Just over two weeks ago, Southwestern and Frewsburg opened the season with a draw. Through the first 64 minutes of Saturday night’s game, it appeared history would repeat itself.
Frewsburg’s duo of Ava and Taytum Jimerson had other plans.
Taytum Jimerson headed in a corner in the 66th minute, and then Ava drew a penalty kick in the 87th minute that was put home by Hultberg to lift Frewsburg to a 2-0 victory over the Lady Trojans at Charles A Lawson Field.
“We knew it was going to be a hard 80 minutes,” said coach Frewsburg coach Scott Stone. “Every opportunity tonight for both teams were going to be hard earned.”
From the opening kick, both teams were not taking many shots or open runs. Instead, it was a struggle for possession throughout much of the first half. Southwestern got a look in the 13th minute, but senior goalkeeper Braelyn Stelmack made a great diving save to keep the game scoreless. Other than that, it was a very quiet first half for both teams.
“We had the looks, but you must be able to put them in. They played well defensively against us and made it difficult for us to execute the things we do well,” Southwestern coach Derek Houser said.
“We didn’t really adjust anything at half,” Stone said. “We just stuck with our plan and knew our chances were going to come eventually.”
Through roughly 60 minutes, it continued to be a defensive struggle, but then the Jimerson twins started going to work.
It started with an Ava Jimerson fast break in the sixty-first minute, but Braya Beaver got a great jump off the line and came out to shut the opportunity down. Two minutes later, the Bears got another look, but Beaver once again made a great save.
Frewsburg continued to apply pressure and was awarded a corner kick. Addison Hultberg sent a perfect ball into the box, and Taytum headed the ball into the top right corner of the net to put the Bears up 1-0.
“With a team like that, you give them a corner late in the game, there’s a good chance they’re going to convert. It’s something they’re good at, we tried to limit it, but unfortunately, they had one go their way,” Houser said.
With just over three minutes to go, Ava Jimerson drew a foul inside the box, and Addison Hultberg hammered the penalty kick into the bottom corner of the net to seal victory for Frewsburg.
“They’re a good team. I can see them winning a Class B championship at some point down the road,” said Stone. “They’re a great team, coach Houser has them playing extremely well right now.”
For Houser, this game was a testament for how far his team has come from last season.
“The growth is unbelievable,” said Houser. “They lost to two great teams this week, but those were games we struggled in last year, so to see we’re able to play with them really shows how far they’ve come. They’re growing together, they have great leadership, they just have to keep growing.”