Copyright Mechanicsburg Patriot News
There are a hundred of other places Bree Paetow could have been on Tuesday night other than a wet and rainy soccer pitch in Dillsburg. The Chambersburg senior is a star on the softball diamond, with a James Madison commitment already in her back pocket. But soccer was her first love in sports. And after tasting the playoffs a season ago, there was zero doubt Paetow would once again don the blue and white for another season of the sport, wanting to help continue to build up the program’s culture. The Trojans are certainly glad she did. Because Paetow, along with junior keeper Ashley Mitchell, came up monumental on Tuesday night, making massive plays to help No. 14 seed Chambersburg upset the unbeaten No. 3 Northern 1-0 in the District 3 4A playoff opener, putting their team a win away from state playoff qualification. Here’s how the Trojans did it. The stars Paetow came up with the only goal of the evening, scoring early in the first half to put the pressure on. Mitchell was huge all evening, making a handful of diving and leaping saves and aggressive plays out of the box as well. Northern had strong looks all night from Allison Bechtel, Ava Ondecko and Tae Townsend, and received stellar play in the back end by Ashley Deiter throughout the contest. How it happened Chambersburg didn’t look out of place early, with both teams earning some shots on goal. But the Trojans got the look that mattered nine minutes in. Northern head coach Dwayne Lawrence told his team not to play a “square ball” in the final third, but did so there. Paetow came up with the ball, used her patented speed to streak down past Northern’s defense, and grounded a ball to the left corner to put Chambersburg up 1-0 early. The goal settled, but didn’t pacify, the Trojans, who continued to play with controlled aggression throughout the contest. But as the game tilted into the second half, more Northern chances started coming. The first great look came from Bechtel, who grounded a ball that a sliding Mitchell just snagged before it crossed the line with 21 minutes left. Two more corners in the 18th and 13th minutes also went fruitless for the Polar Bears. Then, Ondecko would work to two more good looks that Mitchell would come up, with one 10:53 coming uncontested that the Chambersburg keeper had to dive left to stop. Northern would mount a few more opportunities towards the end, with a couple more corner kicks. But Chambersburg would hold strong, and come away with the upset win. The big picture The No. 14 seed Chambersburg Trojans will travel to No. 10 seed Central Dauphin on Saturday, as the Rams upset South Western on Tuesday as well. Chambersburg is 2-0 against Central Dauphin this year. Northern’s season ends with a 16-1-1 record on the season. They said it “We just had to have confidence in each other and trust our teammates. We’ve been working really hard all year for this.” - Chambersburg’s Bree Paetow on the team’s mindset going for an upset on Thursday “I was really nervous the whole time. I’m just really glad it’s over and that we won.” - Chambersburg keeper Ashley Mitchell on if she had any nerves coming into the contest “It was basically: This is tonight. This is the team we’re lining up against. Let’s keep the game in front of us, and we can go forward if we stay organized. But the number one thing is stay organized behind the ball and look for some counter-attacking opportunities on the flank, and just look to exploit space going the other way.” Chambersburg coach Paul Unruh on the emphasis attack Northern “I will be sorry to see the number of those girls go. We have some great girls coming back. We have a very good junior varsity team. We have a very good middle school team. But the message of the banquet, to circle back ,will definitely be, man, look at what you’ve done. And take pride in all of that for as much pain as there is in the moment. And in a couple of days, they’ll be able to reflect on that.” - Northern coach Dwayne Lawrence on the message to his group after the season-ending loss
