Boys Soccer: Defense all Aces as Lower Merion tops PW in District 1-4A 2nd round

LOWER MERION >> Lower Merion’s boys soccer team has put a lot of pride in its defense this season.

After netting an early goal Thursday afternoon, the Aces were willing to put that defense to work against Plymouth Whitemarsh. When a team can stick to its plan, good things will often follow and that’s just what Lower Merion got.

The Aces held PW to just a single shot on goal as they rode that one goal to a 1-0 win over the Colonials in the second round of the District 1-4A boys soccer tournament.

“We just focused on shutting down their attack,” Aces fullback Thomas Podrasky said. “We knew they had some key players up top we were going to have to worry about. I think we did a good job, they didn’t really have that many shots on net, so it was successful.”

Podrasky had his hands full defensively covering the flanks, but found the time to give the Aces all the scoring they would need just six minutes into the contest. A long throw specialist, Podrasky fired on into the box on the near post that glanced off PW’s keeper and into the net.

The game began in a light rain that subsided near the end of the first half.

It wasn’t the first time Podrasky has scored off a direct throw in his career, but the senior conceded it was a rare enough occurrence that he’s still surprised when it happens. His intent was simply to give his team a chance to score early.

“It’s pretty hectic in the box when you throw it in there,” Podrasky said. “Sometimes I’m looking for someone, sometimes I’m looking to get it in and hope the chaos produces something.”

From there, it was all on Lower Merion’s defense. The Aces didn’t generate all that many chances themselves and PW keeper Patrick Corpus managed three saves on their other attempts.

“After that tough goal in the first half and especially in the second half, they came out and brought everybody behind midfield and played defense the whole time,” PW coach Jeff Heaton said. “They have a good backline. We had some good throughballs, a couple touches one way or the other and we get a breakaway.”

Lower Merion’s defense did a great job covering, so whenever a PW player got the ball, the initial defender had plenty of support behind him. The Aces topped PW 4-0 in the first game of the season, but LM coach Nico Severini knew teams change so much in 10 weeks, it wasn’t prudent to expect the same.

“This is our 18^th game now and we’ve developed extreme chemistry in the backfield,” Podrasky said. “We know if someone’s stepping that the other person has to get back and support them. I’d say that’s one of the key reasons we haven’t given up many goals this season.”

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Lower Merion’s Max Shapiro fields a pass as Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Andrew Stricklin defends during their District 1-4A second round game on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. (Gene Walsh/Digital First Media)