H.S. GIRLS' SOCCER: Blue Mountain edges Pottsville
Sep. 30—POTTSVILLE — The league schedule is winding down and Blue Mountain was in a must-win situation.
If the Eagles are to have a chance at a Schuylkill League playoff berth, they could ill afford a setback in Thursday night's showdown with Pottsville at Alumni Field.
Much to the liking of head coach Adam Freeman, his team responded in a big way.
With junior standout Sophia Chipriano knocking home a pair of goals, both in the second half after a scoreless first half, Blue Mountain dealt the Crimson Tide its first league loss of the season, 2-1, and in the process remained a factor in the Division I race.
Pottsville (9-3-2, 8-1 D-I) remains atop the division. Jim Thorpe (11-1, 7-1), a 1-0 winner over Tamaqua, is second, with Blue Mountain (8-5, 7-2) staying in the chase with the big victory.
"It means a lot," Freeman said. "In the last two, three years since I've been coaching, we've played fantastic (against Pottsville) and just came up short.
"Today, we played fantastic and we finally came out on top. That's great to see."
The first 40 minutes were scoreless, with shots difficult to come by, with the Eagles having just two and the Tide three. The second half wasn't much different with three apiece.
It wasn't until the 54:54 mark in the second half that Chipriano put a penalty kick into the top left corner, breaking the deadlock and putting the Eagles up 1-0.
At the 67:52 mark, she scored her second, this time with an assist from Danika Bolinsky.
"She's a target player for us," Freeman said. "We get her the ball at times, she'll create a goal, she'll score a goal.
"She's hard to defend, and she's one of the best players in the league this year in my opinion so it's great to have her on your team. I don't assign a PK taker, I assume someone will step up and take it. I knew she would step up and take it. Usually, with PKs, it's a little nerve racking but I can trust her."
Pottsville bounced back, cutting the deficit to 2-1 when Maddy Wright drilled a penalty kick home at the 75:01 mark, but that was all the Tide could manage.
"I just told them not to hang their heads," Pottsville coach Bob Stock said. "It was a good game.
"They wanted it more than we did. It was a very close game. It was a learning experience, just learn from it."
Each of the top three teams in the division have three league games remaining.
Blue Mountain has home games with Jim Thorpe and Lehighton and a road trip to North Schuylkill. Jim Thorpe has trips to Blue Mountain, Lehighton and North Schuylkill, and a big one with Pottsville at home, and Pottsville has trips to Marian and Jim Thorpe and a home meeting with Tamaqua.
"We're still in the driver's seat, we just have to take care of our own way," Stock said. "Take care of Jim Thorpe when we play them, that's all we can do."
Contact the writer: croth@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6025; @repheraldsports on Twitter
