CENTURY UNITED OPENS SEASON WITH 2-0 VICTORY OVER EXPANSION BEADLING SOCCER CLUB

Written By:   Thomas Costello
              ​Central Region Contributor

Outside of Pittsburgh, Penn. sits the Cool Springs Sports Complex. On its full indoor soccer field, Century United hosted Beadling Soccer Club in a matchup between 2021 and 2022 expansion teams.

While both teams had their chances, Century welcomed Beadling to its home stadium and then sent Beadling home with a 2-0 defeat in its WPSL debut. It’s a deceptive scoreline for a match that was anything but one-sided.

The action began early. Century started the match with early possession, but almost gifted Beadling a goal in the second minute. Passing in the opponent’s defensive zone, the home team made a quick pass that didn’t hit its mark. Instead, Beadling gained possession but Century showed early that it was up for a fight. Before a final shot, Century recovered from the mistake to tackle the ball away.

Then, Beadling made a mistake of its own. In what looked like a carbon copy of Century’s intercepted pass, Beadling felt the pressure from the home team and gave the ball away on a pass between center backs. Century forward Landy Mertz made Beadling pay. With possession, Mertz dribbled past a defender and shot low, to the back righthand corner of the net, putting Century up 1-0 on what ended up being the match-winning goal.

“The first twenty minutes we pressed them and created some key opportunities which culminated in Landy's (Mertz) goal,” Pat Vereb, Century’s general manager, said. “From there we withstood the rest of the half as they dominated possession.”

With the lead, Century gave the visitors more possession, opting to sit back on the counterattack. Head coach Matt Fonagy’s Beadling side created its fair share of chances, mostly on the left sideline.

Winger Gracie Dunaway led the charge. To get behind the defense, Beadling sent long passes down the left sideline, and in the 20th minute almost put the match level. Dunaway received a pass near the left corner of the penalty area, made a move to get past the lone defender, and took a shot to the top righthand corner.

Century goalkeeper Madisyn Neundorfer had different plans for the shot. Neundorfer leaped to the left and punched the shot away, the most impressive of multiple shots on goal for Beadling.

The trend of focusing on Dunaway continued. Before the end of the first half, Beadling’s best opportunities to go level all went through the left. Dunaway facilitated five more attempts before halftime, but the best came in the 45^th minute.

Dunaway, still receiving single coverage on the left-wing, sent a low cross into the penalty area. The ball passed a defender and Neundorfer, setting Beadling up for an easy tap in goal. Unfortunately for the 2022 expansion side, nobody was far enough forward to equalize, sending the match into halftime at 1-0.

A trend throughout the matchup between the two Eastern Pennsylvania sides was physicality. Century slowed Beadling down through tough midfield play, resulting in whistles against the home team. None of the free-kicks came close enough to hurt Century, but it did throw Beadling off from building any rhythm or momentum.

Only one player received a card though, and it came from Beadling. In the 48^th minute, defender Samantha White tackled a Century midfielder near the right sideline, sending Century to the field quickly. White received a yellow card for the offense.

The second half continued much like the first. In the 51^st minute, Beadling opted for a more central attack, putting another shot on goal requiring a move by Neundorfer. Off a beautiful pass that split two Century defenders, Beadling shot to the left of Neundorfer, a similar shot that Mertz scored in the first half. Fortunately for Century, Neundorfer’s big night continued, diving to the left to grab the shot.

One hour into the match, Beadling’s running began to slow, giving Century sustained possession for the first time in the match. Instead of waiting for counter attempts, the home team put together moves forward of its own.

In the 66^th minute, Century had a rare shot near goal, going just past to the left side of the left post. However, its next chance put the match away.

Century earned a corner kick in the 73^rd minute and made three substitutions before sending the ball into the penalty area. Included in the three substitutes was midfielder Jayden Sharpless who ran to the far post, away from all nine teammates on the play. A perfectly placed cross came directly to Sharpless, who didn’t let the ball touch the ground, opting to take it on the volley and chip a shot into the left side of the goal.

Now down 2-0, Beadling increased the pressure even more, but without success. Century’s defense held strong, sending Beadling home with its first loss in its first match in the WPSL. With defeat comes the opportunity to grow.

“I told them that this is something to build off of,” coach Fonagy said. “Playing together for the first time, it was a solid performance. You want to see the girls play. Our goal is to put them into scenarios and make decisions that they will be making in the fall. I think we were able to do that last night, with some tweaking going forward. As a group, we will continue to get better and better.”

Although Century debuted in 2021, both teams entered Monday’s match with brand new sides, playing competitively in the WPSL together for the first time – it didn’t look like that on the field. Although early mistakes led to a goal, and potentially another, the teams grew a noticeable comfort throughout the 90 minutes.

Both Beadling and Century take lessons from this match and face similar opponents up next. On Saturday and Sunday, Beadling faces the 2021 conference champions Ambassadors Cleveland, followed by a Sunday match against Cleveland Ambassadors. Century has a week off before facing the same duo on June 4 and 5.

Century’s victory gives confidence that it can be near the top of the Ohio Valley Eastern Division. Monday showed it can challenge Ambassadors Cleveland for the division title and the right to play for the Ohio Valley Conference championship.