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Opposing players know that South Williamsport has plenty of playmakers who can score seemingly at will.
Piper Minier. McKaye Wilton. Payden Matthieson. Olivia Casella. The list goes on.
It’s far from easy to contain the Mounties’ offense, and Northeast Bradford found that out Saturday at Balls Mills.
Minier, Wilton, Matthieson and Casella all had a hand in South Williamsport’s offense as the Mounties cruised to a 7-1 win against Northeast Bradford in a District 4 Class A quarterfinal matchup.
With the win, South Williamsport (17-1) advances to to the District 4 Class A semifinals at a time and site to be determined.
“It took us awhile to get going. Even though we scored early we couldn’t combine passes and do enough to create,” South Williamsport coach Marc Lovecchio said. “Then, as the game went on, we got a little more relaxed. I thought the second half was excellent.”
The Mounties scored just three and a half minutes into the game when Matthieson was fed a pass from Olivia Casella. Fifteen minutes later, South Williamsport built up a lead to 2-0 thanks to an own goal.
But, as Lovecchio noted, the offense didn’t get firing for a bit later into the first half. The 2-0 lead remained until 8:45 left in the first 40-minute period. That’s when Piper Minier got a breakaway into the 18 and used excellent footwork to get around a Northeast Bradford defender. Minier moved to her right and had a 1-v-1 look with goalie Ciana Frisbie, and managed to send the shot past her toward the left for a 3-0 lead.
Minier then came up again with a goal with just 25 seconds remaining.
The junior nearly had a hat trick in the first half when she lined up with 13 minutes to play for a penalty kick. Frisbie read it perfectly, however, to block it low as she dove.
While South Williamsport did score seven goals, Frisbie played well in goal for Northeast Bradford, recording seven saves and making a handful of great stops.
“She does remarkable. She didn’t start first half of the season, but due to COVID issues she stepped up the second half of the season,” Northeast Bradford coach Josh Thoman said. “She’s by far one of the best goalies in our league.”
The Mounties built their lead up to 5-0 eight minutes into the second half with a goal by Matthieson off an assist again by Casella. McKaye Wilton added the sixth goal just four minutes later.
Northeast Bradford started getting some offensive pushes late in the second half, but couldn’t climb out of the six-goal hole.
Melanie Shumway had a chance at scoring when she got inside of the 18 and fired a great shot to her right only to see South Williamsport goalie Laila Shams come up with a fingertip grab to prevent a goal.
Shumway wouldn’t be completely denied, though, as she scored with 15:30 to play with a shot just inside the 18 to cut the deficit to 6-1.
South Williamsport scored its final goal — giving Matthieson a hat trick — when Minier fed her a pass with 8:10 to play.
“They countered and they’ve improved. Northeast Bradford years ago was not a very good team, but they’ve improved significantly and have a lot of young players, some speed, some aggressiveness,” Lovecchio said. “They’re going to be a team to reckon with.”
“It’s tough. We have 13 girls on the team, five are freshman. This is the first time we’ve been to districts in six years,” Thoman said. “To make it this far shows how talented those young girls are and what they have to look forward to next year.”
South Williamsport 7, NE Bradford 1
District 4 Class A quarterfinals
SW-Payden Matthieson (Olivia Casella), 36:29. SW-Own goal, 21:54. SW-Piper Minier, 8:45. SW-Minier, 0:25. SW-Matthieson (Casella), 32:21. SW-McKaye Wilton, 28:02. NEB-Melanie Shumway, 15:30. SW-Matthieson (Minier), 8:10.
Shots: NEB 3, SW 14. Corners: NEB 1, SW 2. Saves: NEB 7 (Ciana Frisbie), SW 2 (Laila Shams)
Records: South Williamsport (17-1), Northeast Bradford (12-8).