victory over Spring-Ford to complete the first half of division play

“It causes a lot of anxiety,” PV’s Kaci Shelton said of the tight contests. “But the best games are the close games, to watch and to play in.”

Perkiomen Valley (8-2, 4-1 PAC Liberty) took a 2-0 lead with just more than 12 minutes left in the first half Monday after Shelton tipped in a goal off an assist from Katie Wuerstle, and Danielle Hamm scored a penalty stroke set up by a Shelton fast break two minutes later.

After getting two shots on goal in the first half, Spring-Ford tested PV goalie Ashley Derrick five times in the second half. The Rams (7-4, 2-3 PAC Liberty) finally converted with 17 and a half minutes left in the game on a Mackenna Maloney goal off an assist from Alexa Collins.

That would be it for the game’s scoring. Derrick, who made six saves in the game, and the Vikings defense held Spring-Ford to the lone goal during a Rams’ push in the middle of the second half, and the PV offense kept pressure on the Rams’ goal late in the game to preserve the one-goal win.

“It got scary,” PV backer Ashley Elvidge said. “There were a couple corners there in the beginning of the second half. We always talk about it and make sure we stay on the ball. Anybody who can stop the ball get to it. Keep our ‘D’ up no matter what happens.”

As she has done throughout this season, Spring-Ford goalie Ashley Della Guardia kept the Rams in the game with diving stop after diving stop. Della Guardia made 13 saves in the Rams’ 1-0 loss to Owen J. Roberts last week and saved nine shots against PV on Monday.

Della Guardia’s defense, led by Lauren Constantine, Gabrielle Ward, Julia Corropolese and Olivia Wilson, also came to her aid time after time Monday, helping their goalie defend 13 penalty corners. Constantine was credited with a defensive safe.

The Rams have allowed two goals just twice this season and allowed more than two just once, in a 3-2 loss to Methacton. 

“They’ve been great,” Spring-Ford coach Jennie Anderson said. “They’ve honestly kept the games close. Ashley’s done an amazing job back there. She makes save after save. I couldn’t be more proud of the way she’s played and the defensive unit as group. They’ve all come together.”

The Vikings are now 2-1 in those one-goal PAC Liberty contests. They defeated Owen J. Roberts in overtime early in league play before falling to Methacton, 3-2.

Though only converting two of its opportunities the Vikings’ offense kept Spring-Ford on its heels throughout Monday’s contest, getting off 12 shots in the game. However, the Vikings couldn’t find that third goal to put the game out of reach.

PV has put in a lot of practice time on the offensive end in order to get that put-away goal and avoid these stressful games in the future.

“We always talk about it that we want to score and score and score,” Elvidge said. “Coach keeps saying he wants that one person who gets the goals in. It gets kind of scary because it’s always a close game. As exhilarating as it is, we do have anxiety over it. But it is fun in the end.”

The Rams have battled the top competition in the Pioneer Athletic Conference as close as you can get without coming away with a win.

Methacton topped Spring-Ford with a last-minute goal in a 3-2 win early in division play, and Owen J. Roberts topped the Rams 1-0 in a contest early last week. Monday’s loss makes it three one-goal losses in five division games for the Rams.

“It’s frustrating because we’ve had a lot of chances, a lot of opportunities,” Anderson said. “We just gotta find a way to put one in and get the equalizer.”

“Everyone in the league’s just really tough, so we gotta find a way to get the goalie off her angle and get some better shots,” she added.