The girls handled the test well, overcoming a deficit twice with three second-half goals to begin the season with a 3-2 victory at Robert H. Jackson Elementary Field on Friday.

“We say every year we’ve got to find out who we are,” Frewsburg head coach Scott Stone said about his team. “Sometimes it takes a while. We’re starting to find out already. We’re super young, we started four freshmen today, but we got a bunch of fighters.”

The reigning six-time sectional champion Bears once again had to replace plenty of elite talent, but sophomore Jaden Jimerson and junior Audrey Eckwahl are very early stepping up.

Last year, Eckwahl was a key piece to a dominant Frewsburg midfield, dominating that space with Taytum Jimerson who earned a first-team all-state selection in Class C. With more responsibility this year, Eckwahl handled the pressure well against Allegany-Limestone, shining as a box-to-box midfielder by stopping goals and even providing one herself.

Frewsburg sophomore Jaden Jimerson fires a shot ahead of Allegany-Limestone defender Peyton Truman during nonleague action at the Frewsburg Sports Complex on Friday. P-J photo by Christian Storms

“Audrey is an amazing player,” Stone said. “She had a great season last year, but now she’s the leader of this team. She had to help back on defense, she runs the middle, she gets forward, she scored the first goal on the board that gave us a little. I can’t speak highly enough of Audrey.”

Trailing 1-0 by halftime, Eckwahl got the Bears on the board early in the second half and injected some confidence into the squad that showed the rest of the game.

Allegany-Limestone answered back less than five minutes later as Kennedy Honeck finished off a shot that went bar down by Madison Honeck, regaining a 2-1 lead for the Gators on the counterattack.

“You know when you play Allegany-Limestone you’re going to get one of the best-coached teams, if not the best-coached team you’ll play all year,” Stone added. “Dale (MacArthur) always has his team ready to play. He wasn’t here today, but he always has his team ready and I’m just super proud of our girls for battling for 80 minutes and pulling it out at the end.”

However, Frewsburg kept plugging away controlling the pace of play and after knocking on the door all night long, Jaden Jimerson scored her first goal of the season assisted by Leah Powell.

Frewsburg midfielder Audrey Eckwahl looks for a passing option as Allegany-Limestone’s Addie Prince chases after her. P-J photo by Christian Storms

While Allegany-Limestone (0-1) continued to rely on the counterattack, Frewsburg relentlessly pressured and won several corner kicks in the second half. It looked like the game was destined for extra time, but then Jaden Jimerson took a page out of her sister Ava’s book, along with her number.

Inside the final 10 minutes of regulation, driving into the right side of the box with a defender on her hip, Jaden Jimerson fired a rocket to the left side of the net and regained the lead 3-2 with seven minutes to play.

“How about Jaden?,” Stone said. “She’s obviously following in the footsteps of her sister, she holds herself to a high standard. That first goal was an absolute rocket off of the volley and the second one she just created by herself. I’ve coached Jaden since she was 7 years old and she scores goals like that at every level and you see this year is no different.”

While Jimerson and Eckwahl scored the goals to lift the Bears (1-0) to victory, sophomore goalkeeper Elysse Gruber made 10 important saves to secure the decision.

“I’ve been telling you about Elysse for a while,” Stone said about his young goalkeeper. “Now everybody is going to find out, she is going to put people on notice. She played on the Silver Team in the Corporate Cup and she’s got a chip on her shoulder right now. Any chance she gets to come out and show people the keeper she is and the caliber she is back there she’s going to do it. She’s on a mission back there and I’m sure glad she’s on our team.”