Perk Valley blanks Phoenixville, 1-0
Throughout the week, the Perkiomen Valley boys soccer teamhad been keeping an eye on the Pioneer Athletic Conference standings.
No doubt, they had Wednesday’s divisional crossover game against previously unbeaten Phoenixville circled on the calendar.
A quick strike fromMike Weir in the early going followed by a steady gamelong defensive showingwas key to the Vikings’ 1-0 win over the visiting Phantoms.
“We knew we were going up against a good team,” said Perk Valley head coach BobMcCabe. “They weren’t 7-0-1 by mistake, so we wanted to come out the first five minutes and establish that we weren’t just gonna sit in our own end the whole time and let them just pepper us.”
That approach was supercharged within the first minute of regulation.
The Perkiomen Valley defense picked off Phoenixville during the first minute, as the Vikings then worked the ball in front of the net beforeWeir finished a shot fromMax Chamorro for the game’s lone score just over a minute in.
“It all kind of went quickly,” said Weir of the goal, his fifth of the season. “We’ve been going back a lot on kickoffs, so we wanted to push forward. We had a good ball across and it just sort of landed in my path.
“That gets the boys fired up right from the start,” he added. “It tells the other team ‘We’re here to win.’”
The result sends Perk Valley to 5-2 against PAC opponents and 6-3 overall while they remain at 2-2 amid their division. The loss, Phoenixville’s first of the season, drops the Phantoms to 5-1 against PAC opponents and 7-1-1 overall, while they boast a 4-0 record in the Frontier Division.
For the game, Perk Valley put 10 shots on goal while limiting the Phantoms to just seven. PV goalkeeper AndrewDaubenspeckmade seven saves in goal for his fifth shutout of the season — and the Vikings’ fourth 1-0 win so far this year.
“It would have been nice to salt this one away with a