OLEAN, N.Y. — The highest scoring game in the history of the NY/PA Corporate Cup Soccer Showcase took nearly all of its 90 scheduled minutes to decide a winner at Bradner Stadium.
The Pennsylvania girls never trailed on their way to a 4-3 victory over New York, but each of their first three tallies was answered before Kyleigh Wilson’s second goal of the night clinched it for PA on Sunday.
“We had that potential to really be in threatening spaces, and then create opportunities with one or two other runners close to the ball,” said PA coach Jeremy Bickling, who doubles as Warren High’s boss in the fall. “It was nice to see that they finally put it together. It was just a matter of getting girls in the right matchups and in the right positions.”
Each side tallied twice in the first half, as Bradford’s MacKenzie Lucas opened the scoring for PA by slipping a loose ball past the NY goalkeeper five minutes in. Emera Aquila (Genesee Valley) answered for NY by knocking home a loose ball 10 minutes later before PA’s Maddie Cowburn (Bradford) and NY’s Tess Spangenburg (Falconer) rounded out the first stanza’s scoring.
Wilson put PA back in front 14 minutes into the second half by making a run up the left side of the field before cutting to her right foot, opening up space for a shot, and beating the goalkeeper to the far post.
“That momentum shift was huge for us,” Bickling said. “We needed to get that goal, get ahead and start putting pressure on them repeatedly. Once the girls saw that they could get in scoring positions, their confidence was building throughout.”
For some 14 minutes of game time, Wilson’s goal appeared as though it may be the game-winner. With 18 to go, however, Fillmore freshman Hope Russell evened the score with the game’s prettiest goal.
Russell took a swing from 25 yards out of goal and placed the ball into the top right corner, far beyond the goalkeeper’s out-stretched dive, to pull NY level.
But Wilson would answer again.
With five minutes remaining, Cowburn took a through ball in NY’s 18-yard box and attacked the right post of her opponent’s goal. She beat a defender before passing across the goal box to the waiting Wilson, who banged it into an empty goal.
“We just got unlucky down there at the end,” said NY coach John Fitzpatrick, who coaches Hinsdale in the fall. “They put a lot of creative passing together, and I think they were a little better passing with their feet. We were a little sloppy with that.”
NY’s final quality chance came in the waning minutes of stoppage time, when Russell slipped a ball into the box for Spangenburg. Lauren Placer (Bradford) came to the rescue for PA’s defense, however, ending the threat.
“They put on some good combinations down here,” Fitzpatrick said of his team’s late offense. I thought we were going to get the tying goal there at the end, it just didn’t happen.”
Bickling said that the halftime adjustment of his defensive midfielders’ positioning helped PA to slow down NY’s attack.
“We had them stay back a little bit defensively, so that shut down some of the turnovers that we were giving that got into the threatening side of our defensive half,” Bickling said. “I knew our team could get up and down the field and score. I would have liked to see a little more defense from our team, but I expected them to score quite a few goals.”
Cowburn was named PA’s Most Valuable Player while Spangenburg received the honor for NY. The win was PA’s third consecutive in the annual showcase, as the southern side took a 3-2 decision a year ago following a 1-0 triumph in 2019.
The previous record for most goals scored in a Corporate Cup girls game was five, done in both 2018 and 2020. Six goals were scored in 2018’s boys game, a record for the showcase that stood until Sunday.
This was Bickling’s second time coaching the Corporate Cup, as he assisted Bradford’s Warren Shaw on the PA coaching staff last season.
“I enjoy working with the girls,” Bickling said. “I enjoy getting to work with some of them from different schools that I would never meet any other time as a coach. To see players put in really fantastic performances like they did tonight, and to see it as their coach, I’m super proud.”
The State Street side of Bradner Stadium’s bleachers were filled with fans on a balmy but otherwise comfortable evening. Game organizer Kris Linderman shot t-shirts out of a cannon, drove the game ball to center field using a remote control car before kickoff, and led the crowd in other various giveaways.
“I thought it was a perfect evening, especially with all of the rain we’ve had,” Fitzpatrick said.
“The crowd was very impressive.”
The boys edition of the game followed, resulting in a 2-1 win for New York.
“It kind of puts a cap on the summer season as far as all the time and effort that we put in,” Bickling said. “Girls can go back to their high school programs now, some going on to college, and have this memento to remember summer by.”
