Phoenixville falls to Methacton, 3-0
Hoover, Owens lead Warriors to first PAC Final since ‘08
Olivia Hoover and Emily Owens have been the heart and soul of the MethactonWarriors all season long.
The pair has led the team to an undefeated regular season and the number one overall seed in the Pioneer Athletic Conference Final Four playoffs.
The one-two punch showed up yet again in the Warriors’ PAC semifinal matchup with Phoenixville, factoring in on all three goals en route to a 3-0 victory over the Phantoms on Tuesday night at Upper Perkiomen’s Indians Stadium.
The Warriors moved to 19-0 overall with the win and will meet No. 3-seeded Owen J. Roberts (a 2-1 winner over Upper Perk) in the PAC championship game Thursday night at 7 p.m. The Phantoms dropped to 12-7 with the loss, but will compete in the District One Class AA playoffs, which get underway next week.
“It’s definitely a good thing to be undefeated because it shows how strong of a team we are,” said Owens, “but it also puts a target on our backs because someone wants to be the first one to beat us.”
Fromthe start, the Warriors’ offense put pressure on the Phantoms, forcing a penalty corner just two minutes into the game which led to an apparent Hoover goal that was overturned.
Methacton got on the board just over four minutes later when Hoover found Owens in front of the net for the duo’s first connection of the game.
The Phantoms’ defense, led by juniors Kyra Trafford and Hannah Syrek as well as freshman Eloise Woodall, held strong for the rest of the half — surviving 13 Methacton corners — to keep the halftime score at 1-0.
sion, we had the majority of shots. We basically had one free kick that hits off a post (Upper Merion’s goal). That’s how things can go if you let little opportunities like that go.”
The Phantoms win sends them to the PAC championship game Thursday at 5 p.m. against Spring-Ford.
After the red card, Phoenixville possessed the ball deep in UpperMerion territory for nearly the entire final 35minutes of the game. Vikings goalkeeper Dylan Castillo made nine of his 15 saves in the second half
to try to keep his side in the game.
“We can’t play against a team like that with 10 guys,” Upper Merion coach Thomas Dodds said. “We’re luckywe can playwith them with 13 guys. Everything’s running smooth. We had it where I wanted it. Lose your center-back, you have to filter in. It’s only a matter of time.”
“In your head you tell yourself you have to be patient because the chances are going to come,” Cesarski said of the man advantage. “Honestly them losing a guy doesn’t really change their shape that much because they’re still getting most of their guys behind the ball, maybe gives them
one less option attacking wise ... (The man advantage) lit a spark for us as far as giving us more confidence to keep putting balls in the box.”
After 10minutes of trying to find their way through the Vikings defense, the Phantoms broke through. Ibarra had the ball on the far right sideline and raced forward. He hit a high, arcing ball toward the middle of the field. The ball kept going and landed in the top left corner.
“I’m going to ask (Yair) but I’m pretty sure it was a cross,” Cesarski said. “When you play attacking soccer, you make those opportunities happen. I’mfine with scoring that way.”
Phoenixville’s Danny Jackson was breaking towards the next with the ball from the left side to set up the game-winner. He fired a shot that Castillo stopped, but the ball got away and trickled to the right side. Flamma was the only one around to put the ball in the back of the net and give the Phantoms their first lead of the game.
“I was just making the run and I saw Dan running up the side,” Flamma said. “I was like ‘Giveme the ball, Dan.’ It just happened. I thought I was going tomiss, to be completely honest. I hit it with a little slide and hit the corner.”
The Vikings best chance at tying the game came in
the final 90 seconds. Yaseen Elarbi took a free kick from midfield and Trevor Looby corralled the ball in front of Phoenixville’s goal. He turned and fired a shot that went just wide to the left.
Looby gave the Vikings a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute. He took a free kick from 25 yards away on the left side. His strike bent around a two-man wall back towards the near-side post, hit the post and deflected in.
Despite being held scoreless for 55 minutes, the Phantoms possessed the ball more than Upper Merion and had a more scoring chances. In the 22nd minute, Castillo left the net to make a great save, but Castillo and Phoenixville for- ward Jake Perillo were both banged up on the play. Perillo never returned and his status is unknown for Thursday’s championship game.
Immediately after the red card, Phantoms’ Kyle Tucker took a free kick from 28 yards out. His shot sailed over thewall and banged off the crossbar.
These two teams could be in line for a fourthmeeting in the District 1 Class3A playoffs. As the rankings standnow, No. 6 Upper Merion and No. 3 Phoenixville would play in the first round.
“We know what they are, they know what we are,” Dodds said. “Our kids will feel good.”