Wood simplifies to find way past Lansdale Catholic

Vikings move into first-place tie with Ryan

LANSDALE » Often in soccer, simple is better.

Archbishop Wood and Lansdale Catholic have one of the strongest rivalries in the girls’ side of the Philadelphia Catholic League so anytime they meet, it’s a big deal for both programs. Monday, there was extra incentive involved as a winner would break the deadlock the two held on second place in the league table ahead of next week’s playoff opener.

After a disjointed first half, Wood played smarter and simpler and ended up grabbing the

THE SCORE

Archbishop Wood 3, LC 0 Up next for LC: The Crusaders visit Quakertown on Wednesday. full three points with a 3-0 win over the Crusaders.

“That’s exactly what I said at halftime,” Wood coach Tom DeGeorge said. “Once we calmed down and played a little bit, everything opened up.”

By the end of the day, the Vikings had gone from tied for second to tied for first after PCL leader Archbishop Ryan lost 3-2 in overtime to Little Flower. Ryan beat Wood and has a head-to-head tiebreaker, but it at least makes the final matchday interesting with the Vikings visiting Hallahan.

Getting to that situation meant beating last year’s PCL champion in LC and the first half played out like two sides well versed in the other’s tendencies. Play stuck a bit in the middle but eventually, scoring chances started to develop.

Wood was a bit sluggish in terms of moving the ball, leading to a lot of turnovers or missed passes while LC was able to generate a number of set pieces but couldn’t make anything of them.

“We struggle at times to get the ball in the back of the net,” LC coach Bree Benedict said.

ANDREW ROBINSON/MEDIANEWS GROUP LC’s Julia Boccella and Wood’s Shaina Klos battle for possession on Monday.