ALTOONA – During Tuesday night’s first-round win over Forest Hills, Freeport junior Camryn Woods suffered a foot injury.
“I couldn’t walk the next morning,” she said. “I didn’t really care. I was going to go either way. If I couldn’t walk, I was going to push through.”
It’s safe to say that on Saturday afternoon, she had a rush of adrenaline during a PIAA Class 2A girls soccer quarterfinal at Altoona’s Mansion Park against Lancaster Catholic.
“I didn’t really think about sitting out,” Woods said. “I knew I was going to have to get one quick because I wasn’t going to last long on my foot. We had so much energy, and we came out fast. We needed that one early.”
That goal along with a few key saves from Alyssa Alcorn sent the Yellowjackets to the state semifinals with a 1-0 triumph over the Crusaders.
Freeport’s reward is the winner of Saturday’s game between Bedford and Burrell on Tuesday at a site and time to be announced as the Yellowjackets extended their 18-game winning streak.
“It got much better from Wednesday, and she was able to go,” Freeport coach Steve Kukic said. “You could tell towards the end a little she was struggling a little bit. She’s a warrior. She gutted that one out and scored a goal.”
The Yellowjackets had three prime scoring chances toward the middle and late portion of the opening half as Peyton Los had a shot turned away with under 25 minutes in the opening stanza.
Emma Shepherd (23rd minute of the first half) and Elena Jenkins (36th minute) each had breakaways that was either turned away or denied by Crusader goalie Clare Bolesky.
Lancaster Catholic’s Naomi Dresch had another quality scoring chance with just under 10 minutes, but she missed it wide to the right keeping the Yellowjackets in front.
“This is a game where they played better than us,” Kukic said. “This is the first game all year that we got outplayed. Credit to them, they came at us with purpose. They played hard. We were on our heels the whole game. We have a championship mentality. We were not at our best.”
Crusaders coach Emily Fix — whose squad made its first appearance in the state tournament this year and finished with a 21-2 record – couldn’t have been more impressed with the Yellowjackets.
“They’re definitely a physical team, probably one of the most physical teams we’ve seen yet this season,” she said. “I think they did a really good job making their moments matter.”
The Crusaders did have a pair of key scoring chances in the second half in a matter of three minutes as Olivia Havrilla had a prime chance turned away with 19 minutes to play by Alcorn.
Three minutes later on a free kick, Harper Bolesky launched a shot from the 30-yard line, but Alcorn made the save.
“This has been an icon here for four years,” Kukic said. “She’s made huge save after huge save after huge save. I don’t get really surprised whenever she does well. There’s a reason why she’s been an all-WPIAL player.”
Woods and the Yellowjackets are excited about the possibility of making another round of history with a state championship appearance now in sight.
“It’s incredible,” she said. “We’ve already made school history, but we’re not done yet.”