Governor Mifflin rallies to clip Wilson 3-2 in OT, stay unbeaten
WEST LAWN>> Sometimes, the challenge is physical. Sometimes, it’s tactical. Sometimes, it comes from within.
The third one is what Governor Mifflin head coach Ed Deren challenged his players with Tuesday night at Wilson. The Bulldogs had thoroughly outplayed the Mustangs in the opening 40 minutes of its backyard rivalry and were seriously threatening to hang Mifflin with its first loss of the season.
The halftime break gave Deren the chance.
“When you play the Wilson game, it’s not about tactics,” Deren said. “It’s about who wants it more. Wilson wanted it more in the first half. We talked about heart, and I challenged them to give their heart and everything they had in that second half. Wilson was a tremendous opponent tonight. Hats off to them.”
Mifflin recovered from a two-goal deficit to record a 3-2, double-overtime over the Bulldogs. Melissa Martin found the back of the net with 1:59 expired in the second overtime, a shot from the right side of the box from about six yards that trickled past Wilson keeper Emily Albee.
By completing the dynamic comeback, the Mustangs stayed unbeaten and atop the league, moving to 12-0-1 overall and 7-0-1 in Berks League Section 1. Wilson fell to 6-7, 4-4.
Though Deren’s challenge ultimately proved fruitful, it didn’t take root right away. Just 1:42 into the second half, Myriah Troutman converted a rebound off Mifflin goalie Kyra Hartman’s mitts to the upper right corner to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.
“A team’s character is defined by how they face adversity, and we faced a lot of adversity, especially in the first half,” Deren said. “We found a way to grind and find the back of the net.
“A lot of these girls have been playing together since they were eight years old and they’ve been in a lot these situations before.”
After being held to a single shot on target during the first half, the strike that got the slumbering unbeatens moving again was Sienna Zittle’s goal, coming just 2:32 after Troutman’s marker, to halve the deficit. From there, the Mustangs gradually took command of the match and piled up eight more shots on goal.
Zittle was a threat all evening — she had Mifflin’s first three shots on target and five the team’s 10 overall.
Anna Werner potted the tying goal for Mifflin with 12:04 to play when a shot bounced off Albee’s mitts and directly onto her right foot. The two squads wrestled through the end of regulation and a first 10-minute overtime without a defining chance to end it.
The loss, coming on the heels of a last-minute defeat to Section 1’s other contender, Daniel Boone, was a tough one for the Bulldogs and head coach Tim Fick.
“It’s always a battle with Mifflin,” Fick said. “They always come to play; they’re one of the top teams in the district right now. We had our girls ready to go. A 2-0 lead is one the toughest to hang onto in sports. As good a coach as Ed Deren is, we knew he was going to get them to fight back and he did.
“In the end, it was going to be which way was the ball going to bounce. And we didn’t get the last bounce.”
Wilson opened the scoring rather quickly, just 1:16 into the contest, on a solid strike from Alli Laskey, set up by Emily Kauffman. Crisp defensive play and forays of pressure at the other end kept Mifflin bottled up for the remainder of the first half.
Wilson outshot Mifflin 3-1 in the first half. The Mustangs returned the favor by a 9-2 margin the rest of the way for a 10-5 overall edge.
Governor Mifflin – 0 2 0 1 — 3
Wilson – 1 1 0 0 — 2
First half
W – Alli Laskey (Emily Kauffman), 38:44
Second half
W – Myriah Troutman, 38:18
GM – Sienna Zittle, 35:46
GM – Anna Werner, 12:04
Second overtime
GM – Melissa Martin, 8:01
Shots on goal
W 5, GM 10
Corners
W 2, GM 2
Saves
W (Emily Albee) 7, GM (Kyra Hartman) 3
