The SOL season began in earnest this week, and while there weren’t many surprises in the season openers, there were some riveting battles.
In the National Conference, Council Rock North and Pennsbury locked horns in the most competitive contest with the Falcons – thanks to a Mia Reed goal – eking out a 1-0 win over the Indians. Neshaminy, Council Rock South and William Tennent also earned wins
The Continental Conference featured another yet another classic battle between Souderton and Hatboro-Horsham with the Indians using an overtime goal by Taylor Yoder to earn the 2-1 win. Central Bucks West, Central Bucks South and North Penn were also winners.
The marquee game in the American Conference pitted Wissahickon against archrival Springfield, and it was the Trojans – sparked by two goals and two assists from Gretchen Gualignone – notching a 4-2 win on their home turf. Other winners were Upper Dublin, Upper Moreland and Plymouth Whitemarsh.
American Conference
Vikings looking to rebuild – Upper Merion lost nine seniors from last year’s squad to graduation. Coach Angie Yanocha is looking to her two returning veterans to lead this year’s inexperienced squad.
While senior Emily Turturici will anchor the defense, senior Kellie Manopello will play center forward
“Kellie is the one that generates whatever offense we do have,” Yanocha said. “She’s that workhorse that is all over the field all the time. She’s very encouraging to the younger players and is really doing a nice job of helping people out on the field and talking. She’s a good communicator, and she’s really stepped up.”
Helping to carry the load offensively will be freshman Amanda McAteer.
“Her skill is still a little bit raw, but as that’s developing, she’s doing such a nice job,” Yanocha said. “She’s my fastest girl on the team. She has the most endurance of anyone on the team. She makes an impact just by her ability to be able to be all over the field.”
Yanocha replaced all-league goalie Megan Addalli with sophomore Allison Frymoyer, a former volleyball player who will be the goalie for the varsity lacrosse team this spring.
“She had never played (hockey) goalie before,” Yanocha said. “One of my coaches from last year was a goalie at UConn, so she came in during preseason to work with her.
“She’s really doing well for it being her first year ever being a field hockey goalie.”
In their first game of the season, the Vikings fell to Kennedy Kenrick 2-1 – McAteer accounted for the Vikings’ lone goal, but they rebounded to earn a much-needed 2-1 non-league win over Abington. The Ghosts jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a corner shot by Kim Begley in the first half, but the Vikings knotted the score with 6:16 remaining in the regulation on a goal by Sophia Liu.
“Abington outhustled us by far in the first half,” Yanocha said. “We were timid. The entire time I kept saying to them, ‘We look like we’re playing defense the whole time. We don’t look like we want to attack.’”
Early in overtime, the Vikings drew a pair of corners, and Manoppello scored the game winner during play after a corner.
“Any win in overtime is dramatic, and they came running off the field and said, ‘I feel like we won a district title,’” Yanocha said. “It was good timing to have a win. I only have four girls who even have varsity experience, so it’s a really, really young team.
“It was tough losing to Kennedy Kenrick, and our scrimmages – we went to a play day at Owen J. Roberts and played Mount St. Joe’s and Owen J. Roberts and pretty much got blown out by both of them.
“I told them, ‘This wasn’t meant to be a confidence breaker,’ and that’s the biggest thing – they’re young, they’re inexperienced, and wins are going to be tough to come by. After we beat Abington, they were much better at practice the next day. It’s something I can go back to throughout the season – remember when you came back. Hopefully, that will carry us in a couple of other situations this season.”
Continental Conference
Tough act to follow - Central Bucks South might have a difficult time trying to figure out how to top last year’s storybook season that saw the Continental Conference champions finish second to Neshaminy in the district and then advance to the state semifinals.
“I don’t think that the girls or myself have felt pressure to get back to where we were last year, but that is our goal to get back there,” coach Christina Ford said. “We have a lot of girls on the team that are juniors who were part of that who are very talented players, so they have stepped up into the holes from last year.
“The talent is definitely there. It’s just them believing it and stepping up on the field.”
The Titans return last year’s top scorer in junior forward Casey Haegele.
“We’re looking for her to put numbers on the board for us,” Ford said.
Junior Maddy Harding has moved from the defensive backfield to center midfield.
“She’s a very smart player, and she has a strong hit,” Ford said. “She knows where to put the ball before she gets it which is good for transitioning from defense to attack for us.”
Junior Kelly Hamilton will be asked to lead the defense.
“She’s playing with a lot of confidence back there,” Ford said.
A pair of seniors – Kate Schneider and Sarah Hughes – will be the mainstays on the forward line.
“They’re very strong and can control the field out there,” Ford said.
The Titans know they will face some tough competition in conference play.
“No game is a sure thing for us whatsoever,” Ford said. “We’re coming in with the mentality that everyone wants to knock us off, and we have to play our best every day.”
For Ford, the move from assistant to head coach has been relatively simple as she takes over for Meg Hutchinson (academic sabbatical).
“It’s been a pretty smooth transition since I have been with the team for four years,” she said. “We’re just continuing the same program we had before. I work at the school, I know the girls, and it’s been a good transition. I’m really excited.”
National Conference
Panthers making some noise – William Tennent has jumped out of the gate to an impressive 3-1 start with wins over Pennridge (4-1), Central Bucks West (2-1) and Bensalem (3-1). The Panthers absorbed their only loss on Monday when they fell to undefeated North Penn 2-0.
A key to the Panthers’ strong start has been the play of goalie Kirsten Doherty. The junior standout turned away 17 shots in the loss to North Penn and was equally impressive against West.
“She has been doing great the entire season,” coach Kate Wyatt said. “She moved up to the varsity level her ninth grade year and is the backbone of our defense.
“Some girls have that athletic talent and that drive inside of them – they’re just pure athletes, but over the past few years, she has just gotten so much better with her saves.”
For Dogherty, spectacular saves are all but the norm.
“I have never seen people in the audience stand up and applaud for goalie saves, but she has done absolutely amazing,” Wyatt said.
Doherty isn’t the only player to excel. Kelsey Hiltebeitel, a junior back, is also a three-year starter.
“Her speed and ability to get to the ball is a huge factor for us,” Wyatt said. “She’s the kind of player who isn’t afraid to take the ball up the field, and she just moves the play along.”
Senior Tonya Gower has moved from the midfield to forward, and she along with inner Chelsea Pritchett will be counted on to provide offensive punch.
Wyatt points as the North Penn game as a perfect springboard into the league season.
“They have some extremely strong players on their team,” the Panthers’ coach said. “To play against a team of that caliber, you learn so much. You learn how far you can push yourselves, and you can learn about things you need to work on at practice, and it prepares us for the level of talent we’re going to come up against in our league.
“We have some great teams with great talent in our league. Our schedule is packed with the toughies, but against a team like North Penn, even if you don’t pull out a win – the girls were proud of how they played. They know they worked so hard against a great team. I was proud of the girls.”
Odds & ends
A smooth transition – Brooke Bergmann was a natural choice to fill in at the helm with Tracey Arndt on maternity leave. After all, Bergmann was an assistant under Arndt the past three years, and during their playing days at Pennsbury, the two were teammates at Pennsbury for one year when Bergmann (’98) was a sophomore and Arndt (’96) a senior.
This season the two have switched roles.
“First of all, we think similarly about a lot of things, so that made it pretty easy,” Bergmann said. “I think the girls would say it doesn’t feel like much of a transition.
“Coaching-wise, I think it’s been very easy. We’re sharing a lot of the load, and I’m glad that she’s staying involved. She’s obviously a huge part of what’s going on here.”
New roles – In order to give her team some additional firepower, Council Rock North coach Heather Whalin switched Becky Ely and Elly Plappert, moving Plappert - who is taking her hockey skills to Cornell - from the forward line to center midfielder and switching Ely from midfield to the forward line.
“We put Elly in a really tough position this year by saying, ‘Hey, you always played right wing your entire life. Guess what – you’re going to be center mid,’” Whalin said. “It takes a little firepower out of our forward line, but she’s such a unique and great player that you just want her to get as many touches on the ball as you can.
“Becky Ely is doing a nice job. She’s having a good season up there.”
The changes didn’t end there for the Indians. Michelle Delahanty – a forward last year – is playing defense.
“She’s playing a beautiful back,” Whalin said. “Our defense is solid.”
That’s not to say it hasn’t taken time to get used to the new positions. It has.
“It’s kind of awkward, and we still need to work on where we need to be,” Plappert said.
Jacks are wild – Pennsbury coach Tracey Arndt and Springfield coach Kati Coll are both on maternity leave this fall. Both are the proud mothers of little boys born earlier this summer, and interestingly, both infants are named Jack.
SOS.com’s Fab Five
- Wissahickon (3-0) (The Trojans picked up impressive wins over Christopher Dock and Springfield and look like they are the real deal.)
- Central Bucks South (2-0) (The Titans have played just two games and have yet to be tested, but until someone proves otherwise, the Titans are still the team to beat in the Continental Conference.)
- North Penn (4-0) (The Maidens have outscored opponents 13-1 while rolling to a 4-0 mark. They will be tested in a showdown at Hatboro on Thursday.)
- Souderton (3-0-1) (The Indians came up with a huge win over a tough Hatboro-Horsham squad on Tuesday, and although they settled for a 2-2 tie in their non-league game against Dock, the Indians are off to a strong start.)
- Hatboro-Horsham (2-1) (The Hatters may have lost in OT to Souderton, but they still figure to be one of the teams to beat in the SOL.)
Under consideration: Council Rock South (2-0), Pennsbury (2-1), William Tennent (3-1)
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