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LYNN TWP. – High atop the Blue Mountain Ridge, the weather turned sometime around sunset, and changed an otherwise frigid fall soccer game into one of attrition and randomness.
Lake-Lehman had the bad fortune of having two second-half balls change course and fall into their net.
The Black Knights’ impeccable season came to an end in a 3-1 loss to Lansdale Catholic Tuesday in the PIAA Class 2A Girls soccer semifinal. Lake-Lehman suffered its first loss of the season and finishes with a 21-1-1 record.
“I can’t say we played bad – we did good things,” Lake-Lehman coach Kelly Spencer said. “We had opportunities. It’s freezing cold out. Obviously, not ideal when it is this cold out, but both teams are in the same situation. Things go the way they go.”
In 18-degree temperatures, Lansdale Catholic scored three times off of set pieces and overcame a 2-1 halftime deficit. The Crusaders tallied a pair of second-half goals within a five-minute time frame.
Lauren Delp added an equalizer in the 65th minute. Her 22-yard shot skied high in the air and carried with the wind over the reach of Lake-Lehman goalkeeper Emma Stroud. Five minutes later, Taylor Connelly curled a corner kick – again with the help of the field conditions – for the game-winning goal.
“All credit: Lake-Lehman was an amazing team,” Lansdale Catholic coach Bree Benedict said. “They’re worthy of winning a state title themselves. I think we got fortunate enough on the set pieces.”
Lake-Lehman center-midfielder Madison Brdaric posed difficulties for the Crusaders to contain in the first half. Brdaric scored both of the Black Knights’ goals and finished her junior season just one shy of the century mark for her career.
Brdaric gave Lake-Lehman a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute. She found space in a crowd of players to knock in a Chase Purdy free kick. After Lansdale Catholic tied it, Brdaric reclaimed the lead on a breakaway chance in the 27th minute.
“I think it was less about motivating them (at halftime) and more about finding a way to stop (Madison Brdaric),” Benedict said. “They were amazing down the center of the field. Their ability to pass and break lines with these vertical lines was phenomenal. So we put four players in the middle to clog up the space. To an extent, it worked and we forced them to go down the sides.”
Abby Paczewski, who earlier announced her intentions to run at Bucknell University, was just inches shy of tying the game in the waning minutes. In the 72nd minute, her 22-yard attempt struck the bottom of the crossbar and into the goalkeeper’s grasp.
The loss ends the careers of Lake-Lehman seniors Lauren Chapple, Paige Motovidlak, Paczewski, Sarah Salus, Emily Smith and Chloe Weaver. With a freshman class of nine players, Spencer does not anticipate an end to Lake-Lehman’s run of four-straight district championship game appearances.
“We have a great group of freshmen coming up,” she said. “We lose an amazing group of seniors but it’s always exciting to see what will happen next year.”
PIAA Class 2A Semifinal
Lansdale Catholic 3, Lake-Lehman 2
Lansdale Catholic`1`2`—`3
Lake-Lehman`2`0`—`2
First half — 1. LL, Madison Brdaric (Chase Purdy), 11th minute; 2. LC, Ava Mercier, 22nd; 3. LL, Brdaric, 27th. Second half — 4. LC, Lauren Delpo, 65th; 5. LC, Taylor Connelly, 70th