Sean Lipschutz (left), a Patriots junior, tries to keep control of the ball as Gavin Giegidio attempts to displace him. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

After a disappointing soccer season in 2018, Germantown Academy arrived at the halfway point in the 2019 Inter-Ac League campaign with a winning record of 3-2. The Patriots had defeated Malvern Prep and Episcopal Academy, along with traditional archrival Penn Charter.

Last Saturday, GA started the second round of league games against a Malvern team that is going through the kind of ordeal Germantown experienced a year ago. Reaffirming the old axiom that no opponent can be taken for granted in grueling Inter-Ac competition, the host Friars took GA into overtime and then pulled out a 1-0 victory, their first league win of the season and only their second overall.

Heading back home with a 3-3 mark in league play (9-4-2 overall), the Patriots were still in a much better place than they'd been in at this time last fall. Four days earlier, they'd defeated PC, 1-0, with sophomore Christian Combs scoring off an assist from junior Shane Connolly and senior goalie Ryan Fairlie making five saves in goal.

After the Malvern game, second-year GA head coach Kurt Wetzel noted, "The boys have been passing the ball well, although today you only saw that in spurts."

Referring to the Inter-Ac's ranking system – one point for a tie and three for a win – Wetzel said on Saturday, "The most disappointing thing is not coming away with a point. When you get into overtime in the Inter-Ac, you have to be cognizant of the fact that every tackle and pass is important. In the Inter-Ac, points are at a premium, and they wanted it a touch more than we did."

The Patriots attacked at the outset and got off several shots. One of them was stopped thanks to a difficult save by Malvern keeper Ryan McNeil, who made eight saves for the shutout. GA's Fairlie made seven saves and pulled down numerous serves into the box. In addition to clearing the ball upfield on punts, Fairlie can kick balls off the ground well into the far half of the pitch.

Malvern threatened about seven minutes in with a long serve and a header over the goal, while on a shot for GA, Connolly did not get his shoe squarely on the ball, and the result was a relatively soft hopper that was handled by McNeil.

"The game was played in waves," Wetzel observed. "The first 15 minutes we had a lot more possessions, the second 15 they did and it continued on like that."

Connor McNally, a senior midfielder, spearheaded the Malvern attack in the middle of the first half, sending a direct kick off of GA's defensive wall and later driving through the middle to get off a well-struck shot that was saved by Fairlie.

Not long after that, Patriots junior Chris Hackley launched a dangerous outside shot that was heading just under the Malvern crossbar. McNeil kept it scoreless by tipping the ball over the cage.

Wetzel remarked, "Malvern was adapting to what we were doing, and they were trying to shut down our middle and force us to play outside wide. We got the ball up the field on the outside, but we didn't generate too many tremendous chances. Their defense was hard to break down, and the opportunities we did generate were always under pressure."

GA junior Kevin Cui (left) and Malvern's Frankie Taglianetti joust for a head ball. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

Germantown, in turn, received a steady, solid effort from the two deep defenders in front of Fairlie: senior Brendan Hasson and sophomore Connor Wetzel.

Malvern, playing before a Homecoming crowd after recognizing their seniors in a ceremony before the game, fought the visitors to a 0-0 standoff in the first period. From the effort demonstrated by both teams, fans expected a similar battle after the interlude.

The Patriots had to weather a number of assaults by the Friars as the second half got underway. Malvern headed shots high and wide of the GA goal and sent in a long serve that GA's Fairlie caught. After the Patriots broke up a Malvern corner kick play about 10 minutes in, they went on the attack.

As Combs slipped a pass inside the 18 in the middle, Connolly went down inside the box, but instead of a penalty kick, an offsides ruling went against GA before the contact. As the middle of the half approached, the visitors were awarded a long free kick from far out on the right wing. Junior Kolby Palmer sent a beautiful serve into the middle of the box, but his teammates could not get shoe leather on the ball in front of the goal.

With 14 minutes remaining in regulation, Germantown junior Stefan Lyntton was taken down a few yards above the middle of the 18-yard line, and the resulting free kick by the Pats had the ball bounce back off a row of Friars.

Malvern earned a number of corner kicks in the final minutes of regulation, but Fairlie and his defense held the score at 0-0. The standard Inter-Ac overtime ensued – two five-minute periods, played in full, with the direction of play switched in between.

After 80 minutes of 0-0 soccer, Malvern scored just one minute and 50 seconds into the first OT. When the Friars sent a long through pass into the middle of the box, GA defenders seemed to get their signals crossed for a second or two. That was long enough for Friars junior Frankie Taglianetti to punch the ball in from about a dozen yards out – a potshot that nobody could have stopped.

With around 90 seconds left in the first OT period, a shot from out along the right endline by GA junior Sean Lipschutz skimmed along the Malvern crossbar. With Malvern holding the lead into the second overtime stint, GA sent a ball bouncing into the Friars' box with about a minute-and-a-half elapsed. The Friars honed in on the ball and cleared it out before the nearest Patriots could reach it.

Malvern didn't let another ball cross its 18, and was able to keep GA from penetrating very far from midfield most of the time in the waning moments.

"We didn't put out our best offensive effort, and one mistake in the back cost us," Wetzel summed up.

Still, from his team's experience in 2018, the Patriots' skipper could appreciate the sense of joy and relief felt by the Malvern team and first-year head coach Susan Barr.

"Susan runs a good squad and she had them focused today," he said. "They all knew their positioning and where they had to be in a given situation. None of their guys on the field took a minute off."