By HUNTER O. LYLE
ALLEGANY, PA – It had been nearly three weeks since the Panthers had seen Fredonia yet a sour memory still remained in clear view.
“The first time we played Fredonia was our worst game of the year, easily,” said Portville head coach Mike Matz. “If you don’t come out with high energy, you’re going to lose.”
Twenty-one days and nine games later, the Portville soccer team was poised to make up for lost time, for both the initial meeting and the initial 40 minutes of the sequel.
Throughout the first half of play with Fredonia, the Panthers had just been out of sync. With the Hillbillies man-marking Grace Gariepy, Portville’s do-it-all work horse and leading goal-scorer, coupled with a clustered battle throughout the middle that constricted and slowed the game, the Panthers had no room to breath, let alone get their legs under them.
Clunky maneuvers, stale passes and a hesitancy to attack the ball gave way to a starved offense and although Portville managed to get a handful of shots off towards the net, including one from Lauren Lyle that rattled off the crossbar in the opening five minutes, their efforts laid no foundation to build upon.
“We came out badly. Slow. Disconnected. Low energy,” said Matz. “. Fortunately, (Fredonia) matched our low energy and it was like a pillow fight out there,”
However, something was bound to give sooner or later. In the 25th minute, the Hillbillies controlled a long goal kick, quickly moving it up through the midfield and into the box. Sequencing it to their own prolific goal-getter, Cecelia Tonelli, a junior who has already logged 17 goals this season, Fredonia broke the stalemate with the first goal of the day.
Immediately put on their heels, Portville played into the opposing momentum. Still playing on shaky ground, the Panthers ended the half scrambling, playing reactionary defense that failed to flip the field and spark more than a momentary drive downfield.
But when taking to the pitch to start the second period of play, the Panthers seemed ready to reverse the tide and an initial charge did just that.
On their very first touch of the half, Portville’s front two line blitzed into the box, overwhelming the Hillbillies and ultimately, in the shuffle or players, came up with a decisive and favoring handball call. Lining up for the shot, Gariepy brought the game back to even, rocketing her 99th career goal past the net minder.
“We as coaches challenged them at halftime to ramp it up. You’re energy’s a choice. Your communication’s a choice and I thought in the second half the energy was much better,” said Matz. “I told them, the team in the second half, I’d ride with them all day long.”
While enjoying a breath of relief, the Panthers’ aggression and intensity failed to let up. Chaining crisp passes together, they became a pestering force inside Fredonia’s zone, coming away with threatening looks nearly every trip down the field. In a turn of the tables, the Hillbillies’ previous rhythm was lost, lagging behind the sharp strikes lobbed against them.
But once again, a single instance tested the Panthers’ resilience
Twelve minutes after Gariepy’s goal, Fredonia found a response. Seizing a fast break, the Hillbillies quickly moved into the box with just two passes. Taking a rip from the far right side, Callie Draggett launched a skinny-angled shot across the net, seeing it narrowly avoid the diving hands of Portville’s goaltender and collect in the side of the net.
And with that, the Panthers’ resolve began to fade. As the Hillbillies began throwing two or three defenders at Gariepy, Portville fell back on bad habits, sending pressured and panicked passes down range and without intent, and unable to fully evict Fredonia from their side of the field.
As the clock wore down, the Panthers’ desperation manifested in several fervid trips towards the net, but ones that were ultimately futile. Another comeback was not in store as Portville fell victim to being swept in the season series.
Looking towards the final stretch of the season, the Panthers (5-5-1, 4-4-1 in league play) have just five games left to stitch up the holes left in their armor, three of which are Chautauqua Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division I opponents. However, regardless of whoever is in front of them, the main focus remains the same.
“We just need to finish. When we’re playing together, playing strong, we look pretty good, but finishing is the hardest part of the game,” said Matz where the improvements need to come from. “We can get into finishing positions, now we just have to actually finish. We need to execute that last piece.”
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