WILLIAMSTOWN — Minersville’s Abby Schoffstall missed her freshman season with an injury. She was still hurt last fall and didn’t play girls’ soccer at all.
The Miners are glad she’s back at full strength this season.
Schoffstall scored twice, while Kaitlin Sternick added a goal and an assist as Minersville became the last unbeaten team in Schuylkill League Division II after a 4-1 victory over Williams Valley on Thursday at Gerry Stauffenberg Field at Viking Stadium.
In what is technically her first season of high school girls’ soccer,
Schoffstall, a junior, was the Schuylkill League’s individual point leader and goal scorer in the latest league rankings that came out at the beginning of the week.
After her performance Thursday, Schoffstall now has 19 goals on the season.
“It’s fun, it is one of my favorite sports,” Schoffstall said on why she decided to play this fall. “I think we have a great group of kids and I just love playing with them. That was big reason to come out also.”
Schoffstall scored for the Miners during the 14th and 73rd minutes, with her second goal coming when Minersville (7-1, 6-0 D-II) was a player short and Rayanne Hawk had just scored on a penalty kick for the Vikings (6-3, 6-1) during the 72nd minute.
Sternick scored off a perfectly-placed Marlena Purcell corner kick during the 51st minute, then set up Jade Herb in the 74th minute to set the final.
The win moved Minersville into a first-place tie the Vikings for the top spot in the division with 12 points apiece. However, the Miners are the only team in the division without a loss. Minersville had its game with Lourdes from last Saturday postponed.
“This game we played two good halves of soccer,” Schoffstall said. “We haven’t been playing that well and this our first game that we really played our game. We just came out strong and finished strong.”
Schoffstall’s second goal might have been the most important of the night.
Hawk earned the penalty shot when a Miners defender a received a red card after she reached up and tried to grab the ball and throw it away inside the box during a Vikings corner kick.
Not only did Hawk put in the penalty shot, but Minersville was now down a player. But it didn’t take the Miners long to get the momentum back.
About a 1:30 later, Leonard set up Schoffstall, who took a run at the Vikings’ goal and scored from close range to make it 3-1.
Less than a minute later, Herb made it 4-1 to set the final.
“We wanted to fight back for what happened. Everybody makes mistakes,” Schoffstall said. “That’s what we are here for, we are a kind of team like that. We just made some really nice runs and everybody was at the right place at the right time and so it turned out good in our favor.”
The Miners, who missed the league playoffs last season, are now in control in the division. They are doing it with a team that is heavy tilted with underclassmen. Minersville has just two seniors on its roster and five juniors. Sternick, Purcell, Leonard and Herb are all sophomores, as is keeper Maggie Wigoda, who had 12 saves Thursday.
“We always play well out here and we knew what was at stake,” Minersville coach Jeff Rinaldo said. “We are tired of sitting back and being No. 2. I told them to step up and finally be No. 1. We know we are as good anybody out there if we bring our ‘A’ game. If we can stay healthy, we can play with anybody.”
The final statistics were almost even, with Minersville holding a 15-13 advantage in shots on goal. But, outside of Hawk’s penalty shot, the Vikings were unable to get anything past Wigoda.
The Miners have given Williams Valley fits recently. Last year, the two teams tied in their first meeting. Then Minersville beat the Vikings 1-0 in the regular-season finale, costing Williams Valley the division title, even through it ended up qualifying for the league playoffs.
“It is like the Minersville jinx,” Vikings coach Gary Fetterhoff said. “We’ve been playing good all year and all of the sudden we come out, and actually, I told them at halftime, they were playing not to lose instead of to win. You can’t win a game when you are playing not to lose.
“(Our shots were) a little wide, a little short, right at the goal. It is like the Minersville jinx for us and we just have to break it.”
Game Summary
Minersville (7-1, 6-0) 1 3 — 4
Williams Valley (6-3, 6-1) 0 1 — 1
Min — Schoffstall (Sterner), 13:34
Min — Sternick (Purcell), 50:29
WV — Hawk (penalty kick), 71:03
Min — Schoffstall (Leonard), 72:43
Min — Herb (Sternick), 73:25
Shots on goal: Minersville 15, Williams Valley 13. Corner kicks: Minersville 6, Willims Valley 5. Saves: Minersville (Wigoda) 12, Williams Valley (A. Schadle) 12.
JV score: Minersville 3-0