PEEKING INTO THE PAST

CIVIC BRIEFS

First Posted: 10/24/2014 Friday afternoon&#8217;s District II Class AA girls soccer quarterfinal game between Berwick and Abington Heights was a tale of two halves.
A strong wind at Abington Heights High School had a lot to do with the pace of play.
Berwick controlled the tempo in the first half, outshooting Abington Heights, 15-4, but Comets goalkeeper Johanna Show responded to the challenge and made eight saves.
When the sides flipped in the second half, so did all the momentum. It took less than two minutes for Abington Heights to take advantage of playing with the wind. The Comets scored two quick goals and held off a late charge from Berwick to defeat the Bulldogs, 2-0.
Ally Christman took a pass from Michaelina Holmes and shot the ball into the upper 90 of the goal, giving the Comets a 1-0 lead with 38:17 left in the second half.
&#8220;I saw open space between the keeper and the goal, so I just tried to chip it over her head,&#8221; Christman said.
Tiana Yarns nearly added another goal for Abington Heights under a minute later, but her shot sailed just over the crossbar.
Abington Heights outshot Berwick, 12-6, in the second half and took a 2-0 lead with 15:12 remaining in the second half on Christman&#8217;s second goal of the game.
&#8220;We knew that if we didn&#8217;t step it up in the second half it would be our last game and no one wanted that,&#8221; Christman said. &#8220;We all played our hearts out.&#8221;
Berwick came out of the gates fast, generating five shots on goal within the first 12 minutes of the game, but was unable to sneak a ball past Show.
&#8220;We didn&#8217;t take advantage of the opportunities we had,&#8221; Berwick head coach Paul DiPippa said. &#8220;We easily could have scored three to five goals in the first half alone and we didn&#8217;t finish them. Sometimes you can dominate a game and not come out on top.&#8221;
Show faced another flurry of shots midway through the first half but, with the help of her defense, kept the game scoreless.
Berwick&#8217;s Gabby Kishbaugh also had a shot fly just over the net with 15:14 left in the first half.
&#8220;We try to stay focused as a team and work together to clear the ball out,&#8221; Show said. &#8220;It was really important that the defense helped me a lot. I was just happy some of them didn&#8217;t go in.&#8221;
Abington Heights head coach Roger Jacobs was pleased with the play of his goalkeeper.
&#8220;It&#8217;s her first year (as the starter) and she&#8217;s been improving,&#8221; he said. &#8220;She did an excellent job. I thought today was one of the best games for her and the whole defense because that&#8217;s a good team we played.&#8221;
Abington Heights 2, Berwick 0Berwick`0`0`&#8212;`0
Abington Heights`0`2`&#8212;`2
Second half &#8212; AH, Ally Christman (Michaelina Holmes), 38:17; AH, Christman (unassisted) 15:12
Shots &#8212; AH 17; BER 21. Saves &#8212; AH 10 (Johanna Show); BER 4 (Raina Goulstone). Corner kicks &#8212; AH 2; BER 4.

Strong second half propels Abington Heights over Berwick