These Lehigh Valley teams and players are primed for the playoffs
Who’s hyped for some playoff soccer?
It’s here. Almost.
The Colonial League and Eastern Pennsylvania Conference tournaments (boys/girls) kick off on Saturday with quarterfinal-round showdowns. All of the seeds, sites and times will be announced later this week.
In this week’s notebook, we dive in-depth into the success of the Northwestern Lehigh girls squad; we look at the re-emergence of Freedom’s boys, led by senior striker Peter Tichy; and we check in on the Northwestern Lehigh boys, who are healthy and hungry entering the postseason.
Also, we’ll highlight the area’s state-ranked squads; and as always, we feature rankings, standings and scoring leaders.
Away we go …
Tigers downright defensive
One of the area’s all-time premier soccer coaches, Kelly Bleam, retired a year ago after directing perennial power Northwestern Lehigh to Colonial League and District 11 Class 3A championships.
This season, the Tigers remain among the league’s elite under first-year coach Jordan Smith, an alumnus who assisted Bleam.
Northwestern is 14-1-1 overall with one game remaining in the regular season, a Wednesday night matchup against Catasauqua. The Tigers, who would earn the top seed with a win over the Rough Riders, will enter both the league and district playoffs as the favorite to repeat, regardless.
A dominant defense is the key to Northwestern’s success in 2021. Smith’s Tigers have allowed three goals in 16 games, with 13 shutouts. They’ve yielded two goals on penalty kicks and another on a direct kick.
“We play a very aggressive style of play because we have one of the best goalies in the Valley in [ junior] Naomi Glassberg,” Smith said. “The defense is able to play loose knowing they have a security blanket behind them. The confidence the defense has in her and her in them is unwavering.”
Seniors Kate Edgar, Sarah Yeakel and Emilia Blechschmidt, along with sophomore Abby Pomajevich, are anchors on the back line in front of Glassberg.
“I honestly would give them all an ‘A’ and I bring senior Aubrey Remaley, junior Sarah Renner and senior Riley Kern off the bench,” Smith said. “I have complete confidence in a seven-girl rotation, which keeps everyone fresh and playing at a high level.”
Offensively, the Tigers are balanced as well.
Sophia Motolese (14 goals, eight assists), Katie Browning (10, 6), Olivia Motolese (8, 7) and Cammy Fitch (9, 5) are the team’s top scorers. Northwestern has outscored its opponents by a combined 77-3.
“We are playing a very high level of soccer heading into the playoffs,” Smith said. “We had less games in the back third of the season so it has allowed us to take a day to rest here and there and is keeping us fresh.”
Primed for playoffs, Part I
With almost all of its lineup returning from a season ago, Freedom was The Morning Call’s preseason pick to capture the EPC title. The Patriots started off their campaign at 5-3 (although their losses were to quality opponents).
Now, coach Matthew Reightler’s squad looks like a potential championship team.
The seeds and matchups for the eight-team conference tournament will be finalized Friday morning during a meeting of athletic directors, according to Freedom AD Nate Stannard.
“I love where we’re at,” said Reightler, who coached Freedom to conference and District 11 crowns in 2018. “You can look at seedings but there are so many teams right now that could get hot at the right time. There really isn’t a team we don’t want to see, though. We’re focusing on us playing well and to continue it into the postseason when it really matters.”
Peter Tichy, the team’s top scorer with 20 goals and 17 assists, admitted the slow start was a surprise but added that it’s in the past.
“I feel like everyone had a target on us since we were picked to win,” he said. “We kind of left that behind and moved on with the season. Now we’re here and near the top.”
Primed for playoffs, Part II
captured four consecutive Colonial League crowns from 2015 through 2018. The Tigers are aiming to claim another title in 2021.
Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Freedom marked the return of the team’s top two players, according to coach Nathan Hunsicker. Senior Colin Coffield played his first game this season and classmate Mason Brensinger played in his third. Both missed time with injuries.
Northwestern played without three other starters Saturday.
“No disrespect to anyone in the Colonial League; I think there are lots of very good teams and by no means is it going to be a cakewalk,” Hunsicker said, “but with who we have coming back and who we have going out on the field, there is no one I am nervous to play.
“In my mind, we’ll be the fiveseed and I’m viewing us as a one-seed. Again, no disrespect; I’m just very confident in what we have and what I know we’re capable of.”
Sizzling soccer showdowns
Northern Lehigh at Palmerton (girls), 7 p.m. Wednesday: A Colonial League clash as both the Bulldogs and Blue Bombers already clinched spots in the upcoming tournament. Palmerton senior Brianna Moore is closing in on 100 points while Northern Lehigh is led on offense by Katelyn Barthold. One team will enter Saturday’s quarterfinals with some momentum.
Nazareth at Easton (girls), 6:30 p.m. Wednesday: The winner likely clinches the East Division crown and a top-three seed for the EPC tournament. Easton won the first matchup vs. the Blue Eagles, 1-0, last month. Individually, two of the conference’s top offensive stars square off in Aminah Baruwa of Easton and Kayley Hynes of Nazareth.
Emmaus at Parkland (boys), 7 p.m. Wednesday: These two archrivals should start the game in overtime. The first matchup, played on Oct. 2, ended in a 1-1 tie after two OTs. One goal could win this one and two likely will win it as both squads play defensive-oriented styles. This is a potential preview of next Friday’s conference championship showdown.
Statewide sensations
Parkland’s boys entered the week ranked No. 5 among Class 4A schools in the state, according to the PSCA Top 10 poll. The Central Catholic boys were eighth among 2A teams, while Moravian Academy maintained the top spot in Class 1A.
Northwestern Lehigh’s girls were No. 2 among 3A schools in this week’s Top 10, up from fourth last week. Southern Lehigh fell from No. 2 to seventh. The Central Catholic girls were up three spots to sixth in Class 2A.
This ’n’ that
Palmerton senior scoring star Brianna Moore set the school’s single-season record for goals this past week. She was up to 44 entering Monday’s game. The previous record of 40 was held by Monica Wood. Palmerton also set the school mark last week for wins in a season with its 13th. (The Blue Bombers were 14-2 as of Sunday.)
Emmaus’ boys should be battle-tested for the postseason. Coach John Cari’s Green Hornets, who entered Monday’s action at 10-2-4 overall, played two of the state’s Top 10 teams in 4A (Parkland and Downingtown West) and another ranked in 3A (Central Catholic). They also scrimmaged the secondranked squad in 4A (Central Dauphin).
Pleasant Valley’s Samantha Merklin is among the unsung standouts in EPC girls soccer this season. A senior, Merklin has made 152 saves and has allowed 12 goals. She has eight shutouts this year and 35 in her career, a program record. “She’s the main reason we were in multiple games this season,” Bears coach Tara Hyland said.