Perhaps the final score shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
One the surface, this was a battle between two talented teams which — aside from one sequence late in the second half — played each other to a scoreless stalemate. But for many of these athletes, the weekend ran much longer … literally.
Dan Freeman estimated that about half of his roster had participated in the annual Super 8 Track and Field Meet in Salamanca the night before. Warren Shaw noted that the Bradford girls on his team didn’t return home from the District 9 Track and Field Championship until midnight the night before.
“And you get to know these girls,” said Freeman, New York’s head coach in Saturday’s NY/PA Corporate Cup Soccer Showcase and the Olean track coach. “I’m like, ‘hey, what are you running (at the Super 8 meet),’ and she’s like, ‘I’m running the mile.’
“They’re the best athletes all around, not just soccer. I was like, ‘how are you going to be able to play your hardest tomorrow?’ They’re like, ‘don’t worry, we’ll be good to go.’”
And in the end, a singular marker was the difference.
Chanell Britten (Brockway) broke a 0-0 tie with 20 minutes remaining, redirecting a clearing attempt past New York keeper Tierney Hemphill, and the goal held up as PA earned its first Corporate Cup victory at Pitt-Bradford’s Kessel Athletics Complex.
The second annual girls game featured physical midfield play and a couple of close calls on both sides. It also included an unfortunate injury — Hemphill was carted off the field with an apparent shoulder injury after a nasty collision with Bradford’s Regan Johnson in the waning minutes, an incident that caused a half-hour delay as Hemphill was treated by medical personnel.
The PA team, captained by Samantha Tanner (Port Allegany) and Jordan Bundy (Ridgway), had a few more scoring opportunities on the day. Sixty minutes in, it was finally able to knock one in.
“I thought we controlled the pace of the game a lot … we didn’t take enough advantage of the short passes,” said Shaw, Bradford’s head coach and a PA assistant Saturday. “The midfield was pretty well clogged up, so we just adjusted a little bit, played a little bit longer and it did make a difference for us.”
New York’s best chance might have come in the final minute when Kiley Tuttle (Hinsdale) sent a cross inside the 18-yard-box just over the crossbar. The visitors, however, captained by Tuttle and Carmen Mancuso (Fillmore), weren’t able to generate as many opportunities.
“It’s hard because we’re having practices on Sundays — some girls are on another soccer game,” Freeman said, “so it never felt like we had the whole team together to have a really good, solid practice with everyone. That first 10-20 minutes was just a learning process of (what works and what doesn’t).
“(PA) was hustling … they outhustled us to the ball. We came out much stronger in the second half, and I felt like we had some scoring opportunities there, but I don’t think we had as many as they had.”
In a game that has become a spectacle under founders Kris Linderman and Dave Talbot — the contest was broadcast on Facebook Live and boasted an elaborate player introduction, and the winners received a trophy the size of the NHL’s Stanley Cup — Pennsylvania, after last year’s 4-1 loss, held a slight edge.
But both sides were rewarded afterward.
Lauren Eckert (St. Marys) was named MVP for the PA side while Marina Miketish (Olean), who one day earlier finished third in the high jump and was a member of the third place 400 relay team at the Super 8 meet, earned the same honor for NY. Hemphill and Olivia Sorg (Elk County Catholic) were the Sportsmanship Award winners.
Better than the outcome was the experience his team had, Shaw said.
(Even the PA staff had a busy weekend, as head coach Greg Maddalena, of Ridgway, had to leave directly after the final whistle to catch a plane to his daughter’s college graduation).
“It’s awesome to get to know the kids in the area,” he said. “I’ve coached against some of the kids in PA — actually more in New York because of where we’re located. And it was really good for the girls to get to know each other. They all seem like best friends now, especially when you win. That’s probably the best part about it.”
Added Freeman: “I know they’re upset that we lost, but they’ve got to all have smiles on their faces. Every practice, you get to know them, the girls were cracking jokes, you could see them making new friendships.
“People that are normally their enemies — we’ll play Allegany-Limestone and want to beat them so badly, and now you’re teammates. They’re all smiling, we had fun at practice and that’s nice to see.”
