By Alex Frazier
Tattie DePaolo stood on the sidelines as time was winding down in Tuesday’s Pennridge-Central Bucks West soccer game.Coach George Rodriguez had told his junior midfielder that she would score a goal in the last five minutes. Or play defense the next game.
Well, time was running out, and she was eager to get back in the game.
With about a minute left she trotted onto the field just in time for Jessica Casper’s corner kick.
Casper launched her kick toward the far post, and the ball ricocheted around in front of the goal before DePaolo managed to get her foot on it and beat Central Bucks West keeper Jen Bradley.
Icing on the cake.
And what a cake it was.
The Lady Rams extended their unbeaten streak to five with an improbable 3-0 win over the Bucks.
“It felt good having it be against West,” said DePaolo. “It was a huge game to us. It feels like it means more than any other game. We totally took it to them this game.”
One of the big keys to the win was the play of Pennridge’s midfield, which knocked the ball around, maintaining possession and setting up the attack.
Rodriquez noted the play of Lindsey Lyons and Sarah Senoyuit.
“They were great in the middle,” he said. “Not only did they control the ball and dictate the tempo of the game, but they were just all over the entire field. They have a lot of area to cover and they did a great job.”
Pennridge scored the game winner with 4:09 left in the first half. Ashely Freedman found herself in the right spot. Freedman started the play when she passed the ball into Megan Gurecki, who sent the ball ahead to Shannon Cardie to the right of the goal. Cardie took it to goal but West keeper Bri Benedict knocked it away, right to Freedman, who was charging the right post.
“I was just following the play. It was the work of all the girls up top,” she said. “It feels pretty good. I remember last year all we did is go into overtime and we tied, and it was very frustrating. Now it feels good to have a victory over them.”It was one of the few highlight moments of the first half as neither team could generate much offense. Pennridge did dominate in the midfield and made some runs into the West end, but no one could launch a dangerous shot. In fact, most of Pennridge’s shots were wide of the cage.
West had just two shots and both were from long range allowing goalie Shannon Zickler to make the routine save.
In the final seconds, Cardie evaded the charging Benedict and passed off to Feldman, but she missed the open net wide left.
West showed a bit more offensive life in the second half, but had only one shot to show for it.
“We’re struggling,” said West coach Chris Freudig. “We can’t score and we don’t defend well.”
Cardie broke the game open at the 17:18 mark when she took a pass from Karin Wolset in her own half and dribbled down the left side of the field, dodging a few defenders before firing the ball past Bradley.“We’re making mistakes at critical times,” said Freudig. “We give up a goal with 14 seconds left. We give up a goal with four minutes left in the first half, and the other one we overplay and let her dribble right up the middle. Those aren’t good goals. Right now we’re struggling.”
The Continental Conference opener will be one the Lady Rams remember for quite a while.
“It’s really big to start off on the right foot,” said DePaolo. “It’s definitely a momentum pusher.”
Pennridge is now flying at 5-0, 1-0 in the SOL. The Rams have given up only one goal this season.
“We have an excellent team right now,” said Feldman. “We have been proving ourselves goal scoring. This year we are making a statement.”
Meanwhile, West is now 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the SOL.
For West coach Chris Freudig, he’s hoping it’s a learning experience.
“It’s not how you play in March,” he said, “but how you play later on. This isn’t the first time we started like this. It’s the playoffs we’re always gearing for, so hopefully we’re going to improve. We have a lot of areas to improve on.”
Pennridge 3, Central Bucks West 0
Goals: Ashely Feldman (P), Shannon Cardie (P), Tattie DePaolo (P)
Assists: Karin Wolset (P)
Shots: Central Bucks West 3, Pennridge 14
Saves: Bri Benedict (CBW) 1, Jen Bradley (CBW) 3, Shannon Zickler (P) 3
Corners: Central Bucks West 0, Pennridge 4
Fouls: Central Bucks West 2, Pennridge 5
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