Dogged defense leads resurgent Ridley past Lower Merion

LOWER MERION >> After the final whistle Thursday afternoon, as the Ridley girls soccer team splayed out on the turf in exhaustion, the Lower Merion training staff approached to ask if anyone needed ice.

Instantly, seven hands shot up. And when only five bags were produced, Anna Charitonchick, the right back with a right ankle a shade of a ripe eggplant, ranked a spot atop the pain-relief pecking order.

It was well earned for the spine of a Green Raiders team that never left the field, a dogged defensive effort withstanding constant pressure from the Aces to make Lindsay Boyd’s goal stand up in a 1-0 Central League win.

A sequence with 10 minutes to play epitomized Ridley’s resolve. Imposing center back Andrea Pezick stepped up to win an aerial dual, then pursued her mark up the field in a series of 50-50 challenges, first pressuring possession, then winning the ball, then winning a throw.

With 70 minutes on her legs and the Green Raiders having played four games in six days, Pezick was stranded up high, taking 30 seconds to recover to her post in the backline. But in her stead stepped two Ridley players to ensure they weren’t left exposed.

“I think collectively, we work really well together as a team,” Charitonchick said. “And if she steps up, someone in the midfield stays back for her. We just work together as a team, and we’re like one big family.”

That determination has led to a potentially special season for the Green Raiders (7-5, 4-4). Entering Thursday, Ridley was the only Delco team positioned to make the District 1 Class 4A playoffs, precariously perched in the 24th and final spot. (Had the 10-team Class 3A tournament begun Thursday, only second-seeded Strath Haven would qualify). The win over Lower Merion (7-3, 4-3), which had been 16th in the rankings, bolsters the Green Raiders postseason credentials.

The goal was fortuitous, with goalie Bridget McCann striking an errant and unhurried punt right into the direction of Boyd, who collected 35 yards from goal. She shrugged off a defender and lashed a confident right-footed shot that left the scrambling McCann no chance.

“I was scared,” Butler said of watching Boyd’s tally. “The whole time I’m scared that she’s going to make a mistake and pass it to the goalie or something. But when it went in, it was relief.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Ridley vs. Lower Merion

The goal was thoroughly against the run of play. The Aces started much faster, forcing three saves from goalie Sydney Zimmerman in the first nine minutes. They flooded forward in the second half chasing an equalizer that never arrived.

The reason was the defense anchoring Ridley’s renaissance. Pezick and Katie Mason ruled the center of the pitch, while seniors Danielle Simister and Charitonchick mopped up threats out wide with a veteran poise. Late on, Charitonchick tucked in as a third center back with Kayley Smith dropping as an outside back in a five-defender look. It was just as watertight.

“In the beginning, we were flat-footed and we were yelling at each other,” Charitonchick said. “Once we started talking and brought it back to our game, we got it together. … We had to stay composed and make sure we’re OK, we don’t need to be frazzled or anything. As long as we’re staying together and we’re not getting all in our heads, we’re fine.”

Zimmerman with a big punch on a corner kick. Ridley hanging on up 1-0. 21 minutes left. pic.twitter.com/cqPq3St2dF

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) October 4, 2018

“It definitely is tough to try to fight against the frustration that we’re feeling, especially when we should be winning because we have many more opportunities,” LM midfielder Isabelle Kuszyk said. “But we just could not finish them.”

It helps to have Zimmerman in net. She collected seven saves, the workload slowing after LM’s opening salvo. Her best denial came on a turning drive by Aviva Kosto in the 23rd minute, a diving save to her right. On one of the rare instances that the Aces beat Ridley’s offside trap in the 68th with Laura Getselman charging in, Zimmerman alleviated the angle from the right channel and smothered the shot.

Zimmerman stoned Kosto again in a 72nd-minute corner kick, with midfielder Camryn Gavula, another senior, sacrificing her body to block the follow up.

Zimmerman’s mobility and constant vigilance on long balls allows Ridley to so patiently absorb pressure. It lets the outside backs stalk any loose attacking touch and gives Butler, the diminutive midfield destroyer, free rein to aggressively shield the backline.

“Knowing that she’s back there, and she always comes up when she has to kick it even if it’s far out, she always comes in and saves us,” Butler said. “And she tells us if there’s a person open, where we have to be.”

Ridley has 10 seniors, many of whom played significant minutes as freshmen and sophomores by coach Ron Nevin, even if that entailed considerable growing pains. That veteran framework is augmented by Boyd and fellow sophomore Ericka Kitzinger, who show plenty of gumption and skill on the ball.

Add in the playoff feel that the Green Raiders thrived under Thursday and it’s even more hope that a playoff berth could lie at the end of the upperclassmen’s long journey.

“We’ve never been close to the playoffs and that’s what we’re really trying for this year,” Butler said. “We came out and showed the teams that crushed us last year that we’re not the old Ridley and that we can win.”

Also in the Central League:

Strath Haven 3, Harriton 2 >> Maggie Forbes tapped home a rebound of a Gianna Zweier shot in the 98th minute to lead Strath Haven to a double overtime win.

The Panthers (11-2, 7-1) had the dream start, with Ellie Malek and Cayden Frazier staking them to a 2-0 lead within 10 minutes. But Gabriela Mazzoni and Sydney Kobak tallied for the Rams to get them even by halftime.

Radnor 2, Marple Newtown 0 >> Isabelle Breedveld and Sydney Wilson scored on either side of halftime, and Anna Gurian and Katie Bell combined on the shutout for the Raiders.

Garnet Valley 6, Upper Darby 0 >> Haley Williams and Alyssa Saito scored twice each, and Regan Nealon and Stevie Ballas rounded out the scoring for the Jaguars.

In nonleague action:

Episcopal Academy 4, Hun School 1 >> Ali McHugh scored in the first half and set up the first of two Anna Salvucci goals in a five-minute span to help EA cruise to a win. Lauren Cunningham tacked on an insurance goal in the final minute.

In the Catholic League:

Lansdale Catholic 2, Cardinal O’Hara 0 >> Kerry Patterson made six saves, but goals on either side of halftime doomed the Lions.