Deer Lakes girls soccer to keep pedal down during stretch run

By: Michael Love
Tuesday, October 5, 2021 | 8:56 PM

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The Deer Lakes girls soccer team is on the cusp of clinching its fifth straight trip to the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs, but coach Frank Accetta doesn’t want his players to slow down as they enter the stretch run in the regular season.

That stretch run begins Wednesday at Freeport. The Lancers sit in second place in Section 2 at 5-2, one point ahead of Burrell in the WPIAL playoff chase.

“Obviously, the girls are always excited to play in big games,” Accetta said. “Our main goal is to get healthy and be healthy down the stretch. We’ve not been healthy but for just one game all year. When we beat Freeport, we had our full complement of players.

“When you win, you build confidence, and these girls have that confidence. We lost a tremendous senior class from last year, so it’s a young team. They are capable of going very far, but it’s on them to get the job done.”

In that first game with Freeport, a 7-2 victory, Deer Lakes was led by the 1-2 punch of seniors Ashley McAdams (four goals) and Madeline Boulos (two goals).

Accetta said he made sure his players are ready for a closer outcome this time. Freeport, 1-4-1 in section play and 1-8-1 overall, played to a scoreless tie with Burrell on Monday.

“I told the girls that while they dismantled Freeport the last time, don’t think for one second they don’t remember that or are happy about it,” Accetta said.

“If they think they are going to walk into Freeport (on Wednesday) and do the same thing, it’s just not going to happen. I expect it will be a very even game. That’s the challenge to get them ready for this game and what to expect the second time around.”

Close, competitive soccer matches in section play are what Accetta and his players expected coming into the season.

Burrell, 4-1-2 in section and 8-2-2 overall, also played a scoreless tie against Valley on Sept. 25, and the Bucs edged Freeport, 2-1, in overtime Sept. 15.

Deer Lakes got two goals from Boulos in a 2-0 win over Valley, 1-3-1 in section, last Thursday.

“Valley battles hard. They don’t make it easy on anyone,” Accetta said. “Burrell found that out, and Freeport still has to play them twice. Valley is fighting hard for a playoff spot, too.”

Deer Lakes and Burrell battled into overtime Sept. 22 before the Bucs got the winner.

McAdams and key sophomore defender Brittney Schindler left the game in regulation with injuries.

“With them going out of the game, we still were able to take the game to overtime,” Accetta said. “That really showed the girls’ resilience.”

McAdams didn’t play the next game, a 6-1 loss to section leader Shady Side Academy. Schindler hopes to return to the lineup Wednesday.

“Brittney’s an anchor of our defense, so since she’s been gone, we’ve had to put different people into the position,” Accetta said.

Playing as a team, McAdams said, has kept the group on track to make a run to and through the postseason.

“We’ve seen that more and more as the season has gone on,” McAdams said. “We have that tight bond to lift up and support each other no matter what happens in a game. I think we have a lot left to prove.”

Boulos and McAdams have accounted for 32 of Deer Lakes’ 42 goals this season. Boulos, with 18 goals to go along with 10 assists, is three goals shy of 100 for her career.

McAdams has 14 goals and seven assists.

“I really think we are in a good place right now,” Boulos said. “We have a lot of momentum built up from some of the recent successes in section games. We’re always working on our passing, shooting and defending to make sure our all-around games are strong. We are always working hard to make ourselves better. We are never satisfied.”

Deer Lakes finishes section play next Tuesday at Shady Side Academy before the rematch with Burrell on Oct. 18.

“These games will certainly give us a chance to see how far we’ve come,” Accetta said. “Once you play a team the second time around, things are different. We just have to take it one step at a time. We need to go to Freeport tomorrow and get a result, and then we have two (section) games left. We just have to take control of what we can control.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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