Freeport defense steps up in quarterfinal win over Quaker Valley

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, October 26, 2017 | 10:54 PM

The Freeport girls soccer team was best known for a solid offensive attack this season.

But the Yellowjackets defense was at its best Thursday as Freeport defeated Quaker Valley, 3-1, in a WPIAL Class AA quarterfinal at the Mars Athletic Complex.

The No. 2-seeded Yellowjackets held No. 7 Quaker Valley to three shots until the Quakers made a late, offensive push.

Freeport (16-2-1) will battle Waynesburg once again in the semifinals Monday night at a time and site to be determined. The Yellowjackets defeated the Raiders in the semifinals last season.

Waynesburg posted a 5-0 victory over Avonworth Thursday.

Sophomore Sidney Shemanski scored a goal a little more than five minutes into the match as Freeport, which earned a first-round bye, showed no ill effects of a nine-day layoff.

After Shemanski's quick goal, QV's Haley Steffey appeared ready to tie the game on a breakaway. But senior defender Emily Wolfe caught up to Steffey and took possession to the right of the Freeport goal.

“Emily Wolfe had the game of her life tonight,” Yellowjackets coach Brittni Grenninger said. “That kept them from getting a huge momentum swing and tying the game up quite quickly. All night, Emily, Piper Claypool and Hannah Stokes held a very good team at bay.”

The Quakers again had a chance to tie the game with 16 minutes left in the first half when Katherine Blaugrund was setting up for a shot at close range. Claypool, however, stepped in front of Blaugrund and cleared the ball away.

Quaker Valley (10-8-1) finally got a shot on goal with 13 minutes, 33 seconds left in the opening half, but Jenna Manke made her first save.

“They're obviously a quality team for 2A,” Quaker Valley coach Jamie Birmingham said. “That's the way it is in soccer; you can't go down early to a good team.”

Freeport tallied again when Kaylee Comperatore rebounded a shot by Shemanski past goalkeeper Mackenzie Harrison with 8:42 left in the half.

Claypool then scored Freeport's 95th goal of the season from 35 yards out — a long shot that skidded past Harrison to put the Yellowjackets in front 3-0 with 1:10 to go before the intermission.

“We have speed all over the field,” Grenninger said. “We try to use that to our advantage, and we tried to use it at every opportunity.”

“They've got a lot of good people moving the ball forward,” Birmingham said. “It took us 10 or 15 minutes to get things sorted out. I thought we adjusted, but we got a couple of bad breaks on those second and third goals.”

The Quakers finally got on the scoreboard with 1:47 to go on a shot by Lauren Delie. Abigail Carver had a chance in the final minute, but Manke was up to the task. “Our defense played phenomenally,” Grenninger said. “We knew in the end they would make an offensive push since they were down 3-0. We just had to weather that storm, and Jenna Manke came up big when she had to.”

Quaker Valley posted seven shutouts in the team's 10 victories this season.

George Guido is a freelance writer.

Tags: Freeport, Quaker Valley