Fast start sparks Wissahickon in win over Plymouth Whitemarsh
LOWER GWYNEDD >> The Wissahickon girls soccer team wasted no time against Plymouth Whitemarsh Tuesday afternoon.
The Trojans scored the game’s first goal in the fifth minute and doubled their lead in the 12th to kick-start a 4-1 Suburban One League Liberty Division win over the Colonials at Wissahickon High School.
“You look at PW’s scores,” Wiss head coach Chris McDaniels said, “they kind of picked up where they left off last year which is not allowing very many goals. I think you have to give us credit for creating a bunch of offense against a team that is defensively pretty well organized. Today we managed to put together some good passing in the attacking third and create more chances than they’ve seen this year. We were pretty good today.”
Lucy Greenstein got the scoring started less than five minutes into the game. She found the ball inside the box and her left-footed volley found the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Kylie Friedman scored the first of her two goals just over seven minutes later. Emma Baker set up Friedman to double the Trojans (3-1-1, 2-1-1 SOL Liberty) lead and give them a little wiggle room.
“Putting in the first two is what starts it,” Friedman said. “They got one in the first half, then we came back stronger in the second half.”
Later in the first half, Natalie Ryan made it 3-0 Wissahickon. McDaniels knows how dangerous she can be on free kicks and she delivered from just outside the box. From 20 yards out she found the bottom left corner to give her side a three-goal lead.
The Colonials (1-2, 1-2 SOL Liberty) grabbed some momentum at the end of the first half. In the 39th minute, Leah Kaye sent a corner into the box. The ball deflected off of PW’s Gabby Cooper at the far post and Natalie Lannie was there to finish.
PW had a chance to get within one early in the second half, but weren’t able to capitalize. Kaye sent a corner into the box and the ball stayed in front of the net. The Colonials were able to get possession, but couldn’t get a shot past the Trojans last line of defenders.
“We have to take advantage of those opportunities,” PW head coach Ryan Zehren said. “Wiss took advantage of theirs; we didn’t take advantage of ours. We had like four chances in the first half. They had four or five chances and took advantage, scored on three of them. We scored on one. Second half first 15 minutes we had a number of chances … We just couldn’t put it in the net.”
Friedman iced the game in the 56th minute. Baker set her up again, this time from the right side of the net.
“It all goes back to U-9 soccer,” Friedman said of her relationship with Baker. “This is actually the first time we’re playing up top together. We’ve connected all year. It’s been good.”
Wissahickon sits in second place in the SOL Liberty Division, a half-game behind first-place Abington (3-0). They play the Ghosts home-and-home on back-to-back days next week after facing Hatboro-Horsham (2-1) Thursday.
“As of right now we’re playing good soccer,” Friedman said of the Trojans going 3-0-1 since their 0-1 start. “We came out a little iffy, but now we’re playing good soccer.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh is in fifth place at 1-2.
