TAMAQUA — It would have been easy for Pottsville to look past Tamaqua with two of its biggest games of the regular season coming up.
That would have been a mistake, too. A loss could have crippled the Crimson Tide’s hope for a another trip to the Schuylkill League playoffs.
The Blue Raiders played one of their best games of the season, but Morgan Degrassi had a goal and an assist to help lead Pottsville to a hard-fought, 3-1 Division I victory at the Tamaqua Area Soccer Complex.
Degrassi set up Sarah Lombel for the Crimson Tide’s first goal of the game during the 34th minute. Gabrielle Evans scored on a penalty kick in the 69th, while Degrassi scored in the 77th.
“Our team did really good on our passes,” Degrassi said of the win. “We got the ball to all of our teammates.”
The win not only clinched a District 11 Class AAA playoff spot, but allowed Pottsville (9-3-1, 7-1-1 D-I) to keep pace with second-place Pine Grove (13-1, 8-0) in the division after the Cardinals rolled past Lehighton 7-2 on Wednesday. Blue Mountain (10-4-1, 8-1-1) remained in first with a 6-0 shutout of North Schuylkill.
It sets up an exciting final week to the regular season. The Crimson Tide travel to Pine Grove today in a make-up game, and then host the Cardinals on Saturday. The Eagles travel to Pine Grove on Tuesday.
“I knew they were going to be tough coming up here,” Stock said of Tamaqua. “They are always good defensively, and they have a good goalie (Carly Sassaman). I told the girls you are not going to score shooting directly at her. You are going to have to cross the ball and score on crosses.”
That’s what Pottsville did.
Degrassi wasn’t even supposed to be in the starting lineup Wednesday. But
when Morgan’s sister Megan told Stock her knee was bothering her, Stock started Morgan.
Pottsville outshot the Raiders 17-10 and controlled play for most the game. But the only time, outside of the penalty kick, the Crimson Tide were able to get the ball past Sassaman was on crosses.
Morgan Degrassi set up Lombel when she worked the ball to the right of Sassaman and then crossed over to Lombel. Sassaman tried to stop the cross but fell down and Lombel buried the shot into an open net to give Pottsville a 1-0 halftime lead.
It stayed that way until Tamaqua was called for a foul inside the 18 late in the second half. It step up a penalty kick for Evans, who beat Sassaman with a low shot to the her right and into the corner of the net.
Freshman Mariele Przywara assisted on Degrassi’s goal, sending a long cross from the left corner over to Degrassi. She settled the ball, and then buried the shot into the far corner from about 15 yards out.
Degrassi was surprised she put it in.
“I just kicked it with my left foot,” Degrassi said. “Normally I am a rightly and I took a chance.”
Pottsville nearly had its seventh shutout of the season, but Lynn Kistler scored during the 78th minute for the first goal in three games for the Raiders (4-10, 3-6).
Despite the loss, Tamaqua coach Clem McCarroll felt Wednesday was one of the Raiders’ best games of the season. They had their chances, with the best coming during the 65th minute when Kistler got a run towards Pottsville’s goal. Kistler was able to get past Crimson Tide keeper Alyssa Kondrack and had a wide-open net in front of her, but Pottsville’s Autumn Tarconish got back and knocked the ball out of bounds.
“I wish we would have played like this all year,” McCarroll said. “Everybody just stepped up. Usually when you are in the position that we are with the record we have, some teams just tend to give up. They fought from the beginning.”
While the Raiders look to build for next year, Pottsville has it sights clearly set on a return trip to the league playoffs. The next two games against Pine Grove should decide it.
“I think our team wants to win as much as any other team,” Degrassi said. “Our team is like sisters. We’ve been working together since we were 4 years old and we just want to win leagues.”
Game Summary
Pottsville (9-3-1, 7-1-1) 1 2 — 3 Tamaqua (4-10, 3-6) 0 1 — 1
Pot —Lombel (Mo. Degrassi), 33:16
Pot —G. Evans (penalty kick), 68:06
Pot —Mo. Degrassi (Przywara), 76:07
Tam —Kistler (Fritz), 77:33
Shots on goal: Pottsville 17, Tamaqua 10. Corner kicks: Pottsville 8, Tamauqa 1. Saves: Pottsville (Kondrack) 9, Tamaqua (Sassaman) 14.
JV Score: Tamaqua 1-0