Cheltenham pulls out win against Upper Merion
UPPER MERION >> Cheltenham and Upper Merion’s girls soccer teams may not be near the top of the Suburban One League American Conference standings, but that didn’t stop the two teams from playing a high-paced and entertaining game through a constant rain at Upper Merion Area High School Thursday afternoon.
When the mud settled and everyone made for cover from the rain, it was Cheltenham that left the field with a 2-1 victory.
It was the fourth time this season that the Vikings scored first and ended up losing by the score of 2-1.
The goal to tie the game was the nicest of the day. Cheltenham earned a free kick from 20 yards away in the first half and junior Olivia Tuszl stepped up to the ball. The ball exploded off of her foot and went straight into the far-side top right corner.
“Olivia is a very athletic girl,” Cheltenham coach Mark Woodcock said. “She is very quick and she understands the game very well. She’s got a great shot and she’s a very versatile player. We put her in all sorts of places and she does a great job for us.”
The game-winner came later in the first half. Carly Waldman, a senior and a captain, found herself with space in front of the Upper Merion goal and did not waste the opportunity, burying what turned out to be the deciding score.
It was surprising that two goals was enough to win this game. Both teams had plenty of opportunities to score but either shot wide or couldn’t beat the opposing keeper.
Upper Merion junior Robyn Rhindress scored the first goal of the game and had a number of other chances, including a penalty kick that bounced off the left post.
“(Rhindress) was third-team Suburban One last year and we’re looking for her to be first-team,” Upper Merion coach Laura Himler said. “She loves the sport of soccer. She brings passion every day — works hard at practice and works hard every game. She’s one of our hardest working players.”
Another great chance for the Vikings came in the second half when senior Rose Sedgwick shot just high and missed the net.
“It’s been our struggle all season — finishing,” Himler said. “We’ve been working on it a lot in practice and we’re getting better. One of these games it will fall and we’ll go up 4-0 … You can’t be upset — they are taking chances that they wouldn’t have taken before.”
Cheltenham had another chance in the second half when a shot hit the crossbar and redirected out of harm’s way.
The Panthers improved to 3-5 in SOL American play and think this victory could be the start of turning their season around.
“We think there are three or four teams in this league that we can compete with and they are going to be coming up in the next week,” Woodcock said. “We hope this is something that is going to lead to three or four more wins for us.”
