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By Alex Frazier
With Upper Dublin holding a commanding lead, the battle in the American Conference will be for second place.Wissahickon and Plymouth Whitemarsh each feature five freshmen on their rosters when they face off tomorrow.
If the Trojans expect to make a run for the post-season playoffs they can ill afford what coach Chris McDaniels calls another “bad” loss.
This week Wissahickon has managed to win the games they have to, leading up to the showdown with the Colonials, who handed the Trojans one of their “bad” losses in a 4-0 shutout at PW. Springfield gave the Trojans a scare with a three-goal second half Wednesday but Wissahickon survived that, earning a 4-3 win.
Thursday, they faced another growing program in Upper Moreland. The Trojans went out and got the job done in the first half taking a 3-0 lead enroute to a 4-2 victory.
But McDaniels was less than enthusiastic about the result.
“4-2 doesn’t look as good as 4-0 does,” he said. “What we spoke about after the game was keeping teams put away, keeping teams off the board. I don’t think we should have given up a goal today.”
Freshman Lauren Becker broke the ice for the Trojans when she collected a pass from Lynn Kern and fired a shot from the right side into the top left corner of the goal in the 28th minute.
Within a span of six minutes Andrea Lewis, another freshman, notched her seventh and eighth goals of the season. Her first shot sailed into the top right corner inside the near post, and her second with 38:30 left in the first half dipped just under the crossbar from about 35 yards out on a direct kick.
“They’re both absolute studs,” said McDaniels of his freshmen duo. “They’re soccer players. They’re incredibly athletic.”
Wissahickon’s midfield, led by junior Samantha Eckart, a converted outside back, controlled much of the play and provided forwards Lewis, Becker and Alex Schaefer with numerous chances.
“She’s been our best defender since freshman year,” said McDaniels. “This year she has too much talent to stick on the outside, so we moved her, a bit reluctantly on her behalf, to the center of the midfield. She’s not the most vocal player, but her skill set is probably tops on our team. She’s played a lot of soccer and is fundamentally strong. She’s always trying to do the right things, and she moves very well off the ball.”
Schaefer took her turn in the scoring just over two minutes into the second half. The sophomore broke in on Upper Moreland keeper Lauren Yager on a fastbreak. Yager managed to stone her first shot, but couldn’t hold onto the ball. Schaefer collected the rebound and blasted it into the left side of the goal.
She leads the team in scoring with 11 goals this season.
“She has speed,” said McDaniels. “Tons of speed.”
Down 4-0 Upper Moreland didn’t roll over, despite being short four players, including two top scorers, who were on a history trip. And to add to that, sweeper Christie Graf, who coach Joe Joyce said was his best player, was just returning to the lineup after missing four games with a concussion.
The Golden Bears executed a textbook play 12 minutes into the second half. Caitlynn Engle lofted the ball across the goal from the right side. Alyssa Levy leaped in the air and headed it into the upper right corner.
“It was nice,” Joyce said. “It wasn’t anything forced.”
Upper Moreland’s second tally came on a penalty kick when Wissahickon keeper Alyssa King took a player down in the box.
Jill Wasson beat King to the left side.
“The effort was much better in the second half,” said Joyce. “They played like a team.”
Wissahickon held a huge advantage in shots, many of which were off the mark, but Yager made her share of saves to keep the Golden Bears alive for much of the game. She also played well out of the net, coming off her line often to break up potential opportunities, or the score could have been worse.
In the first half she made a great save on a laser shot from Lewis. She also deflected a shot by Becker and beat Schaefer to a 50/50 ball.
In the last two minutes of the second half, she beat Jacquelin Coupe to a high ball and Carly Silverman to a roller.“I train her the way I train my daughter (Hatboro-Horsham’s freshman keeper),” said Joyce. “They come out, they attack the ball and they keep coming. I’m proud of the way she (Yager) has been playing. The scores don’t reflect it, but she’s kept us in a lot of games. She’s very aggressive.”
McDaniels is hoping to carry the current win streak one game further tomorrow against Plymouth Whitemarsh.
“It will be interesting,” he said. “We match up really well against them. If both teams come out to play, it will be a good game. I’m hoping we’ve had our two lapses.”
Whichever team finishes second is likely to get a playoff bid.
Upper Moreland is also hoping to be a playoff contender this year in Class AA. Tomorrow against Cheltenham, the Golden Bears will have their full lineup for the first time since the beginning of the year.
“Tomorrow we have no excuses,” said Joyce. “This will be the same squad we had the first three games when we outshot the opponents 16-1. We’re anticipating better things.
“Our goal is to get into the playoffs. I don’t care what the record is.”
Wissahickon 4, Upper Moreland 2
Goals: Lauren Becker (W), Andrea Lewis (W) 2, Alex Schaefer (W), Alyssa Levy (UM), Jill Wasson (UM)
Assists: Lynn Kern (W), Caitlynn Engle (UM)
Shots: Wissahickon 23, Upper Moreland 6
Saves: Alyssa King (W) 2, Lauren Yager (UM) 9
Corners: Wissahickon 5, Upper Moreland 1
Fouls: Wissahickon 4, Upper Moreland 9
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