By SPENCER BATES
ALLEGANY — Just eight days ago the No. 4 seed Portville girls soccer team squared off against No. 5 seed Ellicottville for its final game of the regular season, a tune-up game before both sides entered the Section 6 Class C Playoffs.
That game ended 3-0 in favor of the Panthers.
Little did they know that result would foreshadow how their first game of the playoffs would go as they met the Eagles and dispatched them 3-0 once again on Oct. 25.
“Saturday games always concern me, because we’re not in the routine of school,” Portville coach Mike Matz said. “So we’re always on guard about a Saturday game. But obviously, coming out and going hard the way we did the first few minutes was really big for us. I think it showed something about the character of the girls.”
The Panthers shot out of a cannon in their second matchup in just over a week against the Eagles, finding the back of the net inside four minutes. It was midfield general Grace Gariepy that set up the game’s opening goal, as she barreled down the left flank and drove towards goal before making an unselfish pass across the face of the net for Allie Bray to tap in.
“She can do whatever we ask her to do,” Matz said of Gariepy. “We’ve had her play defense when we’re up late. The only place I wouldn’t put her is in goal. But there are actually times where I almost wish she’d be a little more selfish. If she’s got a good shot (we want her to) take it.”
But even without Gariepy getting on the scoresheet, Portville’s offensive firepower was too much out of the gates for Ellicottville. Bray netted her second goal of the game just four minutes later and two minutes after that the Panthers put the Eagles in a tough position that led to an own goal.
“They do different things well,” Matz said of Gariepy and Bray. “Allie can hit it from long range, but she also finds herself in good positions in the box. They seem to be meshing quite well together. We knew that Allie’s goals might be a little harder to come by this year, but over the last six or seven games she’s really found a groove.”
What Portville had taken 80 minutes to do against Ellicottville eight days prior, it had done inside 10 minutes. But that is where the goals stopped as, over the course of the following 70 minutes, the Panthers shifted their focus to maintaining their lead and dictating the game.
“They’ve done a great job all year of being tight in the back, playing good, solid, fundamental defense and today was no different,” Matz said. “We’re going to need that as we go forward. Everybody was able to contribute, so it was good overall.”
Portville’s Kiyah Mohr (2) makes a pass inside Ellicottville’s defensive third. (Spencer Bates)
It was a complete, well-rounded victory for Portville that secured it a spot in the Class C Semifinal. But just one playoff win is not what Matz has in mind for this year’s team. According to him, those in this year’s squad have grown significantly close to one another and the last thing he wants is to see this journey come to an end.
“We enjoy being here,” Matz said. “We enjoy coming to practice, I’m not ready to see an empty field yet. Winning allows us to continue to spend practice time together, and everything like that. I’m hoping that they view it the same way. I really enjoy these kids. We’ll need to bring it on Wednesday, Wilson’s obviously a really good team, but we’re going to go up there and give it all we got.”
Portville will hit the road to face No. 1 seed Wilson on Oct. 29 with a spot in the Section Final on the line.
