It’s the right place, right time, as Olivia Swartz delivers for Mifflin girls

Not many players can crack Gov. Mifflin’s starting lineup from Day 1. Olivia Swartz was one of those players.

Coach Ed Deren placed her in the midfield as a freshman and watched her grow. Four seasons came and went. From Gillian Maack to Kiery Spatz to Stella Mollica, senior classes passed through the halls.

Now it’s Swartz’s turn. Her senior year. 

“She emphasizes what we’re trying to build here: a family,” Deren said. “She’s been through the ups and downs of the program. Her attitude has never changed. She always comes to practice with a smile. I think it’s infectious with the other girls. She’s a role model for her peers.”

Swartz delivered one of Mifflin’s biggest goals of the season Wednesday night. The midfielder scored with 9:09 left to help the Mustangs defeat Daniel Boone 1-0 in a Berks I-II girls soccer crossover at Shillington.

Mifflin (4-1, 7-2) handed Boone its first league loss and stayed within a game of first-place Wilson in Berks I.

Swartz scored on a scramble off Kate Naugle’s corner. Several players took a whack at it and Boone keeper Hope Starolis nearly scooped it up before Swartz tapped it home.

“We worked hard and we won the ball,” she said. “I was just there and able to put it in.”

Swartz has always been more of a facilitator than a finisher. She drives play in the midfield and steers the action toward Mifflin’s attacking third. This season she has started piling up numbers. This was her fifth goal to go with five assists.

Maybe it was good fortune that the ball found Swartz. Or maybe 60-plus games of varsity experience has taught her to be in the right place.

“Great players find their moments,” Deren said. “They live for those moments. Some people shirk from that. She wants to be the person who makes the play. She wants to be the person who has the ball on her foot at the end of the game.”

Boone (4-1, 6-3) had scored at least two goals in every game. The Blazers managed 11 shots on a windy night when it was difficult to control the ball but they couldn’t put one home.

Mifflin’s center backs, Elisa Fiore and Sierra Hess, helped slow down Boone. Taylor Koenig made all the saves.

“We can’t win if we don’t score,” Boone coach Mark Reightneour said. “My defense played good all night. They just put one in and we didn’t.”

Mifflin is breaking in some more freshmen this year. Ellie Leffler is the team’s top goal scorer with six, including the winner against Exeter Monday. She’s a star in the making.

Nicole Crammer and Payton Klopp joined Hess as key freshmen on defense. Mifflin has allowed just nine goals all season.

“I can’t say enough about the effort,” Deren said. “They never blinked in the face of adversity. Boone is a tremendous team. I think they took it to us for extended periods of the game.”

Mifflin made its best chance count. It’s no surprise Swartz was the one to deliver.

“Our main goal was just to put it in the back of the net,” she said. “It was open and we took it. We didn’t have a lot of opportunities but we took what we had and made it work.”