Ryan locks down middle as Hatboro-Horsham edges Wissahickon
LOWER GWYNEDD >> Cam Ryan isn’t the biggest or tallest player on a soccer field, but she usually plays like she is.
The Hatboro-Horsham senior is in purest terms, a ball-winner in the center of the field and has been described as the engine of her team multiple times. Wednesday, on a sweltering afternoon and her team down a goal, Ryan was told she was on her own in the middle.
Ryan took care of it and the Hatters scratched out a 2-1 overtime win at Wissahickon.
“We just have to take this as another win and look at the next game,” Ryan said. “It was pretty hectic in there, it was a big win and should get our energy up with some important games coming up.”
With conditions more resembling a preseason game than one contested in early October, the Trojans and Hatters had to battle high temperatures but also an inconsistent whistle on one half of the field. Hatboro-Horsham started very sluggish coming off a 1-1-1 week where they had scored just one goal.
Wissahickon was able to generate three early corners and when Carly Amato rang the crossbar on a shot, it seemed the Hatters slow start would hurt them. Instead, the Trojans couldn’t put anything away and the game played at a slow pace until the final minutes of the first half.
“I think we just went in a slump,” Ryan said. “The loss to (Plymouth Whitemarsh) really put us down, then we tied Upper Dublin but our practice last Friday showed us we needed to win Saturday (against Downingtown West) and if we did that, we’d be back on top.”
The host side stole the momentum going into the break when the always-dangerous Amato struck. Defender Elaina Bailey won a tackle on the left flank before junior forward Sophia Chiodo-Ortiz made a terrific hustle play to keep possession alive and sent in a cross that Amato latched onto.
Amato worked herself some space then hit a shot that parried off the keeper’s gloves, pinged the post and rolled over the goal line with 2:26 left in the half.
Retreating to halftime, Hatters coach Kelsey Daley challenged her team and made a tactical change, putting more on Ryan’s shoulders.
“They want to win this league more than any team I’ve been around,” Daley said. “They know they have to give everything to win these types of games.”
Hatboro-Horsham moved to a four-forward front line, leaving their middle ground more open if Wissahickon was able to win the ball. The move paid off both ways, as the Hatters found an equalizer early in the half and they kept the middle clean.
Ally Eutermoser stung a shot off the left flank that was saved, but the rebound went free and Emily Thomas crashed in and punched it home with about 30 minutes to play.
From there, the Hatters kept the Trojans pretty well-pinned in with Ryan flying around to win tackles or headers at every chance.
“I have to give Cam Ryan the credit,” Daley said. “I put another forward up top and had full confidence Cam Ryan could control the center mid herself and she did exactly that times 10. She won every head ball, she won every tackle, there’s really no threat to her in that center mid spot because she controls it every game.”
Ryan wasn’t the only player winning balls, but her presence helped Wissahickon from breaking out on attack. Amato countered by working back deeper to pick up the ball, but she wasn’t able to connect with Kylie Friedman, Anna May or Natalie Ryan as well as the team had done in the first half.
Playing the holding midfield position often doesn’t lend itself to highlights, although Ryan is one of the team’s best free kick and corner kick takers but it is invaluable to a winning team. The senior knows she’s probably not going to out-jump bigger players but she adapts by focusing on winning the next ball and never goes into a challenge unless she’s going all in on it.
“It just pushed us that we knew we were winning them and we had to keep doing it,” Ryan said. “They’re a really physical team but it seemed like that was getting them mentally out of it so we just had to stay with it.”
Nabbing a result was critical for both teams, with the Hatters trying to keep their hold atop the SOL American and also a top-eight District 1-4A position while the Trojans, who entered the day 22nd in the 4A rankings, are trying to get back to the postseason.
Hatboro-Horsham found the winner with 38 seconds left in overtime when Gabby Liott’s ball over the top was finished off by Eutermoser.
“It was just heart and desire,” Ryan said. “It really showed out there.”
HATBORO-HORSHAM 0 1 1 -2
WISSAHICKON 1 0 0 – 1
Goals: HH – Emily Thomas, Ally Eutermoser (Gabby Liott); W – Carly Amato
