At Pottle Field in Hermon Tuesday afternoon, the PVHS girls soccer team punched their ticket to their second straight state championship game by defeating number one seed Wisdom 2-1 in dramatic fashion in the Class D North Final.
On a warm but wet day, PVHS seemed to control the play throughout the first half but just couldn’t find the back of the net. Wisdom got on the board first with 7:22 to go before the break, as Howlers goalkeeper Brooklynn Raymond sent a punt toward midfield. Pioneers senior star Lilly Roy quickly trapped the airborne ball and pushed a pass toward the flank to junior Kamryn Clavette. Clavette found Ava Lerman who touched the ball to the side, pivoted, and shot a looping ball over the head of Raymond and into the net deflecting off her outstretched hand. The game would go into halftime still 1-0.
Both teams kept each other from scoring throughout the second half, as the minutes ticked by. As the scoreboard dropped below five and a half minutes, PVHS got a little more aggressive in their formation bringing up a defender to the midfield. No sooner did the extra attacker take away space in the middle, a goal kick by Wisdom was lifted to junior Ellie Austin who quickly got the ball to her feet and raced toward the middle. Austin laid out a beautiful forward pass to sophomore Rylee Moulton, who quickly fired a shot into the lower right corner of the net with 5:11 to go in regulation. Knotted up at 1-1 and just 2:30 later, Roy sent a low rocket that was corralled by Raymond. Raymond raced to her line and sent a punt to Brooke Champion, who was quickly able to get it to Moulton again. Moulton pushed the ball ahead up the right flank, getting by two defenders in the process and cutting back toward the goal. She sent a chip across the six yard line to Austin, who charged at the ball with her midsection and directed the game winner into the back of the net with just 2:41 remaining.
