Boyertown pushes slow start aside, downs Wissahickon in District 1-3A first round
LOWER GWYNEDD — On the eve of the playoffs, Boyertown’s message was simple.
The Bears got off to a slow start, losing five of their first seven games, but got hot after that with 10 straight victories to close the regular season. Tuesday had a similar feel, a slow first quarter leading into a resurgent effort the rest of the way.
No. 19 Boyertown controlled the middle quarters, then held off a late push by No. 14 Wissahickon for a 14-11 in the first round of the District 1-3A playoffs.
“(Monday), we just talked a lot about sticking together and playing as a team,” Bears senior Alina Friz said. “That was really important for us coming in, especially with our start.”
Friz and junior Hannah Adamski each had four goals for the Bears, who rebounded from a loss in the PAC semifinals to reach the second round of districts for the second straight year. Adamski, a junior committed to Arizona State, also tallied 11 draw controls in a prolonged battle with Wissahickon’s Emma Greenberg all game long.
The host Trojans, who only had three seniors this year, were in charge for most of the first quarter. Their defense forced six turnovers, the backs and defensive midfielders flying in passing lanes to deflect or pick off passes while the offense scored the first three goals and led 4-1 with 1:57 left in the frame.
Friz, a senior committed to Stevens Institute of Technology for soccer, found the back of the net in the last minute of the quarter. The Bears’ between-quarter talk was focused mainly on how to clean things up offensively.
“We needed to take care of the ball more,” Adamski said. “We had to figure out their defense and how they were switching. Once we realized they were in a backer, that’s when we figured it out”
“We saw they weren’t as strong around the crease but they were really good at knocking it out of the air,” Friz added. “We had to take care of it there. We were forcing it at the beginning and it led to turnovers.”
Friz and Adamski both cited patience on both ends as the difference. Knowing they wouldn’t be able to just drive to the goal, Boyertown’s attackers looked for the extra pass with Friz adding it was often the second cut that had the best chance to get into the crease area and finish.
Greenberg bounced Wiss to a 5-3 lead with 9:03 left in the first half. Friz found Adamski for a dunk-in finish on the next possession to kick off a run of five straight Bears goals to end the half.
Adamski gave Boyertown its first lead at 6-5 by grabbing a ground ball off a rebound and putting it away, the first of three straight goals by the junior to end the run, her last coming with 8.6 left on the quarter clock.
“We picked that up as the season went on, we didn’t really start with it but we really started to trust each other by the end of the season,” Friz said. “That’s really where we gained our confidence.”
Wiss saw its season end and while the team’s trio of seniors Thalia Tsiobikas, Chloe Acuna and Nora Ryan were upset, they left what they had on the field. After missing the playoffs last year, getting the extra game was an accomplishment to be proud of, even if it didn’t ease the sting of the ending.
“It’s really hard, I was excited about this season, we got so many talented underclassmen so I wanted to get back in there,” Ryan said. “I knew this year was going to be a huge turnaround for us.”
Ryan, who had an assist, a caused turnover, three ground balls and came up with three draw controls, recalled looking up to the seniors and upperclassmen in her first few years with the program. What she enjoyed about this team was the way the underclassmen came in ready to contribute and the senior added she’s eager to see where they take the team over the next few seasons.
“I was really proud of the way they were able to really step up when we needed them the most,” Ryan said. “They didn’t need to look to anybody for guidance, they just stepped up and played big when we needed them to.”
After Boyertown took the second quarter 6-1, the visitors won the third 4-2. Adamski also got into a groove on the draws in the quarter while Boyertown’s defense and goalie Teagan Tyson continued to make stops.
“We had high energy but our defense also really pulled through,” Adamski said. “We were very patient waiting to check on our doubles which allowed us to get a turnover and lead to a nice goal on attack.”
Alex Bliss netted her second goal for a 14-8 Boyertown lead with 7:27 to play in the fourth but the rest of the game was spent trying to fend off Wissahickon. The Trojans scored the game’s last three goals on tallies by Lila Marciniak, Sophia Stehlik and Greenberg, the final tally cutting the lead to three with 48 seconds remaining.
The Bears will travel to No. 3 seed Upper Dublin in Thursday’s second round. UD downed Boyertown 12-8 way back on March 21, but both teams have come a long way since that meeting.
“This season’s been better than I ever could have imagined,” Friz said. “It may have started off slow, but we get along really well so I think we just meshed together and it’s been a lot of fun so far.”
BOYERTOWN 2 6 4 2 – 14
WISSAHICKON 4 1 2 4 – 11
