Posted October 29, 2009

John Knebels
Special to The CS&T

Watch Megan Poiesz with the ball. Now watch the ball find the back of the net.

Time and again, two things happen when attending a Lansdale Catholic girls’ soccer game. One, the Crusaders win. The other, Poiesz scores a goal. Or two. Or three.

“It takes a lot more than me to make it happen,” said Poiesz, a junior who last year was a first-team All-Catholic, all-state selection, and Most Valuable Player in the Blue spanision before the Crusaders moved to the Red spanision this fall. “We have a lot of players who can set things up.”

Not only do those players set things up, they make sure to execute.

Take, for instance, Wednesday’s battle with Archbishop Wood. After Kelsey Celline gave Wood a 1-0 lead in the second half and LC’s Hannah Whitby tied the game 11 minutes later, the Crusaders needed a perfect play in overtime to avenge their only loss of the year, a 4-0 decision against the Vikings back on September 28.

Sure enough, Poiesz took a feed from Jess Cunning in the 84th minute and recorded the game-winning tally. The Vikings’ perfect record in the Catholic Red was squelched and suggested that an eventual league championship between LC and Wood beckons.

A few days earlier, the Crusaders had defeated St. Hubert’s, 2-0, behind two goals by – who else – Poiesz (assists went to Erin Bradley in the first half and Melissa Chapman in the second) and stellar goaltending by Mackenzie Pinto.

On Monday, the Crusaders edged St. Hubert’s again, this time 1-0. While the win increased the Crusaders’ record to a gaudy 15-1-2 overall with 13 shutouts, it was yet another frustrating outcome for Hubert’s. Though the Bambies are 4-10-3 overall, they have lost six games by a 1-0 score.

“It’s tough to get goals in soccer,” said Poiesz. “You have to be patient. Sometimes you can outplay a team but still be in a tie. The later the game goes, the harder it is to score.”

John Knebels can be reached at jknebs@aol.com.