The Frewsburg girls soccer team celebrated its second goal with a 3-1 victory over Wilson in the Section 6 Class C semifinals on Tuesday at Robert H. Jackson Elementary School. Pajama photo: Matt Spielman
FREESBURG — Whether it’s Hartbellis or the Jimersons, the Wilson women’s soccer program must be tired of Friesburg.
The second-seeded Bears won 3-1 in the Section 6 Class C semifinals on Tuesday at Robert H. – Jimerson scored twice and Tatum Jimerson scored Frewsburg’s third goal. Sports complex.
“We already knew it was going to be a tough game,” Frewsburg head coach Scott Stone said. “We’re very confident in who we are and what we’re doing. We expect to win every time we step on the field, but no one, especially You disrespect Wilson.”
Frewsburg will play No. 5 Randolph, which defeated No. 1 Holland 2-1 in Tuesday’s other semifinal, for its sixth straight sectional title on Friday at 5 p.m. at Allegany Limestone High School. .
After Tuesday’s game at Frewsburg, Wilson head coach Jeff Hart said he feels his team and the Bears are the two best teams in Class C, but because of the seeding system, both teams have lost four in a row. He said he was unable to play against him in the final.
Frewsburg’s Eva Jimerson scored her second goal of the game in front of Wilson’s Rowan Simpson. Pajama photo: Matt Spielman
“We’ve been looking at each other all year. We were both going to play each other in the finals, so the rounds just came too soon,” Hart said. “It’s a great program. I knew it because I came last year. A lot of it is just trying to fill in the gaps. It’s a well-run program.”
For most of the first half, the match appeared to be an even match as both teams played to a scoreless draw.
But Eva Jimerson, Round 6’s top scorer with 39 goals on the season that entered Tuesday, decided the game in the 30th minute.
Immediately after Frewsburg freshman goaltender Elisse Gruber stopped Wilson’s direct kick with a leaping save, she punted the ball toward midfield. After the bounce, Eva Jimerson ran onto the ball, broke free behind the Lakewomen’s defense and scored past Wilson sophomore keeper Brooke Urban for a 1-0 lead.
“We have one of the best keepers in Western New York, and she proved that today with her two punts,” Stone said of Gruber, who made seven saves. “That’s a big savings. She’s locked in all the time. … You’re going to hear her name a lot in the future. … She has the power to change the game.”
Frewsburg’s Tatum Jimerson (right) and Wilson’s Rowan Simpson compete for the ball during Tuesday’s Round 6 Class C girls soccer semifinal at the Robert H. Jackson Sports Complex in Frewsburg. Pajama photo: Matt Spielman
In the 35th minute, a nearly identical scenario occurred with Gruber again punting the ball upfield to Eva Jimerson. This time, the Bears senior put his body on the line and got Wilson junior defender Rowan Simpson into position before scoring low on Urban again, giving the hosts a 2-0 lead going into halftime.
“Eva is just a grinder. I’ve said it since the first match of the year, she’s on a mission now and she won’t be turned down,” Stone said. “… She’s relentless. She plays 80 minutes, so you can shut her down for a little while, but eventually she’s going to come into her own.”
“Honestly, I felt like we probably had more chances to score in the 30 minutes,” Hart said. “Two unlucky bounces resulted in a breakaway. That girl is a finisher, that’s her job.”
But Wilson didn’t leave the game in the second half. In fact, the Lake Women came out strong and drove within goal in the 42nd minute.
Senior Marisa Schultz saved the ball from going wide along the Frewsburg goal line, but Schultz passed to freshman Addison Elia, who placed it over Gruber in perfect position. He placed a shot over the Bears’ goal, making it 2-1.
Frewsburg’s Audrey Ekwar takes a shot during Tuesday’s game. Pajama photo: Matt Spielman
“I always say the worst thing is being up 2-0. … I said at halftime, ‘The next goal is going to decide this game,'” Hart said. “That’s one of the reasons we came out aggressive and scored the first goal.”
Frewsburg, which entered Tuesday with just five goals all season, was unaffected by Elia’s team-high 24th goal of the season.
“We’re resilient. We talked at halftime that we needed one more goal. We weren’t satisfied with two,” Stone said. “We expected them to probably score one point. They’re a good soccer team. … We knew we needed three goals to win this game.”
In fact, the Bears scored two points less than four minutes later when Tatum Jimerson converted a ball from his sister Jaden in the middle of the field, beat a Wilson defender on the right side and fired a low score toward the goal. regained the lead. He hit the goal post to Urban’s right to make it 3-1.
“Tatum made another play,” Stone said. “I can’t say enough about Tatum and Audrey (Ekwar) in the middle.”
Frewsburg’s back line, led by senior center defenders Kaylee Cappa and Keeley Kafrish, extended the lead and cleared nearly every remaining Wilson advance.
“It’s a team of selfless players. She played center mid last year and scored a ton of goals,” Stone said of Cufflish. “She knew she needed to take a step back in order to achieve her goal of becoming a section champion. She never daunted by that… She worked hard all year and now He established himself as what I consider to be the best defensive player in Class C.”
Now, the only thing standing between Frewsburg and its sixth straight division victory is neighboring Randolph, which is aiming for its first division victory in program history. Despite the two schools being just over 15 miles apart, both teams have played since the Bears won 5-1 in the quarterfinals of Game 6 of the 2020 COVID-19 season. The teams are not playing against each other.
“They beat Portville. I knew it was going to be a tough game. I’m not surprised at all,” Stone said of the Cardinals’ win on Tuesday. “All I know is that it’s scheduled to arrive on Friday and I’ll be ready.”
