Royersford — It took nearly two weeks, but Methacton is finally jelling after losing starting midfielder Brittany Dickinson to a torn ACL.
Just in time, too.
With the season coming down the home stretch, and Methacton facing a potential do-or-die clash with No. 2 seed Owen J. Roberts on Tuesday, a trip-up against resurgent Spring-Ford would have had a devastating impact on its PAC-10 Final Four chances.
That didn’t happen on Friday as Megan Casselberry led the Warriors with two goals while freshman Olivia Hoover added her eighth goal of the season in a 3-0 shutout victory over Spring-Ford.
“We played better in the second half. We came out a little unorganized in the first half, especially defensively,’ Methacton head coach Sarah Quintois said. “I think in the second half we got a little bit more organized — we didn’t talk as much as we could have, but we were using each other better and were finishing our shots.’
With the victory, the Warriors (8-3 PAC-10) moved up into a tie with OJR for the No. 2 seed in the Liberty Division.
“Today wasn’t one of our better days, but in the last few games we were playing a lot better,’ Quintois added. “Especially after losing Brittany, we’ve been getting back into playing as a team and have been adjusting pretty well to playing without her. It was hard, but we’re getting there.’
As the team has gotten better, so has the play of Casselberry. The senior found the scoring sheet for the second game in a row (an assist in a 3-0 victory over Harriton on Wednesday) as she poured in her second and third goal of the season, all coming in the second half. Casselberry tallied her first marker halfway through the second half as she redirected a Hoover blast from the far post past Spring-Ford goalkeeper Nicole Sellman before becoming the beneficiary on a scrum in front of the Rams keeper a few minutes later, tapping one home from four yards out into a wide-open cage.
“Megan had a good game today,’ Quintois said. “She was real aggressive going to the ball and had her stick down on the ground, which we’ve been working a lot on.’
The defense, led by a strong effort from Julia Dickinson (one defensive save) and keeper Sammi Steele (four saves), pitched its second consecutive shutout as the Warriors limited the Rams to only three penalty corner opportunities.
The loss is the second straight for Spring-Ford (3-7-1 PAC-10, 4-11-1) and wasn’t reflective of the resurgence the team has had since it started 1-9 to open the season.
It was the first time Spring-Ford was shut out since it lost 1-0 to Upper Perkiomen on Sept. 17.
“We’ve had a real good senior class who have brought a lot of leadership to the team,’ Spring-Ford head coach Jennie Anderson said. “We had so many new starters this year and they finally started to work together and communicate. We definitely have come together and have also come close to beating a lot of good teams.
“When we play together, 100 percent of the time, we can be dangerous, but when we slack off, even a little bit, that’s when our lack of discipline can hurt us.’
The Rams’ lack of discipline cost them late in the first half as Emily Sayre beat the defense along the right sideline before finding a cutting Hoover with a gorgeous cross, who then stuffed it past Spring-Ford keeper Claire Kraft (four saves) for a 1-0 lead.
The defensive lapses occurred again in the second half as Casselberry netted her two goals for the final 3-0 edge.
“We turned it around the second half (of the season), today not so much,’ Anderson said. “We didn’t play 100 percent today and that’s what hurt us.’
NOTES
Methacton has led the PAC-10 in goals against the past eight games, having only allowed one goal (6-1 win over Boyertown Sept. 29) during that span. With her performance on Friday, Steele now leads in the PAC-10 in save percentage (93.39 percent) with Phoenixville’s Kim Rutherford (91.67) in second.
