All three SOL Class AAA field hockey teams in action on Friday were winners, earning spots not only in Wednesday’s district semifinals but also securing berths in the PIAA Tournament.
#2 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 1, #7 HAVERFORD 0
Megan Hamilton’s textbook goal – set up by a perfect feed from teammate Amber Steigerwalt – had just banged off the back of the cage when the junior forward was mobbed by her jubilant teammates.
“I loved how we all came together,” Hamilton said. “I love those moments. I wish I could just freeze that - we’re all jumping up and down, and it’s everyone because we’re so close. We’re all such great friends, and it just feels so good.
“We put so much hard work into training, and that one moment when everything pays off – it’s unreal.”
Twenty-six seconds showed on the game clock when Hamilton and Steigerwalt delivered their heroics, making it all the more dramatic, and on a day when goals were impossible to come by for both squads, the Titans could at long last exhale.
“Everyone did really well bringing it into the circle,” Hamilton said. “Shot after shot we just couldn’t get it in, but it pays off in the long run because we finally got it in.”
The win not only vaulted the Titans into Wednesday’s district semifinal game against Wissahickon, it also guaranteed the Titans a coveted berth in the state tournament.
“It’s just amazing because we work so hard, and to see it finally pay off is amazing,” senior Kali Rundle said. “Having it be my senior year, it just escalates everything. We all work together, and we’re one big family.”
The Titans (17-1, 13-1 SOL) could have celebrated a lot sooner had it not been for the brilliant 16-save effort of sophomore goalie Katie Wyman, who seemed to get better and better as the game progressed.
After delivering nine saves in a first half that saw the Titans collect 11 shots and 10 corners, Wyman was back at it again in the second half, turning away back-to-back shots in a riveting sequence on the Titans’ first corner of the half. She duplicated that on South’s third corner, and it became clear that one goal could and would win this one.
“I think when you play a good team like us, you step up,” co-coach Marie Schmucker said. “You rise to the occasion, you see the hard shots, and you see the aggression. I thought that goalie played out of her mind.
“We don’t know Haverford, but she had saves that no other goalie would have had.”
The Fords, meanwhile, generated very little offensive pressure against a stingy Titan defense.
“It’s funny because we’re such a turf team, and to play on the grass is really a challenge,” Rundle said. “I think what really helps us most is that we have our goalkeeper Sarah (Zeszotarski) talking to us, and all of our defenders really mark.
“Yes, the nerves kick in (when it’s a scoreless game), but at the same time, if you’re confident in your team, you can push through, and you know you can get it out.”
The Fords threw a scare into the Titans when - with seven minutes remaining – Natalie Bova found herself one-on-one with Zeszotarski. The Titans’ goalie was equal to the task, thwarting that threat with a diving save at the top of the circle.
“The big thing we kept telling her was to stay focused because it didn’t come across our defensive 25 often,” Schmucker said. “That’s a sleeper, so you have to make sure you’re totally focused and you’re not sleeping.
“I thought overall defensively and midfield that we played great as a team.”
Washam delivered a brilliant kick save late in the half on a one-on-on play, and in the game’s final minutes, the Ford bench players began chanting in unison, ‘Katie Wyman. Katie Wyman. Katie Wyman.’
But in the end, not even a red hot goalie could stop a determined Titan squad, and just when overtime appeared imminent, Hamilton – who was in front of the cage – hit paydirt when she slammed home Steigerwalt’s crossing pass.
“We did not want OT because that’s so much pressure,” Hamilton said. “I feel like we had the ball most of the time, and if we had gone to overtime and lost, that would have been just devastating.”
The Titans played a rare district game on grass since their sister school, Central Bucks West, was playing on the turf at War Memorial Field.
“The bottom line is when you’re a good team, you can play on any surface,” Schmucker said. “Surface shouldn’t matter if you’re good and you execute.
“We were the better team. We executed, we kept possession of the ball 80-90 percent of the time. These kids are really determined.”
The win sets up a rematch with Wissahickon in Wednesday’s district semifinal round. The Titans defeated the Trojans 5-0 on Sept. 4, but a whole lot has changed since that early season meeting for both squads.
#3 WISSAHICKON 4, #6 WEST CHESTER HENDERSON 3
The Trojans were on their way to a cakewalk.
Or at least so it seemed when they took what appeared to be a commanding 3-0 lead into halftime of Friday’s district quarterfinal game, but the Warriors had other ideas, rallying to make it a one-goal game with a three-goal outburst of their own in the second half.
“We thought we had it at the half,” senior captain Emily Gallagher said. “I think we were playing too relaxed and too comfortable.
“We slacked off a little bit, and they wanted it really badly.”
The Warriors came back because they have their own Katie O’Donnell, and while this senior standout’s resume doesn’t rival that of the Trojans’ Katie O’Donnell, a star on the U.S. National team, the Warriors’ O’Donnell showed she is capable of creating havoc of her own, adding to her season total of 40 with three second-half goals.
“We had a chase on her the whole first half, and she didn’t touch the ball very much,” coach Lucy Gil said. “As a good coach should, at halftime, she told (O’Donnell) to take the free hits, and what happened was she would just start dribbling and would dribble in and get the corner.
“I have never seen anyone hit the ball so hard, not at the high school level. This kid had speed and decent skill, and when she got going, it was hard to stop her. She would have beaten us if she had adjusted sooner. When she started doing her thing, it was a freight train, and we couldn’t stop it. She was indeed their team.”
There probably aren’t many who would have penciled a young Trojan squad into the final four of the district, but that’s exactly where they are, thanks to the leadership of Gallagher and fellow senior captain Jackie Hibbs as well as the not-so-little matter of teamwork.
“In the past few years, we had played more as individuals, but we knew this year we had to play as a team since we didn’t have those strong key players, and that definitely helps,” Gallagher said. “We understand that a couple of people can’t carry a whole team. We all have to work together to accomplish our wins.”
While teamwork is key, Gallagher and Hibbs have proven they are more than capable of picking up the young team and carrying it on their shoulders. Gallagher finished with the hat trick and Hibbs had assists on all four goals. Lindsay Anderson accounted for the Trojans’ other goal.
“Jackie and Emily connecting on three of the four goals – that’s just huge,” Gil said. “Both of them played amazing.
“Since we pulled the left midfielder to play chaser, Emily had to play midfield and forward on the left side, so she did both. She was just everywhere you needed her to be, and she played awesome. Jackie was Jackie, and the defense held their own against a very tough offense with Katie O’Donnell.”
Gallagher admits the move to the midfield was a dramatic change.
“I have to run more and be involved in the plays,” she said. “I have to try and score, but I have to hustle back there and defend and help out too. It’s a challenge, but I think it helps a lot, especially with the harder teams.”
Gil also lauded the performance of Alex Comonitski, who was given the task of chasing O’Donnell all over the field.
“I have to give kudos to Alex Comonitski, who marked her for one hour,” the Trojans’ coach said. “She’s usually my left midfielder, and I said to her, ‘Don’t look at the ball, don’t pass her the ball, don’t touch the ball – just mark her.’ That’s all she did. That was her job, and she did a great job.”
Trojan goalie Emoni Fisher was credited with four saves while her counterparts – Emily Finn and Rosalie Nolan – combined for nine saves.
The Trojans not only have earned a spot in Wednesday’s semifinal game against CB South, they also earned a berth in the state tournament.
“In the beginning of the season, Jackie and I weren’t sure how far we would go,” Gallagher said. “But our team improved so much, and we peaked at the right time.
“It’s very exciting that we worked so hard and accomplished this. It’s especially exciting for the younger girls because they haven’t experienced it.”
“I am so proud of them,” Gil said. “I don’t think anyone would have expected this team to do this after how they got decimated since last year with four kids going to Division One schools.
“You just don’t have that and recover from that, but they did, and they’re just amazing.”
#9 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, #17 CONESTOGA 2
The upstart Bucks continued to make history by not only advancing to the district semifinal but also earning their first trip to the state tournament in 15 years.
“Coming out of camp this summer, we knew we had a solid, strong team, but we lost a lot of good players from last year,” senior Mackenzie Gallagher said. “We made it our goal this year to stay together, no drama and just try and make it to playoffs.
“That was our number one goal because none of us had made it to playoffs during our years playing here. I thought we had a good shot in our league, but I don’t think anyone thought we would get this far, and it’s just unbelievably exciting.”
Thanks to Conestoga’s upset of top-seeded Spring-Ford on Wednesday, the Bucks had the added bonus of playing on their home field on Friday.
“That was such a difference,” Gallagher said. “When we played against Methacton on Monday, coach Hughes said, ‘This is your last home game. Give it all you’ve got.’ We won, and that was a great feeling.
“When we found out on Wednesday that we would come back to our home field where we practice and put in so many hours, it was such a good feeling. We always play well on that field. There’s just something about it. As a senior to be able to win one last time in a district round three playoff game was just fantastic.”
In Friday’s showdown, the Bucks broke a scoreless tie with 12 minutes remaining in the first half when Heather Zezzo (Hitchcock assist) connected. They took that 1-0 lead into halftime.
“My team played so well the first half,” coach Casey Hughes said. “Obviously, Conestoga is a very strong team. Their forward line was dangerous.
“We were playing really, really well defensively and offensively, but I told them at halftime, ‘You’ve got to score. You can’t sit on this lead.’ In this kind of game, it’s not going to happen.”
The Bucks heeded their coach’s advice, opening up a 2-0 lead at the 21:47 mark of the second half when a cross by Erick Fiorelli was deflected into the cage by a Pioneer defender.
Midway through the half, Olivier Everts scored to make it a 2-1 game.
“I was just trying to get my team to calm down and play strong, and he scored again,” Hughes said of Everts’ goal at the 9:57 mark. “My team was playing strong, and I said, ‘We do not want to go into overtime with this team. We need to score and get it done.’”
Sophomore Kim Hitchcock scored the game winner with 4:30 remaining in regulation.”
“It was a beautiful shot, and it was great to see Kim take the shot because she’s always been setting up a lot of plays this season,” Hughes said. “She’s generally crossing the ball and not directly involved in a lot of goals. She was at the top of the circle and just cranked the shot, and it went in. It was beautiful.”
There was still the not-so-little matter of keeping the Pioneers off the scoreboard for the final minutes of the contest.
“I was happy the other team called a timeout, so I told my team, ‘Play defensively, play smart, get the ball out wide, and do not let any of their players in the center touch the ball,’” Hughes said. “They did what they needed to do, and they finished the game out strong. It was just an awesome, exciting game.”
“We really just had to stay poised and stay focused,” Gallagher said. “As soon as we got the ball on defense, we would try and move it up to our mids, who would then move it up to our forwards, who eventually crossed it, and we got that goal from Kim at the top of the circle.
“Hearing that ball hit the backboard was the most relieving thing I have ever had. We knew if we held them for four more minutes we would make it to states. Erick Fiorelli was running back after the third goal and saying, ‘This is for states. This is for states.’ It was great.”
Hughes credited the standout defensive efforts of goalie Brianna DeAngelis (10 saves), Gallagher and Elena Romesburg. Gallagher and Romesburg were responsible for containing Everts.
“It was extremely hard,” Gallagher said. “He was a very, very strong player, and the other players always tried to outlet the ball right to him.
“Coach told us to just stay on him. Me and Elena were on him the whole time just trying to keep the ball away from him. He’s strong, and he’s fast. His one stride was three of my strides.”
“They were phenomenal,” Hughes said. “He was so fast and so dangerous.”
The Pioneers had a decided advantage in corners (13-3) and a slight edge in shots (13-11). Interestingly, the Pioneers accumulated most of those stats in the first half, collecting 10 shots and drawing seven corners. DeAngelis had eight first-half saves as the Bucks kept the Pioneers off the board until halftime.
The Bucks will face Unionville in Wednesday’s district semifinal contest.
“This means so much to us because none of us thought we would make it this far, and to think we actually improved this much to make it to states – we’re going against some of the best teams in the state,” Gallagher said. “The fact that we are good enough to do that is just amazing.”
#3 SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 2, #6 MERION MERCY 1 (Thursday, Oct. 25)
Julie Cardamone scored the game winner at the 9:57 mark of overtime, giving the Spartans the big win in Thursday’s District One Class AA quarterfinal game.
“They are very fast,” coach Linda Nixon said of Merion Mercy. “I thought they played really well.
“We had more shots on goal, but they really forced us to scramble in the circle on our defensive end. We played on the grass, and it was a little slippery. On a day like today, anything can happen.”
The Spartans broke a 0-0 halftime tie when Libby Field scored early in the second half, and they appeared to be on their way to the 1-0 win until Lizzy Sack scored the equalizer with 30 seconds remaining in regulation.
“I didn’t think we would have the momentum after that, but we eked it out,” Nixon said.
The Spartans held a 15-5 advantage in shots and a 7-6 edge in corners. Nixon lauded the performance of her goalie in the win.
“I thought Kim Machalette played really well in goal,” the Spartans’ coach said. “I thought we played really hard, trying to maintain some composure with their speed.
“They did a lot of lifts and reverse sticks – stuff we don’t see. It was a really fast game.”
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