Daniel Boone and Governor Mifflin don’t move the needle in 1-1 draw
SHILLINGTON>> After 100 minutes of soccer, nothing has changed atop the Berks League Section 1 girls’ soccer race.
Governor Mifflin and Daniel Boone battled to a 1-1 draw Tuesday evening in rainy conditions at Mustang Stadium, the start time moved up due to anticipated poor weather. The result between the section leaders, which both entered the fray unbeaten at 4-0 in league play, did not move the needle.
“For us, a tie tonight is like a win,” Blazers head coach John Pantone said. “We were down our top center back, Alayna Roesener, and she’s the heart and soul of our team. You can’t replace that kind of talent. I’m really proud of our bench players who came up and produced. To come away with a tie against a powerhouse team like (Mifflin), here, I feel like it’s a win.”
Roesener was cut above her eye at a non-team soccer function last weekend and required 10 stitches to close the wound, according to Pantone.
“It was a very fair result,” Mifflin head coach Ed Deren said of the draw. “They’re a good team, we’re a good team. We just have to continue to improve.”
Mifflin freshman Gillian Maack scored the first goal of the game with 20:31 remaining in the first half, a potent strike from the top of the box bending right-to-left that beat Boone keeper Makenzie Witzel cleanly to the lower corner of the net.
Jill Braunsberg squared it at 1 with 10:37 to play in the half, a side-of-the-foot shank from point-blank range that chipped over the head of Mifflin goalie Kyra Hartman in nestled in the back of the net just under the crossbar.
Both teams later had golden chances to break the stalemate – Boone hit the crossbar off a corner kick, Mifflin had a 1-2 chip in the box careen directly at Witzel – but neither could find the game-winner.
The Mustangs (9-0-1, 4-0-1) carried play in the first half, piling up five shots on target and four corner kicks. That early pressure helped lead to Maack’s marker — but after a half-hour or so, Boone began to adjust.
By the time the whistle blew to start the second half, run of play had clearly shifted to Boone’s corner. The Blazers (7-1-1, 4-0-1) dominated possession — at one point reeling off seven consecutive corners — but could manage just one additional shot on goal, after serving up two during the first half.
“It was (a tactical adjustment); we wanted to play wide,” Pantone explained. “But even more, I think we got over our nerves. We had to start the game without our best player, so the girls had to get over that. Mifflin knew that and they brought it. And the girls withstood it. They gave up a goal but they got it back. We wanted to go wide and get the ball in the box.
“It was a gut-check. The ladies really stepped up.”
Mifflin recovered to get the better of play in both OTs, with five additional shots, but all were served right at Witzel. Boone’s keeper wound up with 13 saves, but she didn’t have to move around much to record the overtime saves.
“We counter-attacked and made adjustments to what they did,” Deren said. “When you get into any OT situation anything can happen. My hat goes off to their goalie (Witzel) tonight. She made some great saves. She didn’t do anything that may have cost them the game. She was very solid in net.”
The Mustangs outshot the Blazers 14-4 for the contest; the corner count was square at seven.
“It was great test against a great team,” Deren said. “We put them under pressure, they put us under pressure. Boone did some things very well, and we created a lot of scoring opportunities. We just couldn’t find that last pass tonight.
“They’re a team I anticipate we may be playing two or three times this year. We have a lot of work to do to get better, to compete with teams like this. But I’m proud of my girls.”
