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Alexandra The Great

Hultberg Leads Bears To Second Straight Sectional Title

Four minutes into the second half of the Section VI Class C championship game, Frewsburg’s Alex Hultberg stood over a free kick on the Bears’ side of midfield.

There was a certain inevitability about what was going to happen next.

And nobody could stop it.

Not the wall of Chautauqua Lake defenders standing 10 yards away.

Not Thunderbirds goalkeeper Hailey Roush.

Hultberg was going to score.

And considering Frewsburg allowed just one goal over its final 13 games, that goal was going to wrap up the Bears’ second straight sectional title.

As expected, Hultberg’s drive got high enough to evade the wall and about 30 yards later cleared Roush’s fingertips by only a few inches before finding the back of the net.

Just a sophomore, Hultberg never shied away from the biggest moments.

She scored the Bears’ biggest goals.

Now she’s received her biggest accolade: 2020 Post-Journal Player of the Year.

“She’s dedicated her life to soccer,” said Frewsburg coach Scott Stone, who happens to be Hultberg’s stepfather. “Our whole team has dedicated their lives to soccer. We play year-round. We train all winter. Every one of them will do anything I ask.”

Hultberg is also held in high regard by Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Central Division coaches, who named her the league’s Offensive Player of the Year after a campaign during which she scored 16 goals and handed out seven assists.

“She absolutely took a step this year with the way she put the ball in the back of the net,” Stone said. “When she steps over the ball, she steps over it for a reason.”

Hultberg’s goal total tied her for 16th in Section VI and was three behind Ellicottville’s Mandy Hurlburt, who led girls in The Post-Journal and OBSERVER’s circulation area with 19 goals.

“She likes to train,” Stone said. “She’s spent countless hours shooting from all different angles and lengths, and all that hard work has paid off for her.”

Four of Hultberg’s goals came on free kicks and eight were game-winning tallies.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a player make them at the rate she does,” Stone said of the free kicks. “When she steps over the ball, we absolutely feel like she’s going to put the ball in the back of the net. … If she doesn’t score, it’s almost a bit of a downer.”

She opened the season with a pair of goals against eventual Section VI Class B-2 champion Southwestern. Then she had a goal and an assist three days later in the Bears’ league opener at North Collins. Hultberg recorded a hat trick — including a pair of free kicks — and added an assist Oct. 9 against Silver Creek/Forestville. Her next goal came in the third minute of the game as Frewsburg beat Southwestern for a second time on Oct. 17.

“I for one don’t like end-of-season awards,” Stone said. “I have a lot of players worthy of a lot of accolades. … Alex couldn’t be Player of the Year without her teammates.”

On Oct. 20, in the Bears’ first of three victories over sectional runnerup Chautauqua Lake, Hultberg scored the eventual game-winning goal in the 37th minute of the first half. She started Frewsburg’s second trip through the Central Division schedule with two goals against North Collins on Oct. 22 and put home the opening tally in a 2-0 win over Westfield/Brocton on Oct. 29. On Nov. 5, Hultberg scored the opening goal once again as the Bears completed a perfect 10-0-0 league season with a 3-0 shutout of Chautauqua Lake.

In the postseason, she had a goal in the quarterfinals against Randolph, an assist in the semifinals against Portville, and a goal and an assist in the championship game against the Thunderbirds.

“No moment is too big,” Stone said. “Doing it in the sectional final in a tight game in the second half, she really won it for us.”

Her final assist of the season came on the final goal of her sister Ava’s high school career.

“We have a lot of leaders on our team,” Stone said. “Alex does it with her play and vocally on the field.”

It wasn’t just about goal scoring with Hultberg. She was an integral part of the midfield that helped Frewsburg’s defense hold opponents to just six goals on the season. Her physicality made it difficult to get her off the ball and her vision helped set up teammates.

“She wears players down. She’s going to go through every ball,” Stone said. “She plays great defense and she’s really well-rounded.”

Fortunately for the Bears, she isn’t going anywhere. Opponents will have to deal with her in a stacked Frewsburg lineup for another two seasons.

“Last year, she wasn’t healthy,” Stone said of Hultberg’s freshman season when she had two goals and four assists while missing six to eight games. “Having her healthy for a full season made a big difference for us this year.”

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