By HUNTER O. LYLE
BRADFORD, PA – Sitting on the outside looking in for the first time in almost a decade, the Bradford girls soccer team began their campaign back to the top on rocky footing, losing their season opening contest to Harbor Creek, 2-0.
For the first time in six years, last season the Lady Owls did not hoist a District 9 trophy. Their reign of dominance finally came to an end in the Class 3A finals, where they were toppled by DuBois, 2-1.
“We knew sooner or later it was going to come to an end. DuBois is a really good team,” said Bradford head coach Jim Warnick. “At least we don’t have the target on our back this year. I guess we can play the role of the hunter but we also know that DuBois is probably that team to beat for the next three or four years.”
Entering this season with eyes of a trip back to the D9 finals, the Lady Owls did so with nine returning letterwinners. Sitting atop that list is Alyssa Mangold, the next-girl up who will be taking the reins after Bradford lost 100-plus-goal-100-plus-assist star Bella Prince due to graduation. From the get go, Mangold led the charge.
Against the Lady Huskies, Bradford began slowly, with several miscommunications and a seemingly lack of aggression stunting drives before they even began. However, playing in a 4-2-4 lineup, the Lady Owls back line was able to hold off Harbor Creek, keeping the game poised in the midfield. Then, Mangold found her legs.
Settling into the rhythm of the game, she began to break the field open, sometimes single-handedly as she took the ball upfield, zig-zagging through defenders as she approached the net. Her first shot, which would also stand as the first shot of the game, would come in the sixth minute and although it missed the mark, it brought life to the Lady Owls.
“We have (Alyssa) in that position where we want her to be that play-through player, a player that the team can count on to distribute and to make the plays, just like we did with Bella,” said Warnick. “And she stepped up and wanted that role. She came in and she put in the effort and put in the work.”
Trading drives back-and-forth, neither team could get a clear look at the goal. For the Lady Owls, their possessions were cut short as they struggled to get that final lead-out pass into the open. As their playmaking wavered, turnovers piled up and midway through the first half, the Lady Huskies capitalized.
Streaking downfield from the left side, Jocelynn Bissell suddenly cut into the middle. Dribbling past a Lady Owl or two, her shot would find the back of the net, breaking the stalemate and putting Harbor Creek on top with 23 minutes remaining before the break. Mangold and Co. would continue to plot paths upfield, however, they still were unable to respond.
The Lady Huskies kept their foot on the pedal entering the second round of 40 minutes. Using their energy to their advantage, they breezed past the Lady Owls, who were showing signs of fatigue and just six minutes into play, Harbor Creek’s Anna Randolph netted another goal.
The wear and tear was no more evident than on their star and shortly after the second goal of the day, Mangold was on shaky footing. Leading her team with fast paced drives had seemingly caught up with her and eventually she left the pitch. Down by a pair, Bradford finally relented, losing their first game of the season at the hands of the Lady Huskies.
“We have to get back to simple. We were trying to explain to the team the simple passes. Everything we do at practice is with purpose. Everything we do is in a game situation because we saw those things but didn’t quite know where to go with it,” said Warnick. “We have some notes, a little bit of work here, a little bit of work there so we’ll see how it goes.”
