SCH Academy’s second chances make it happen against Germantown Academy

WHITEMARSH >> Springside Chestnut Hill girls soccer coach Maria Kosmin gave her strikers 10 minutes to make something happen.

If the two strikers she had in didn’t score, she just subbed in two more for the next 10 minutes with the same instructions. Kosmin wanted to light a bit of a fire and instill a bit of urgency into her attackers and while it didn’t come right away, it paid off for the Blue Devils.

SCH scored a pair of second half goals on second opportunities to beat host Germantown Academy 2-0 in Inter-Ac play Tuesday afternoon.

“A lot times we do a good job of creating and attacking to get behind defenders but it’s the last step we don’t get to,” Kosmin said. “The first step is getting the shot on goal, then having someone follow up.”

GA won the first meeting between the teams 2-1 and for the first half, it shaped up as another match that would probably come down to the final minutes. Chestnut Hill was able to get strikers in behind the GA back line twice in the first half, but the first time a shot taken way too early went wide and on the other, the player on the ball waited a bit too long, allowing Lilly Altomare to make the save.

The Patriots had a couple good looks of their own, with senior Ally Clark uncorking a shot through traffic that SCH keeper Julie Wilbekaitis did well to go down and punch away. GA’s problems on Tuesday stemmed from an inability to connect passes at a consistent rate.

“I didn’t feel like we strung any passes together at all,” GA coach Chris Nelson said. “They did a nice job of countering and we were a step slow to every single play.”

SCH’s back line, anchored by Maddie Niebish and Esther Lamb, was very strong in front of goal. Niebish, a junior center back, was very good for the Devils and had a clutch stand-up tackle on Clark in the second half with the Columbia-bound GA senior on a rampaging run up the field.

“Our defense is solid, they keep us in the game and keep the energy going,” Kosmin said. “GA has some really dangerous players, they don’t stop and when they do get looks in front of the net, either the keeper has to make a huge save or you hope it’s not a good shot. They’ve done such a good job of scoring late and pulling out overtime wins, so this was a good win for us.”

SCH got on the board on its eighth corner kick of the game with a bit less than 17 minutes to go. The initial ball in didn’t net a chance, but a short clearance came out to Devils senior Mo’ne Davis, who hit the second chance low and hard for a goal.

The Devils were pretty fired up by Davis’ goal and the forward lines certainly picked it up as they tried to make something of their own happen.

“It’s been the story of the year,” Kosmin said. “We’ve had a lot of opportunities and nobody to score it. Once it starts, we usually keep going.”

As a PAISAA team, the Blue Devils can play eighth graders and a pair of them created the second goal. Bella Torres got in behind the back line on a breakaway and ripped a shot that Altomare did well to put a hand on, keeping it out.

But, her save only sent the ball skidding along the goal line and just as it got to the far post, Louie McIntyre came in on a trailing run for the tap-in and 2-0 lead with 12 minutes left.

“It’s a confidence thing, I subbed the strikers more than usual,” Kosmin said. “I told them if they didn’t make something happen in their 10 minutes, their time was up, so I think it gave them a little more incentive.”

The Patriots had a golden opportunity to equalize after the first goal when they won a free kick a few yards outside the box. Junior Kiley Kergides hit a great ball, but just a sliver too high, that cracked off the crossbar and landed on the wrong side of the goal line.

A couple swipes in front didn’t connect and SCH was finally able to get the ball away.

“We were looking for one big, easy play instead of being willing to work the ball around,” Nelson said. “We could have possessed. There was certainly space on the field and we just didn’t generate enough chances on goal.”

After starting 5-0 in the Inter-Ac, the Patriots have now dropped three straight league games.

“We need to see a couple goals go in and find the back of the net somehow,” Nelson said. “The good thing is we play tomorrow, so we’ll dust ourselves off and get back to it.”

SPRINGSIDE CHESTNUT HILL 2, GERMANTOWN ACADEMY 0
SPRINGSIDE CHESTNUT HILL 0 2 – 2
GERMANTOWN ACADEMY 0 0 – 0
Goals: SCH – Louie McIntyre (Bella Torres), Mo’ne Davis.