LANGHORNE — The bandage wrapped around Logan Farrow’s head was all the evidence needed as to how badly she and her Owen J. Roberts girls soccer teammates wanted to advance to the District 1-4A quarterfinals.
Following a sluggish first half in which the No. 10 Wildcats surrendered a penalty kick to seventh-seeded Neshaminy, Farrow helped wake a sleeping giant after halftime. With her team trailing 1-0 and its season on the brink, Farrow first delivered a flawless crossing assist on the game-tying goal, then further solidified her desire to win when a fearless midair collision with Neshaminy’s Natalie Cimochowski sent both players to the ground and opened a bloody gash on Farrow’s forehead.
Farrow briefly left the game to get her bandage applied, and while she was on the sideline teammate Meryn Primanti rewarded her selfless effort with the game-winning goal with 17:45 remaining in OJR’s resilient 2-1 second-half comeback win over host Neshaminy on Thursday night. The Wildcats punched their ticket to Saturday’s quarterfinal at No. 2 Central Bucks East.
“I jumped up and it felt like she hit me with her teeth,” Farrow said. “Then when I was on the side getting my head wrapped, we scored a goal, so I was feeling great after that.”
It was a sudden reversal of fortune for OJR, which endured an inauspicious start when Neshaminy was awarded a penalty kick after a takedown inside the Wildcat box just over 10 minutes into the game. Neshaminy senior Taylor Maxwell blasted a rocket into the upper left corner of the goal, and before OJR could even break a sweat the Indians had a 1-0 lead with 29:43 left in the first half.
While Neshaminy generated more scoring chances and controlled more of the first half tempo and possession, the Wildcats held firm and did not yield another goal.
Then, the offense woke up. The signs were subtle at first, but a sloppy, uncertain style of play in the first half gave way to a crisper version that indicated more confidence and togetherness. It took some time for the elements to coalesce, but the building momentum came to a head when Farrow made a run down the far sideline and sent a low cross to the opposite post to the waiting right foot of Audrey Fleck, who buried it in stride and tied the score 1-1 with 23:15 on the clock.
“I got a through ball from one of the midfielders and I had some space,” Farrow recalled. “I took a touch with my right and crossed it with my left, and thankfully Audrey was there to finish it.”
“I stayed wide, because we’re always getting yelled at to stay wide,” Fleck added. “I didn’t know if she was going to shoot or cross, so I went on more of a bending run and hit it with my right foot. It was a life-or-death situation; if we don’t score, we’re out.”
Farrow’s collision and battle wound occurred less than five minutes after the goal, and it took OJR less than one minute following her exit to score another goal. Sophomore Jill Artzerounian, who had been knocking on the door all game with some sensationally-struck corner kicks, put another one in a great spot over the keeper’s head. A mad scramble of bodies crashed toward the loose ball until OJR junior Meryn Primanti flicked it into the net for the winning score.
“I saw it going right over the keeper, so I just kind of ran to the net,” Primanti explained. “I didn’t really have to do anything, just put my body on the net. I kind of owed it to (Jill) because I missed a few of her other crosses tonight.”
“Every time we tie a game we get so much anger, like, ‘Let’s get another one, let’s get another one,’” Fleck added. “It gives us a push, kind of like a slap in the face – ‘OK, wake up.’ We’re not here to dilly dally in the field; we’re here to score and to win and move on in districts.”
Neshaminy (17-3) had a couple of chances after Primanti’s go-ahead goal. Ava Hood had a free kick from 35 or so yards out with under nine minutes to play but played it right into the arms of OJR goalie Cheyenne Theakston (three saves). Theakston also smothered another close call with 55 seconds left, and from there it was celebration time for the bruised and battered Wildcats.
“We had chances early on to get two or three and we got one,” Indians head coach Josh VanReed said. “We have to finish those when we have them. (OJR) came out working very, very hard collectively as a group in the second half and it showed. Once they scored one, now we’re tied, and the team that just scored has momentum.
Suddenly, an OJR team that seemed a step slow in the first half was disrupting everything the Indians were trying to do.
“They were getting on the end of all our crosses and corners and free kicks,” VanReed said. “They were winning the ball when they needed to. They earned it.”
A win on the road in districts should serve OJR (17-5) well as they get set to enter a Saturday hornet’s nest at CB East. The Patriots come into the contest at 18-1 overall, with their only loss this season to Conestoga, the lone team ranked ahead of them in the district.
Still, the Wildcats will be fearless after Thursday’s result. They acknowledged they would like to start a little faster in the quarterfinals, but the team has also shown its ability to rally. At this point, it’s anybody’s guess as to how things will shake out.
“Just another game where anything could happen,” Farrow said.
“We’ve got the momentum going – we’re so ready for this next round,” Primanti added.
A confident Fleck had the last word.
“It’s what we’ve been working for since preseason,” she said. “We need to lock our heads in, and if we really want it enough, we’ll get it.”
