Local Sports

Still on top

Bears hold off Black Knights for 2-0 Division 3 win

FREWSBURG -- In the first meeting between Frewsburg and Silver Creek/Forestville on Sept. 15, the Bears showed why they are the dominant force in the league with a 6-1 victory.

On Tuesday, the Black Knights made the trip to the Robert H. Jackson Elementary Athletic Complex and suffered another defeat, but this time stayed close with the Bears in a 2-0 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 3 loss.

"We've been building for years about the belief we can play with this team," Silver Creek/Forestville head coach Jesse Hamms said. "It's been a two-, three-year run to get there. The first game was 6-1, but it wasn't a 6-1 game. We got scored on twice and gave up three more goals that we shouldn't have given up in the first half. We don't want to lose 2-0, but in the history of Silver Creek/Forestville versus Frewsburg over the last five years of me coaching this is the closest game we've been in, by far."

Frewsburg (9-2, 7-0) still dominated possession and prime scoring chances, but the ball just did not have an easy time finding the back of the net.

"We talked about it at halftime," Frewsburg head coach Scott Stone said. "We have played in big games and we have big-game experience all over the roster, and in games like this that has to show up. Today we leaned on our experience and came out on top. The girls played well. We kept our composure the entire way and got it done."

Kendall Strychalski made 12 saves in net, but it was her teammates on the Silver Creek/Forestville (8-3, 5-2) back line, led by Kaydence Ziolkowski and Kyla Ziegler, who were giving the Bears a difficult time getting great chances.

"We've had the same defense for three years," Hamms stated. "They kind of know how we want to play. We spent the last couple of days focusing on stopping their No. 11, Audrey (Eckwahl), who is all-division and all-class and we figured if we could stop her we could do what we needed to do. Kaydence in the back directed everybody. You've got to give credit to them. Kyla at right defense has been a starter since eighth grade, Alexis (Wicks), Lilly (Fox) and Allison (Hughes) are juniors that will fill big roles next year and this year played fantastic in the back."

Despite great defense and solid goaltending in the early part of the match, it was in the 15th minute when Frewsburg's Charlie Lombardo sent a ball into the box that took a weird bounce and was mishandled, rolling into the net for the 1-0 lead.

The Bears kept the pressure coming in the first half and had several opportunities to build on its lead. The best chance came in the 34th minute on another corner kick sent in by Ellie Cappa with the ball beating everyone except Ziegler defending the line to keep the score 1-0.

With Frewsburg sustaining pressure most of the contest, Silver Creek/Forestville relied on the counterattack and it nearly paid off in the 20th minute when Malayah Eldridge broke towards goal. Edridge set her sights on the net and sent a shot, but the Frewsburg defense kept with her and blocked away the threat for Silver Creek/Forestville's first corner of the contest.

"Our playing style doesn't catch anybody off guard," Stone stated. "Everybody knows pretty much what to expect with our team every single year. We like to pressure teams every single time they have the ball and our offense kind of comes as it comes. We like to play defense first. If you have the ball we're coming after you as fast as we can for 80 minutes, that's our goal. Our bench did a good job coming in and continuing that when they came in and that definitely helped us out down the stretch."

Frewsburg did not rest on its lead in the second half and came out firing, looking for the insurance goal. In the 48th minute, Eckwahl set up Jadyn Trocki for a nice strike inside the box that was turned aside. The Bears continued the relentless barrage and a minute later Trocki hammered another strike toward goal, but Strychalski got another hand on it to keep the deficit at one.

"Kendall started last year as a modified goalie for the first year when I had her in PE and told her she's going to play goalie," Hamms added. "This year we graduated a goalie and didn't really have one so I told her she was going to be my goalie. It's been a slow build to get her there as the starter. She has all of the tools, she can be fantastic. She's tall, she's not scared, she's loud. Today she played phenomenal. She had a minor mistake that caused a goal, but she didn't dwell on it and kept playing. Without her we're probably coming out of here down 5 or 6-0."

Frewsburg's effort finally paid off in the 69th minute when Jaden Jimerson showcased some nice dribbling in the box that drew the attention of defenders, which opened space for Trocki who received a pass and was able to slip the shot home for the 2-0 lead.

"We don't really believe in lucky goals," Stone said. "When you have the ball in front of the net good things happen. We always try to get the ball deep and whenever we're in their defensive third we feel like we have a good chance to knock one in. The second goal was a heck of a play by the two Jadens. Jimerson is hurting a little bit with her ankle and she's out there fighting through it, but for her to fight through it and find Trocki was just an amazing ball and Jadyn had a beautiful finish."

Leah Pasieka stood tall for five saves in the Frewsburg net and the Bears posted another clean sheet to move one win closer to securing the league title.