Phoenixville, Pottsgrove girls soccer teams draw even in scoreless stalemate

LOWER POTTSGROVE >> The explosiveness of Pottsgrove’s offense met Phoenixville’s steel curtain defense for the first time this season on Wednesday.

The result reflected those two forces colliding, neither giving an inch on one another. The Phantoms and Falcons dueled to a stalemate through double overtime at Pottsgrove High School.

It also marked the second league draw this season for the Falcons (3-3-2, 1-1-2), having tied Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier Division foe Upper Merion, 1-1 on Sept. 11.

“It was definitely intense, but it was good because they had my back and I had theirs,” Pottsgrove keeper Ella Smith said. “It’s good to be on a team where we all have each other’s backs and work hard together the whole time.”

The Falcons wield two of some of the top scorers in the PAC in Emma Gonzalez (eight goals) and Brianna Thorum (seven goals). Smith and Thorum are multi-year All-PAC selections while Gonzales is a two-time All-Area honoree.

That firepower from Pottsgrove was limited to eight shots on the day, four on goal in the first half. Phoenixville (3-4-1, 3-1-1) fired nine shots in total, both teams having their equal share of chances at the net.

“It was definitely just communication and doing things like shifting earlier than we would,” Phantoms midfielder Ella Barrow said of her squad’s containment in the defensive zone. “Or dropping, because they have a strong kick. They can get it up the field pretty quick.”

While young up front, Phoenixville boasts an experienced backline that hasn’t allowed more than two goals in a game against it this season.

“Our backline was pretty strong, especially once the game settled down,” Phantoms coach Trevor Adams said. “Our goalkeeper (Emine Ulcay) didn’t have to do much as far as moving and making any saves. Everything was kind of from 25 (yards) out or further and she could see it the whole way. That’s sort of been our identity from the beginning of the season.”

In his first season helming the program last year, Adams guided Phoenixville to its first winning season (10-7-2 overall) since 2018 last Fall, along with a District 1 Class 4A postseason berth.

With the graduation of leading scorer Caroline Flick – an All-Mercury second team selection – the Phantoms have scored 10 goals this season, but six of them came in one game while being held scoreless in five other contests.

“I guess we really need to take our opportunities when we have them,” Ballow said. “We need to make more of what we create.”

While Phoenixville boasts veterency in its linebackers, that was an area of concern on Pottsgrove’s end. Out three starting backs, the Falcons had all underclassmen – three freshmen and a sophomore – going toe-to-toe with the Phantoms.

“It was a matter of youth that stopped our attack,” Pottsgrove coach Bill Bonewitz said. “We play a very possession-oriented game. And without our experienced backs, which are two seniors, two juniors, and working the ball, playing with inexperience, we had to have direct play.”

Bonewitz took over head coaching duties for the Falcons this year following Steve Mellor’s departure after 12 seasons. Bonewitz has 43 years of coaching experience with numerous stops at Division III women’s soccer programs.

Wednesday was a step outside of the coaching comfort zone, adjusting to a mismatch on Pottsgrove’s defensive end while managing an offense that sputtered out to a disruptive group of Phoenixville linebackers.

“I don’t like direct play, but when you don’t have any starters in there, you have to save them by playing direct, and that sort of stopped our ability to attack,” Bonewitz said. “We play a possession game, and you can’t play possession when you’ve got three freshmen and a sophomore back there.”

Ranked No. 9 in District 1-3A, a solid Pottsgrove team often looked to Thorum, who fired four shots on goal for the Falcons. Gonzalez had two herself as the squad worked to find ways to dig through Phoenixville’s territory for 100 minutes.

“All of our halftime talks, we always push each other to be the best we can,” Smith said. “We’re always pushing each other and always having each other’s backs on the field. That’s what gets us to keep fighting to work for scoring that goal and win.”

The Phantoms were missing a couple scoring threats up top with starters out, but both squads did enough to walk away without any blemishes on their respective records.

“Shutouts are something we talked about in the beginning of the year and I think it’s something we can shoot for,” Adams said. “Missing some important players, 0-0 is an ok result.”