Sophomore Ferraro saves Boyertown’s win over Perkiomen Valley
BOYERTOWN >> Her coach thought she’d be nervous.
But Boyertown sophomore goalie Elli Ferraro handled her first postgame interview like a vet.
Any jitters cleared her system moments before when she displayed nerves of steel with a win-preserving save.
Ferraro stopped a shot attempt in the final seconds Thursday against Perkiomen Valley to deliver the Bears a 9-8 Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty win.
The victory kept Boyertown’s District 1 Class 3A playoff hopes in good shape and showed the poise of the Bears’ sophomore goalie.
“It was a little scary, but I told myself, ‘Have confidence,’ and I knew that (the defense) would take the crash for me and have my back on that,” Ferraro said.”
FINAL: Boyertown 9, Perk Valley 8. … Elli Ferraro saves a shot in the final seconds to preserve Bears win. pic.twitter.com/xQPIaiYKpf
— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) May 6, 2021
A Boyertown foul with a little more than eight seconds left gave Perk Valley the ball with a chance to complete a five-goal second-half comeback and send the contest into overtime.
Upon the restart, Bears’ senior defender Mikayla Moyer kept Vikings’ senior Anna Dawson from getting a clear shot on goal, and Ferraro stopped the skipped attempt with her stick.
The last stand preserved a win for seniors Moyer (1 groundball), Emma Ludwig (1gb, draw control) and Jordan Woodring (1 goal, 1 assist, 1gb) in their final home game in a Boyertown uniform.
“It’s amazing,” Moyer said. “That’s all I wanted to do today was come in here and play our hardest. It’s great that we came out with a win. No matter what the end result was, I was going to be happy.”
Juniors Ali Pioli and Allie Schell both netted a pair of goals and a pair of assists for Boyertown. Sophomore Delaney Fox added another two goals as Woodring, freshman Alina Friz and junior Jasmine Fink rounded out the scoring.
Pioli’s score with 16:03 left in the game halted a three-goal PV run to put the Bears up 9-6. Dawson scored twice to pull the Vikings’ within one, but Pioli’s score held up as the game-winner.
“We definitely wanted to win this, it was a big game,” Pioli said. “We really helped each other. I know we got caught up a few times, but we were just using each other and I think that’s the big thing that we have started from the beginning of the year, just seeing open lanes and knowing what each other wants. And we were able to get that.”
After Boyertown kills the clock, Lauren Foley save gives Vikings chance to tie. pic.twitter.com/ow8RwwsHts
— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) May 6, 2021
Lauren Foley save to set up Anna Dawson goal. 9-8 Boyertown with 3:19 left. pic.twitter.com/O8bk6AFdgR
— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) May 6, 2021
Opposite of Ferraro, PV senior goalie Lauren Foley made impressive save after impressive save, totaling 14 in the game.
Dawson’s goal to make it 9-8 with 3:19 to play came right after a Foley save. After Boyertown wound the clock down under a minute, Foley made another stop to give her team a chance at tying in the final seconds.
“It’s happened all throughout her four years,” PV coach Lisa Clark said. “That’s what she does. She really lights a fire and gets things started with big saves and a lot of the time they respond.”
Dawson and junior Mackenzie Hanlon each scored twice for PV. The Vikings also got goals from seniors Maya Fulmer, Tori Bruno and Kaleigh Funk as well as junior Kiki Rotay, who Clark said played the best game of her PV career.
“Lauren’s always the spark, and then Anna’s a spark when she’s stinging corners. Kiki (Rotay) played a great game,” Clark said. “Our defense played a really good game in the second half. … It was a good second half, we just couldn’t put it together for 50 minutes.”
Boyertown entered Thursday ranked No. 25 in the District 1 Class 3A power rankings, while the Vikings sat a few spots behind at No. 28 — both sitting right on the outside of the 24-team playoff field.
The Bears’ win bumped them up to No. 20 with a league game against Norristown on Friday and a non-league contest against Wilson on Saturday.
“I think we worked together as a team really well, and we stepped up our game because we knew we had to win this one,” Ferraro said.
Huge response by Boyertown out of timeout as Ali Pioli’s shot hits post and rolls in to halt PV run. pic.twitter.com/yAD2wUL5g4
— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) May 6, 2021
Meanwhile, the Vikings dropped to No. 29 with contests against Methacton and Great Valley upcoming that still could give them the opportunity to jump into the playoff field.
PV will treat those two games like playoff games, but at the end of the day the Vikings and their coach are content to make it through another spring in a 2021 season that’s brought with it some perspective.
“That’s the other things about this season, it’s certainly not going the way we want it to, but this season’s bigger than wins and losses,” Clark said. “They get to play. They’re happy that they get to be out there, and in the end that’s all that matters. It’s great. I couldn’t be happier, even sitting here after a loss. I couldn’t be happier sitting here talking to you about these girls because they’re just incredible and they deserve to be out here and they worked hard.”
