Fleetwood girls advance to Berks soccer semifinals — with an unexpected assist
By Jason Guarente — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent
It’s hard to say which player was the happiest when Fleetwood scored the go-ahead goal late in the second half Saturday.
Maddie Herb was the obvious choice. The senior was, after all, the one who put the ball in the net. Isabella Atchina, who was watching from center back, had her own reasons to feel excited.
“We were tied and I was like, ‘Please, please, I cannot do overtime in this miserable weather,” Atchina said. “Then it went in. Thank goodness.”
Sixth-seeded Fleetwood rallied from a two-goal deficit with an assist from Mother Nature and knocked off No. 3 Gov. Mifflin 3-2 in a Berks girls soccer quarterfinals at Shillington.
Fleetwood (11-7) advanced to face No. 2 Wyomissing in the semifinals at Flannery Field Tuesday. No. 5 Exeter visits top-seeded Wilson in the other semifinal.
Herb’s goal, tapped in after a scramble on a free kick, was the final piece of an impressive comeback. The biggest moment happened much earlier and it didn’t happen on the field.
Mifflin held a 2-0 lead when play was stopped with about a minute left before halftime. The delay gave Fleetwood a chance to take a breath and regroup.
Bridgette Daczewitz scored her 11th goal a few seconds prior to intermission to make it 2-1. The Tigers had new life and the climb suddenly didn’t feel so steep.
Click here to see the BCIAA Tournament bracket
“It was hard to get everybody’s spirits up,” Herb said. “We’re down, it’s miserable out there, we’re cold. But once we got that one we just had all the energy in the world.”
Leilah Sallee pulled Fleetwood even with about 15 minutes left. Herb’s free kick hit the crossbar and bounced in front. Sallee knocked it home for her 23rd goal. Only Wilson’s Natalee Vicari, Daniel Boone’s Anna Buckwalter and Wyomissing’s Hannah Hurleman have more.
Ellie Leffler scored twice for Mifflin (9-7). Olivia Swartz had an assist. The Mustangs put a scare into Fleetwood in the closing minutes.
“It was really stressful,” Atchina said. “We kind of pulled everyone back. We wanted to make it more of a defensive play. There were a lot of fouls going on. It was a little hectic. We had some close calls but we held them off.”
Fleetwood returns to the semifinals after finishing 4-8 and missing this tournament last year. The Tigers will try to hand Wyomissing its first loss Tuesday.
“This is more what we’re used to,” Sallee said. “We pulled through even when we were down.”
