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Eliziabeth Shultz scores twice in second half as Williamsport blanks Scranton in district quarterfinals

By Jon Gerardi 5 min read

WILLIAMSPORT — It only took 10 minutes for Williamsport to find the back of the net in the first half. But the Millionaires weren’t able to put in another goal against Scranton those final 30 minutes until halftime.

No matter how many shots Williamsport fired, it was either just high or wide, or Scranton goalie Blaze David was making some incredible stops.

Regardless, Williamsport kept pressing throughout the second half.

It was the first game of districts, and Williamsport coach Beckham Sibiski knew once they settled down and got over the nerves, the goals would come.

And in the second half, that’s precisely what happened. Elizabeth Shultz scored twice in the second half to open things up for Williamsport as the Millionaires defeated Scranton, 5-0, in the District 2-4 Class AAAA quarterfinals at the Balls Mills Soccer Complex on a cloudy Tuesday night.

With the win, Williamsport advances to play Wyoming Valley West on the road on Thursday in the semifinals.

“I think there’s a little bit of tension. It’s first game of districts, first time back here in a year. The nerves set a little bit through 40 or 50 minutes and finally we were able to relax and play our game and really dominate in the last half an hour,” Sibiski said.

“I think that we just needed to come out with more intensity in the second half. I think we knew we could put more out there,” Williamsport coach Ella Wilson said.

Wilson was a force for Williamsport all night, constantly finding herself near or inside the 18-yard box and firing shots as fast as she’d get the ball. But David came up with numerous great saves, including a few high and to the sides, as she recorded 13 saves for the Knights.

Williamsport fired 19 shots in the win, but majority of which were forced outside of the 18 as Scranton’s back line did a solid job limiting the amount of open looks Williamsport had.

Wilson absolutely drilled a shot with 19:03 to play in the game, rifling it from 25 yards out hard that David knocked away and prevented from going in. It was just one of many highlight-reel plays David made in goal, as she kept her team in it through 60 minutes of it being a 1-0 game.

“I told our wingers to just attack their outside backs. I told Ella specifically she’s going to have a field day today because I just had a feeling,” Sibiski said. “She obviously scored first goal, could have scored a few more. Scranton’s keeper made some great saves, and (Wilson) did everything I asked of her today. It was awesome.”

Wilson scored the first goal 10 minutes into the game. It was then Elizabeth Shultz who helped open the scoring as she scored twice late in the second half. Her first goal came from just outside the 6 when she found herself with a good look and sent in a shot to the left post for a 2-0 lead. Then, with 8:42 remaining, Shultz sent in a great header for a 3-0 lead.

“She definitely knows what she’s doing when she’s playing. I think that when we can get going, it definitely can help our team,” Wilson said. “I think everybody definitely contributes and I think she did a great job tonight.”

Just a minute after Shultz scored, Mia Clark added a goal to give Williamsport a fast 4-0 lead before Kaelyn Sennett found the back of the net with 4:43 remaining in the game.

Williamsport entered Tuesday’s quarterfinal contest after having roughly a week off following the conclusion of the Millionaires’ regular season. And Williamsport stressed during that week off to possess and keep the ball, and it paid off on Tuesday. The Millionaires only allowed Scranton to fire four shots on goal, only one of which came from inside the 18.

“In that week and a half, that’s something we were really trying to stress and say we are a team that can keep the ball,” Sibiski said. “When we know we’re the better team and we want to keep the ball, we can keep it. That’s what we were trying to emphasize going into it and I thought we executed the plan pretty well today.”

“Coach Sibiski talks about trying to pass the ball well, trying to move the ball around the field, get it wide, back in, I think we work a lot on that in practice,” Wilson said. “I think we get it going into the game.”

Scranton’s best chance at scoring in the first half came with 17:22 to play when Riley Bittenbender got a throughball and took it inside the 18, firing a low shot that went just wide by two feet.

Williamsport 5, Scranton 0

W-Ella Wilson, 30:47. W-Elizabeth Shultz, 15:44. W-Shultz, 8:42. W-Mia Clark, 7:46. W-Kaelyn Sennett, 4:43.

Shots: S 4, W 19. Corners: S 0, W 12. Saves: S 13 (Blaze David), W 4 (Sarah Spring).

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