Double Charged: Methacton Ties Haverford

Nov. 3, 2019 -- In what was the Central League version of the Spiderman pointing at Spiderman GIF, the Methacton Charge battled the Haverford Charge to a 1-1 tie on a cool fall afternoon at Old Manoa Field in Havertown.

The first half, although scoreless, featured plenty of action from the Methacton offense. Early on, Penny crossed to Violet for a shot that went just wide. Later, some good passing between Sam and Ava on the right side resulted in a shot by Ava that went off the outside of the goal. Grace, Bryce and Brooke teamed up to get more pressure at the end of the half, but they weren't able to crack the Haverford defense. Meanwhile, Haverford's best opportunity came in the form of a 1-on-none breakaway midway through the half, but Cailyn sprinted back to beat the attacker to the ball and absorbed a hard foul to stop the scoring chance. Sophia made all the saves in net for the Charge, while Bryce and Riley put in some gritty work on defense on both sides of the field.

Methacton continued to attack in the second half. Sam passed to Jessa, who found Violet open in the box for a shot, but the play was ruled offsides. Brooke and Grace teamed up for multiple chances, including a nice run down the right flank by Brooke, who sent a cross to Grace that nearly connected. After making a save, Penny made a long throw over the defense to Brooke, who worked the ball through the defense before a clearing attempt went out of bounds. On the ensuing play, Brooke had a strong throw-in that found Grace for another shot on goal. Later in the half, more hard work by Bryce earned a foul and direct kick for Methacton. Tessa took the kick and sent a beautiful pass over the head of the defense to Jessa on the left side. Jessa volleyed the ball into the net for a goal that set off a round of obligatory chest-bump celebrations by Methacton. Alas, Haverford took advantage of the post-chest-bump jubilation and answered with a goal of their own less than a minute later to tie the game. Despite a frenetic pace that saw multiple corner kicks in the final minutes of play, Methacton was unable to get the game-winner.

With the tie, the Nov. 17 game between Methacton and Haverford will determine the club that owns the true rights to the Charge moniker. Before that, however, Methacton (4-1-2 Central League) has a rematch with West-Mont at home on Nov. 10.