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PALMYRA — South Williamsport’s players didn’t waste much time celebrating. As soon as the siren went off at the OAL Sports Complex at Palmyra High School on Saturday, the Mounties’ bench swarmed the 11 players on the field around midfield.
As the Mounties’ victory celebration was going on and the fans in attendance were screaming, Moravian Academy’s Chloe Oudin embraced her coach on the field and started crying. The emotions were visible for both teams in a game neither wanted to lose.
Both teams wanted to advance to the state semifinals on Tuesday and, for South Williamsport, its season will keep going. The Mounties beat District 11 champion Moravian Academy on a brutally windy and cold afternoon at Palmyra High School, 2-1, rallying from an early one-goal deficit.
With the win, the Mounties (20-2) will get a District 4 championship rematch against Southern Columbia in the PIAA Class A semifinals at a time and site to be determined. The Tigers beat Faith Christian, 2-0.
“Wow, that’s all I can say. I mean ecstatic is an understatement. We just beat a very good team. I couldn’t be prouder of these girls,” South Williamsport coach Marc Lovecchio said. “They just really showed a lot of heart, a lot of willpower, a lot of smarts. You could see it toward the second half when they were putting pressure on us. We were clearing it and doing whatever we had to do.”
It was Oudin who helped put the Lions ahead just over seven minutes into the game. Oudin sent a perfect corner kick outside of the 6-yard box to the head of Grace Burcan, who perfectly placed to the right near post. It put South Williamsport behind 1-0, a position the Mounties haven’t been in too frequently this year.
For the first 30 minutes of the game, Moravian Academy had momentum and possessed the ball. But South Williamsport kept pressing and broke through, shifting everything toward the Mounties.
Piper Minier was fed a ball from Aleigha Rieppel 20 yards out. Minier saw an opening and drilled a shot nearly as hard as the wind was whipping at the OAL Sports Complex to tie the game with 10:27 to play in the opening half.
“When the ball was right there I just saw a wide open space. There was nobody there, so I thought it was an opportunity to score and I just took it,” Minier said of her game-tying goal.
“Piper’s goal was huge, that was an unbelievable goal that she scored,” Lovecchio said.
Moravian Academy was on the defensive after Minier’s goal, and the Mounties were able to put in the go-ahead goal thanks to Abby Akers being in the perfect position. South Williamsport sent in a corner kick, and after it took a handful of bounces and rolls in front of the 6, it was Akers who was near it and tapped in a shot for a huge goal.
“It was a pretty big moment,” Minier said with a laugh. “That second goal just gave us a lot more confidence in ourselves.”
“We were nervous, we were a little timid and I think we probably gave them too much respect. They’ve been here before and we knew that kind of stuff,” Lovecchio said. “Piper’s goal was huge and changed things around and we played with more enthusiasm. We played just better.”
After Akers’ goal put the Mounties ahead, 2-1, Moravian Academy had just one more shot on goal the remainder of Saturday’s contest.
“It definitely gave us a lot more energy for the game and it made us feel better to know that we could actually do it and make it farther,” Minier said. “It just made us more focused.”
The Lions’ Angel Delurhey had a chance to put in an equalizer nine minutes into the second half when she got inside of the 18 and tried firing a shot toward the left, but South goalie Laila Shams came up with a big stop to prevent a game-tying goal.
It was the only good look the Lions had in the second half.
Oudin lined up with 17:28 to play for a free kick just outside of the 18 along the side of the field, but her shot curved with the wind, sailing out of bounds.
Lovecchio and the Mounties knew that the Lions had talent, especially from players like Oudin and Lauren Reid. But defensively, Claudia Green, Brooklyn Lentz and Jaiden Bradley helped the backline play well and limit chances as Moravian Academy managed just three shots on goal the entire game.
“Claudia is a tremendous sweeper. She reads the game real well, she contains real well and she organizes things real well. Brooklyn is just a great man-marker and Jaiden’s underrated,” Lovecchio said. “(Bradley’s) doing a workman’s like job clearing things out when she needs to, marking her mark. They work well together. They’re a good team back there.”
The Mounties had a flurry of chances within an 88-second span to put in a goal thanks to three great looks, but weren’t able to put one through.
Rieppel had a shot toward the near right post from outside the 18, but it was blocked by Moravian Academy goalie Addie Etter. Eighteen seconds later, McKaye Wilton fired a shot from 20 yards out, only to see it hit off the post. Less than a minute after Wilton’s shot, it was Charlotte Barckley who fired a shot to the left post only to again see Etter come up with a big stop.
South Williamsport 2, Moravian Academy 1
(PIAA Class A quarterfinals)
MA-Grace Burcan (Chloe Oudin corner kick), 32:46. SW-Piper Minier (Aleigha Rieppel), 10:27. SW-Abby Akers, 2:12.
Shots: SW 4, MA 3. Corners: SW 3, MA 2. Saves: SW 2 (Laila Shams), MA 2 (Addie Etter).
Records: South Williamsport (20-2), Moravian Academy (15-5-1). Next game: South Williamsport vs. Southern Columbia, PIAA Class A semifinals, Tuesday, TBA.