Archbishop Wood’s season comes to a close against Central Columbia in PIAA-2A quarterfinals
CATASAUQUA >> Central Columbia was prepared for Archbishop Wood — as well as the rain, wind and cold — and continued its historical run through the PIAA-2A Playoffs.
The Blue Jays prevailed 2-1 on the rain-soaked turf at Catasauqua Middle School Saturday afternoon, advancing to Tuesday’s state semifinals against Allentown Central Catholic.
“It’s crazy. We prepared all week for it and the outcome was great. We just worked our hardest,” said the Blue Jays’ Lindsey Bull, a junior midfielder who scored one of Central’s two first-half goals. “We’ve been playing with each other for the longest time and it’s amazing to get this far, and hopefully continue.”
The Blue Jays led 2-1 at the break and held on from there. A tremendous season for Wood came to a close.
“It was a tough game for us. We didn’t get many opportunities — usually we have a lot more opportunities than that,” Vikings coach Tom DeGeorge said. “I thought their team did a really good job. They blocked the middle. They won a lot of balls. It just wasn’t our day. It just seemed like one thing after another kept going wrong.”
Central took a 1-0 lead on a header by Bull, off an assist by Ella Sedor.
Said Bull: “Ella has a great serve and I always try to get on the end of it.”
The Vikings battled back, deadlocking things at one apiece when Megan Hickey knocked it in, set up by a pass from Ava DeGeorge.
Central Columbia went ahead for good on Paige Flaugh’s rocket from outside the 18.
“We had a little bit of pressure on us and we got that free kick, and we knew we had to capitalize on it,” Flaugh said. “When the ball popped up, I just ripped a shot and it went in.
“Our team played great – offensively, defensively. We were under pressure a lot but we all put the work in.”
And the victory came in a driving rain throughout.
“We had practice (Friday morning) and it was almost the same exact weather,” Flaugh said. “It worked out perfectly that we were able to get ready for it before the game. We knew it was gonna be windy, rainy, cold. So we wanted to keep the ball on the ground, find feet, and the wind and the rain can’t really affect that.”
Nothing has derailed Central Columbia thus far. The Blue Jays are in the midst of their deepest run into the postseason in the program’s history.
“It’s awesome. We’ve never even made it past the first round of states and now we’re in the semis – it’s a great feeling,” Flaugh said.
Up 2-1 at halftime, the Jays knew they would need to withstand the Vikings’ charge.
“In the second half, we knew they were gonna come out, like coach (Ryan Polly) said, like they were shot out of a cannon,” Flaugh said. “And they did. But we stuck together and we defended together. We knew what we had to do to get it done and we did.”
Neutralizing Wood’s potent midfield was a big piece of the puzzle.
“That’s a tough team,” Polly said of the Vikings. “They have great individual players and as a team, they’re very structured and very well-coached. Our strategy all season has been to get wide, and we just stuck to that.
“We knew they were gonna go through the two midfielders, the two sisters (Alyssa and Ava DeGeorge) so I just challenged the midfielders to work on those two girls.”
Bull, Flaugh and Nora Fritz helped control the middle for the Blue Jays, and kept Wood from getting the equalizer in the second half.
