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Williamsport, Montoursville girls battled to an exciting 1-1 draw in girls soccer

By Jon Gerardi 6 min read

Montoursville had been dominating throughout the final 40 minutes of the game and was peppering Williamsport keeper Valerie Beiter left and right. The Warriors constantly got the ball into Williamsport's end of the field and tried firing shots from everywhere.

Outside of the 18. Near the 6-yard box. Headers from close by off corners.

No matter what Montoursville threw at Williamsport, the Millionaires seemed to have a defensive answer.

Montoursville fought until the horn went off to get a goal in the second half, but ultimately weren't able to get a game-winning goal to fall.

It was a night where Montoursville's shots weren't able to get through as Montoursville and Williamsport battled to an exciting 1-1 draw in a physical soccer game at Montoursville's Memorial Stadium on a chilly Monday night.

"It was tough. We were working all night to try to get that second goal, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. There were a lot of calls that were tough on us because we gave up some possession on some free kicks and didn't seem to get a whole lot going our way in that department," Montoursville coach Vic Gorini said. "It was tough. I know some of our girls were frustrated with the physical play in the box. The second goal didn't happen, but hats off to Williamsport. They came and played a good game and they held in there."

Williamsport's back line and Beiter had a bend-but-don't-break mentality on Monday, as Montoursville kept rifling off shots, but Williamsport never allowed Montoursville to break through and pick up a win.

Montoursville ended the game with 13 total shots fired, eight on target. The majority of those attempts came in the second half.

"We're proud of our kids. It was senior night, so all the seniors went out there and they did a great job, they really dominated the first 10 minutes when they were all on the field," Gorini said. "It was nice to see them all out there together tonight."

While Beiter came up big in goal, recording seven saves, the back line of Ella Reicks, Kate Wiley, Mylee Bennett and Emerson Pawlak were important in preserving a 1-1 draw in the second half.

"I was super pleased with our back line. Val in net made some big saves and obviously our midfield, I mean everyone was battling. It's hard to single out anybody," Williamsport coach Beckham Sibiski said. "Obviously we rely on the back line to make those game-saving or game-changing tackles at the last second and they did. It was big."

Williamsport got on the board nine minutes into the game when a blown whistle resulted in the Millionaires being awarded a penalty kick after a collision inside the box with Montoursville keeper Abby Strassner. Freshman reserve Harper Nau took over for Strassner after she exited the game, and Ella Brelsford lined up for the shot.

The Millionaire freshman took a quick stutter step and tried burying a shot to the left post. Her shot was on the mark, but hit off the left upright, stayed in play, and rolled to the right post and inside for the opening goal on a tough shot.

"I think everybody in the stands and on the sideline had a mini heart attack because no one knew what was going to happen after it hit the post. She's a freshman. To step up in a moment like that? We put a lot of faith in her and she's dealing with a lot of pressure and doing everything right that she can, especially at such a young age," Sibiski said. "So I'm super proud of her. She's all freaked out about it, I said 'you put it in a spot that wasn't quite savable,' but I don't think she quite recognized that. It was perfect, but scarily perfect."

In those first 10 minutes, Williamsport was controlling things fairly well and got off two shots in that span. The other came from Breah Phillips, who took a shot 20 yards out that was directly on target towards the center of the net, but blocked by Strassner.

But after Williamsport scored the go-ahead goal with 31:24 left, Montoursville dialed up pressure and kept pressing to put in an equalizer. And for the remaining 70 minutes, it seemed to be all Montoursville firing shots and getting chances as Williamsport had just one shot the remainder of the game after it scored its opening goal.

Montoursville finally broke through with 5:49 left until halftime. The Warriors' Marleigh Bainbridge got inside of the 18 and from 15 yards out, rifled a shot to the near-right post and tied the game up at 1-all.

"That was big. I mean you always want to kind of break the ice and get a goal," Gorini said. "Marleigh's been hunting around that midfield and just doing a great job defensively. It's nice she got an opportunity and put the ball in the net."

With 1:50 to play until halftime, Montoursville's Kinsley Schon got the ball at the left-edge of the 18-yard box and sent a great high shot in. Beiter blocked it, and it stayed in play. It nearly rolled past the goal line before it was finally grabbed by Beiter, preventing Montoursville from a huge momentum-shifting goal before the break.

In the second half, Williamsport's Brnyi Carnevale got the ball inside of the 18 to in ront of the 6-yard box. The freshman had a look at the net and tried sending it to the near-right post, but saw the shot go just wide by roughly a foot.

That would be the Millionaires' only shot in the second half.

Montoursville's Khaya Bennett had a great chance with 70 seconds left to put in a dramatic late go-ahead shot. Bennett was dished a ball outside of the 6-yard box and put her head on it for a great header attempt that just went wide of the post.

Gorini was glad to see the Warriors keep fighting until the final seconds and not be content with it being a tie.

"We knew we kind of had to get a win tonight for the district seeding, so they tried," Gorini noted. "Our kids tried really hard tonight, just couldn't get that second goal. But we're proud of their effort."

Montoursville out-shot Williamsport, 8-2.

"We hung in there. Sometimes that's what you gotta do in a soccer game. This is one of those nights, they're probably fired up for senior night, gotta weather the storm a little bit in those first 10 minutes after you score," Sibiski said. "We did a good job surviving until halftime, we did give up a goal, but we continued to battle and didn't hang our heads and we kept going another 40. That's the proudest part for me is that we put together 80 hard minutes and that's what we've been challenging the girls lately."

Williamsport 1, Montoursville 1

W--Ella Brelsford (penalty kick), 31:24. M--Marleigh Bainbridge, 5:49.

Shots: W 2, M 8. Corners: W 1, M 6. Saves: W 7 (Valerie Beiter), M 2 (Abby Strassner 2, Harper Nau 0).

Records: Montoursville (8-5-3), Williamsport (6-4-7).

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