Hatboro-Horsham outlasts Wissahickon in District 1-4A 2nd round thriller

LOWER GWYNEDD >> The crossbar might have still been rattling as the final seconds ticked off the clock and Hatboro-Horsham’s girls soccer team swarmed onto the field.

In a game where the seeding didn’t matter at all, the visiting Hatters and host Wissahickon waged another classic battle, one that’s played out numerous times in their meetings as SOL Liberty rivals and even twice this regular season. This time, though, the season was on the line for both sides and the stakes and intensity went to even higher levels than usual.

All of it came down to a matter of inches but it was No. 22 Hatboro-Horsham celebrating the hard-earned 3-2 win over the No. 6 Trojans in Thursday’s District 1-4A second round game.

“We have a strong team bond and we wanted to come out and prove to everyone we could win a game like this,” Hatter senior keeper Sam Hollish said. “We made a goal to go far into the playoffs and that’s what we’re aiming to do.”

Hollish was monumental in keeping the Hatters in front during the final minutes and no play loomed larger than her quick-reaction save on Kylie Friedman with about 90 seconds left. The stop followed the “gasp” moment of the match, when Wiss senior Margaret Wilde struck the crossbar on a header in front of the goal with the carom popping out to Friedman, who tried it head it down off the turf and in, only to be denied.

“I was just quick on my feet,” Hollish said. “My goalie coach told me when I was warming up to remember to be quick on my feet and that’s what I did to end up making that play.”

The frantic finish was on par for the rest of the night, with the SOL Liberty champion Trojans opening their playoff run after a first-round bye and the Hatters coming in off a 4-1 win over another division rival, Upper Dublin, on Tuesday. Hatboro-Horsham had dropped three straight matches to end the regular season and as coach Kelsey Daley pointed out, wasn’t even sure it was going to make the postseason.

After gutting out Thursday’s match, the Hatters are now a win away from states and in the district quarterfinals for the first time in program history.

All it took was three really good goals, a couple huge saves, some good fortune on behalf of the woodwork and a defensive effort that went beyond committed. Hatters junior Abby Waeltz, a softball catcher, is used to getting a little beat up in a game but even she felt Thursday was a bit much with how many times she got in front of a shot or pass and kept ending up on the turf after yet another intervention.

The entire defensive unit, from keepers Hollish and Martine Royds to backs Waeltz, Marissa Rapino, Bridget McFadden, Gracynne Smith and Natalie Tocci worked together and held firm to limit Wissahickon’s potent attack.

“In a game like this, I’m doing whatever I can to get in front of the ball or get myself in front of my girl,” Waeltz said. “At halftime, Kelsey basically said ‘you have to defend with your life’ and that’s what I did, I defended like it was my life on the line.

“We came out here knowing it was win or go home and this what it for us. We felt like we were the underdogs and that mentality is what pulled it out for us.”

After handling Wissahickon’s opening surge, the Hatters settled into the game and started to swing back. It was an up-and-down regular season for Hatboro-Horsham, especially with all the injuries the team had but even with the rough finish to the regular season, the Hatters knew they were getting healthy.

They also have a couple players that are in form at the right time, starting with Mia Malofiy. Building off her brace on Tuesday, the sophomore opened Thursday’s scoring with a screamer hit from distance that powered through the keeper’s hands with 16 minutes left in the first half.

Wissahickon answered soon after, when a great corner kick by senior Natalie Ryan found a cluster of players and Wilde was able to poke it home from short range.

Malofiy came through again, this time playing a perfectly timed long ball up to Emma Levin off a quick throw-in and the standout sophomore midfielder did the rest. Levin, who has carried a lot of the load offensively while players around her were in and out of the lineup, hit a terrific volley on the run for the 2-1 lead the Hatters took to break.

“We wanted to win this game so badly, (Wissahickon) got us last time we played and we were all pretty upset about it,” Levin said. “A lot of people thought we were done. We kept getting beaten and people started to think we weren’t going to make the playoffs so we decided this was our time and we had to give it our all.”

Wissahickon left all it had on the field but there was consolation for the Trojans players at the final whistle. Despite winning the program’s first conference title since 2012, earning the first-round bye and playing good team soccer all fall, there was nothing to ease the pain of knowing three inches here or four inches there was all that kept them from tying the game or even finding a fourth goal.

It was also a difficult ending for the seniors, especially captains Anna May and Natalie Ryan, who have been four year players for coach Chris McDaniels. Ryan, who ripped a free kick off the crossbar in the second half, and May were a key part of building the program back up and left the Trojans more successful than they arrived.

“We were three, four inches away on numerous occasions from that scoreline being the other way but soccer can be cruel like that and they created enough chances and put three away in the back of the net,” McDaniels said. “We chased all we could, created chances pretty regularly but it goes back to being three or four inches away.

“It is tough to see these seniors go. The goals at the start of the year were to compete for the league championship and make the playoffs and we accomplished both of them.”

Sabrina Ibrahim added on to the lead when she caught Wissahickon’s back line pressed up to high, running in behind the defense for a well-struck finish eight minutes into the second half.

Wiss cut the lead to one when Friedman converted a penalty kick with 20 minutes to play but a combination of the crossbar getting in the way, Hollish making some clutch saves and the Hatters defense not willing to break again was enough to keep the Trojans at bay. The keeper had another huge denial on a long strike by May with six minutes left, going to her left and pushing the Wiss midfielder’s take off the frame and away.

Hatboro-Horsham will travel to No. 3 Conestoga for the quarterfinals on Saturday.

“I’m so proud of this team, we had a rocky season, lot of injuries and ups and downs but so far in the playoffs, this team has left everything on the field,” Daley said of her Hatters. “I feel like they’re not done yet.”

HATBORO-HORSHAM 3, WISSAHICKON 2
HATBORO-HORSHAM 2 1 — 3
WISSAHICKON 1 1 — 2
Goals: HH – Mia Malofiy, Emma Levin, Sabrina Ibrahim; W – Margaret Wilde, Kylie Friedman