By HUNTER O. LYLE
BRADFORD, PA – Despite playing without their top two stars, the Bradford girl’s soccer team was able to hold off Warren, forcing the Lady Dragons into a double-overtime showdown. However, with tired legs and a lack of depth, their efforts would ultimately fall short, losing 2-1.
Before the meeting with Warren, the Lady Owls were on a heat streak. In their past three games, they had not only come out with three wins, but found a massive surplus on the scoreboard, outsourcing opponents by a combined 23-0. However, knowing the challenge that came with the Lady Dragons, they knew they had to find a way to reset their expectations.
“Coming off those wins and games like that, it’s tough to get the team to focus because they get bad habits. Usually at practices, we have to crack down on cleaning up everything,” said Bradford head coach Jim Warnick. “The girls actually police themselves on that so that really helps us.”
Warren lived up to their imagination early on. Swooping in on an initial Bradford back pass, the Lady Dragons quickly planted their flag in the backfield, getting their first shot off in just 46 seconds. However, despite missing a key defender in Rylie Corbett due to injury, the Lady Owls quickly pushed them off the attack and responded with crisp passing that led two or three attackers towards the goal.
Thus began the start of back and forth rounds that criss-crossed the pitch. With Warren doubling down on their defensive efforts on Bradford’s Alyssa Mangold, who can typically be counted on to lead the offense, the Lady Owls made their way downfield with crisp throughballs to their other forwards, inching up by committee. For the Lady Dragons, on the other hand, they put their trust in Meea Irwin, a quick-footed forward with tight handles that allowed her to float through contests and contact with ease. However, both teams’ final lines would stand strong, clearing the ball without allowing significant shots on goal.
Looking to open things up, Warren leaned on another tool in their bag: physicality. Attacking the ball with aggression along with a few shoulders and elbows, the Lady Dragons kept their foot on the intensity as they bruised Bradford off of possessions.
“For the most part, I think (the physicality) catches the younger girls by surprise. Just from what they come from and what they’re used to playing against, they don’t realize the physicality that the girls at the high school level bring,” said Warnick. “So I think it was more of a shock to the younger girls. The older girls knew this was going to be physical, they knew the back and forth that comes from the girls from Warren.”
Warren’s hostility would ultimately come to a head when Mangold became tangled up with a defender around midfield, crashing down to the pitch hard. Suffering what appeared to be a lower leg injury, she would have to be helped off the field and would not return. Losing the tip of their spear, Bradford’s offense came to a standstill. Forced onto their heels, they then struggled to get the ball beyond midfield, instead focusing solely on stopping the Lady Dragons’ advance.
Noticeably upping the tempo and outpacing their opponents, Warren continuously stripped passes and built up sustained pressure in Lady Owl territory. Meanwhile, on the sporadic fast breaks Bradford would find, the Lady Dragons’ backline corralled them into the middle, where Bradford would face a mob of defenders who sent the ball the other way.
Escaping the first half unscathed, Bradford would find a way to turn the Lady Dragon’s physicality against them early in the second. Just three and a half minutes after the intermission, a hold in the box gave Kierstin Taylor a penalty kick. Lining it up, she sent a hard shot to the right, narrowly skimming past a diving goalkeeper to put the Lady Owls on the board.
After missing what could have been a rebuttal three minutes later – an indirect kick from 10-yards out from Irwin – Warren again doubled down on both aggression and pace. Continuing to suppress Bradford into their own backfield, the Lady Dragons began peppering the net with shots and after 20 minutes since the initial score, one finally broke through. Taking the ball from midfield, Irwin swerved up the pitch by herself, evading defenders before launching a missile of a shot from over 25-yards out. Finding the top left corner of the net, she had tied the game from long range.
“We told the girls that was going to happen. If they gave (Irwin) any space, we knew she’d take shots from 30, 35 yards out and she could hit them with accuracy,” said Warnick. “All week we told them about just containing, containing, containing but whenever we stabbed and overran, that’s where (Irwin) would catch them.”
Looking to seal a win in regulation, Warren continued to batter through defenses and pull the trigger at volume. However, Bradford’s defense, anchored by Maddi Stark in the net, proved resilient, holding the Lady Dragons off until the final buzzer.
After the five-minute intermission, it would be Bradford who came out of the gates with pace. Meeting Warren at midfield and coming away with deflections and steals, the Lady Owls took the fight to them with several deep strikes towards the goal. While the Lady Dragons would reciprocate, the back-and-forth battle would ebb and flow with split possession time. Through 10 minutes, however, neither team would find the back of the net, forcing one last period of play.
Just getting two minutes of rest, the Lady Owls were gassed. Warren was not. Forcing the issue early, the Lady Dragons found their opportunity within the first two minutes of double-overtime. Irwin streaked down the left sideline before a beautiful cross shot beyond Stark to find Ava Wymer on the backside. With a quick tap in from her chest, she netted the game-winning score and ended the marathon thriller.
“We got tired legs. This was our second game this week and I think we’ve had one day off in the last two weeks so they’re tired and we don’t really have a deep bench to go to,” said Warnick. “But we’re proud of them. They fought the whole way to the end. It was just us being tired.”
