Check out Thursday’s SOL boys and girls lacrosse results.
Girls
UPPER MERION 11, UPPER DUBLIN 9
Winning streaks are meant to be broken, and one of the area’s most prolific streaks came to an end Thursday when an upstart Viking squad stunned the Flying Cardinals, snapping a remarkable 80-game SOL winning streak. The Cardinals last loss in the SOL came in 2007 at the hands of Cheltenham. They immediately started a new streak, winning their final three league games of the season and keeping that string alive until today.
“I’ve never seen my team so excited,” coach Angie Yanocha said. “I don’t know that I’ve ever been more excited. It was a very proud moment for me as a coach, and I was very excited to see my seniors win that game.
“For once they didn’t appear to play with the fear of playing Upper Dublin. They just came out and played. We were playing without any pressure.”
There was no mistaking Yanocha’s respect for coach Dee Cross and her program.
“As exciting a time it was for our team, I hated that it was me that did it to her because I have so much respect for her as a coach, and I always have and always will,” Yanocha said. “She runs a great, great program and is a first class coach. In that regard, I do feel bad, but obviously, at the same time, I’m excited for my team.”
The Vikings fell to Upper Dublin 14-7 earlier this season, but according to Yanocha, the game was closer than the final score suggests.
“We talked about the first time we played them and how it was a close game,” the Vikings’ coach said. “I said, ‘Look, it’s our last game of the season. We have nothing to lose. I think we have the potential to win this game. You just have to play hard.’”
Thursday’s win came on the heels of the Vikings’ 18-16 come-from-behind win over Cheltenham on Monday night.
“We beat them on their Senior Night and just played a great game,” Yanocha said. “Again, we came from behind and went on to win that, so we had good momentum coming in today.
“I wasn’t exactly sure how strong we would come out, but I said if we would play as strong as we did against Cheltenham we have a good chance. Of course, we’re always the underdog when we play Upper Dublin. We have always been.”
The Vikings found themselves on the short end of a 4-3 score at halftime. A goal by Liz Botto with 11 seconds remaining in the half sent the Vikings into halftime with some momentum. It was the Vikings’ second goal in the final 7:56 of the opening half.
“At halftime, I said, ‘Do you realize how close this is? Everybody here needs to recognize this is a game we can win,’” Yanocha said. “The last couple of games our focus has been – stay grounded, stay composed, stay focused and just go for it.
“They did start to get flustered, and they did start to get frustrated when we started coming back and really putting pressure on them. They definitely didn’t play as well as I know they can play, and we capitalized on that.”
Eight minutes into the second half, Amanda McAteer connected to knot the score 7-7. The Flying Cardinals responded with back-to-back goals, the second by Julie Cross to put her team on top 9-7 with 13:50 remaining in regulation. It would be the Cardinals’ last hurrah.
A goal by Dominique Gambone made it a 9-8 game with ten minutes remaining, and it was Gambone scoring the equalizer at the 4:44 mark. Julia Reinert’s goal 40 seconds later put the Vikings on top 10-9, and McAteer connected for an insurance goal with 3:38 remaining for an 11-9 lead that held up until the final whistle.
Another key to the win was the performance of junior goalie Thressa Kenna, who turned away the final four shots she faced. Kenna stepped into the role of starter this year with the graduation of first team all-league goalie Ally Frymoyer, who just completed a standout freshman season at Shippensburg University.
“Those four saves were huge,” Yanocha said. “Basically, those saves at the end defensively is what allowed us to win the game. She’s had some ups and downs this year, but this was a huge game for her with those key saves.
“My defense was also coming up with some great ground balls in the defensive end. It was one of those – you couldn’t really believe it until the game was over. My key at the last timeout was just possession. The key was to hold onto the ball. The last couple of minutes just became keep-away. We were able to maintain possession, and it ended up in our favor.”
The game, according to both coaches, was not a masterpiece.
“There were inconsistent calls both ways that was affecting the play of both teams,” Yanocha said. “I know they were getting frustrated and we were getting frustrated. You could see things starting to unravel. My final timeout I said what I’ve been saying to my girls, ‘You’ve got to maintain your composure, and you’ve got to be disciplined.’ That’s been our motto the whole season. You can say that and coach that, but when they get on the field, you never know how they’re going to respond. They just did what they needed to do. At the end, we came up with some critical draw controls.”
McAteer led the Vikings with four goals, including three in a row during a pivotal stretch that culminated with her goal that knotted the score 7-7.
“That was what really propelled us to get to that catch-up point,” Yanocha said. “She did get a yellow card in the game, and that hurt us when we brought her out.
“She’s an exceptional player in both field hockey and lacrosse. She’s going to play field hockey in college, but she could have very easily chosen lacrosse to play as well. She’s smart on attack. She knows when to go for it and when to pull back. She’s always present in the midfield, and defensively every game, she’s forcing some kind of turnover. She had three forced turnovers. She just always plays really solid.”
Gambone finished with the hat trick, and Reinert added a pair of goals. Haley O’Malley and Botto each had one goal. Jackie Schauble was also key in the victory with four draw controls, four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
“As much as I try and mentally talk them out of how good of a team Upper Dublin is and always has been, it still remained a struggle,” Yanocha said. “It’s positive moving forward for the future.
“I started three freshmen today, and I told them, ‘Hopefully, now we have a different mentality when we go into some of these bigger games.’ We’ve experienced the other side of it all.”
The Vikings close out the regular season 8-6 in league play (11-7 overall).
“These are things the kids remember,” Yanocha said. “I don’t know how much the younger kids can appreciate it, but for my juniors and seniors, we’ve played Upper Dublin twice a year. Usually it was a running clock, and basically, we were counting down the minutes to get out of the game. Today it was counting down the minutes – okay, we’ve got to hold onto the lead. It was very exciting, and it was a very proud moment for me for my team and the program.”
The Cardinals (14-4 overall) closed out the league season with a 13-1 mark.
“They were so upset that they were the group that lost,” coach Cross said. “I said, ‘Girls, there are a lot of teams in every sport this past year that went down. Streaks are meant to be broken, and it can’t go off forever. This will take the pressure off us next year.’
“Look at how close a lot of the games were in our league alone. For us to win the league this year was a big surprise to me. We got past a lot of big games. I don’t think the girls looked past Upper Merion. We did not play well, and Upper Merion played their hearts out. When push came to shove, they got to the ground balls before we did. I don’t think my girls backed down. A lot of factors played into it. Kudos to Upper Merion. They pulled it out.”
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 12, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 8
It was Senior Night for both teams when the neighboring schools did battle on Thursday night. Chrstine Besselman and Gabi Rosenfield made sure it was a memorable night for the Golden Hawks. Rosenfeld had four goals and two assists, and Besselman also had four goals.
“Christine Besselman and Gabi Rosenfeld had great control going to goal,” coach Ashley Muenker said.
Jamie Damirgian added a goal and assist, and Leann Hurley, Melissa Finor and Maddalena Buonomo added one goal apiece.
“There was lots of emotion going into this game,” Muenker said. “The first half was a battle the entire time.
“Every time we scored, North answered back. In the second half, we came out strong and were connecting on all the passes and making all the right decisions.”
The Golden Hawks’ first-year coach went on to acknowledge some of the game’s pivotal plays that won’t show up in the scoring stats.
“Amanda Besselman had a huge caused turnover that led to a goal, and Meg Sheehy had a crucial interception that led to a goal,” Muenker said. “Jamie Damirgian and Christine Besselman also had great interceptions.
“Patrice McFillin took care of the ball multiple times on transition. Goalie Claire Quist had multiple impressive saves and helped move the ball on transition. It was a great game.”
The Golden Hawks are 9-5 overall (4-3 SOL) while the Indians are 7-10 overall (3-5 SOL).
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 18, CHELTENHAM 3
Jacqueline Fitzgerald scored five goals and Elena Romesburg added four to lead the Bucks, who opened up an 8-0 halftime lead on their way to the convincing win. Sarah Gebre added the hat trick, and Megan Tilger and Elle Ueland both had a pair of goals. Maddie Villalba and Jane Savard each added one goal. Goalie Molly Naylor was credited with 13 saves for the Bucks, who improved to 10-7 overall.
HATBORO-HORSHAM 14, ABINGTON 6
Casey Swezey and Katie McKay led the Hatters with four goals each. McKay also had three assists. Rachel Rausa added three goals and two assists, and Sydney Rausa had two goals and an assist. Colby Eldridge added a single goal. Carly Daley had an assist.
Meredith Cox led the Ghosts with the hat trick. Jeannie Van Buren and Mikki Raymond both added a goal and an assist. Katarina Thallner added a goal.
The Hatters held a 32-19 advantage in shots. Abington goalie Kate Margolis turned away 10 shots.
SOUDERTON 13, WISSAHICKON 9
The Indians opened up a 12-5 halftime lead and never looked back on their way to Thursday’s non-league win. Amber Lambeth led a balanced attack with the hat trick. Brittany Royan had two goals and two assists, and Natalie Bulgier and Nikki Palmer both contributed two goals and one assist. Alyssa Ziegler and Rachel Judge each chipped in two goals, and Chessie Rehmeer had three assists.
For the Trojans, Laura Frankenfield had five goals, one assist, six draw controls and three ground balls. Zoe Gomez had three goals, two assists and two ground balls. Lauren Irvine added a single goal. Jackie Hibbs led the defense with four ground balls to go along with three draw controls.
The Indians are 9-8 overall (8-8 SOL), and the Trojans are 12-5 overall (10-3 SOL).
Boys
HATBORO-HORSHAM 7, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3
The Hatters defeated the Bucks to close out their regular season with a perfect 12-0 record in league play (15-3 overall). It is the first time since 2004 that the Hatters finished undefeated in the league.
Jimmy Murphy (two goals, one assist) and Ryan Higgins (two goals) led the Hatters offensively. Zach Erwine, Connor Kreston and Ben Cellini all contributed one goal each. Marc Poust was outstanding in goal, recording 22 saves on 26 shots. The Hatters received another strong defensive effort from Jack Cresta, Keith Cameron, TJ Keleher, Matt McPoyle, Jack Lavery and Jeff O’Brien.
For the Bucks, Lucas Janos, Sam Piccone, Riley Kratzke and Corey Schott each scored single goals. Piccone, Kratzke and Jimmy Steigerwald added one assist each. Goalie Mike Harvan turned away 17 shots.
The Bucks held a 29-17 advantage in shots.
Central Bucks West 0-3-1-0 4
Hatboro-Horsham 2-1-2-2 7
ABINGTON 14, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 3
Brian Gallagher (five goals) and Hunter Jones (two goals, three assists) both had five-point games to lead the Ghosts. Joey Lomady added three goals and one assist, and Will Dulin had two goals. Gus Greenberg had one goal and one assist, and scoring single goals were Alex Gordon, Austin Pifani and John O'Riordan.
In goal, Eric Goldsborough had 13 saves, and Blake Friedman had four saves in the fourth quarter for the Ghosts, who led 10-1 at halftime.
Abington 7-3-3-1 14
Council Rock North 0-1-0-2 3
UPPER DUBLIN 11, SPRINGFIELD-DELCO 4
Michael Sowers (four goals, two assists) and Michael Rama (three goals, two assists) had big offensive performances to lead the Cardinals. Drew Potts added one goal and three assists, and Ben Winebrake had a pair of goals. Nicholas Vernacchio and Jack Rapine both contributed one assist. Jack Deregon turned away 13 shots in goal for the Cardinals.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 13, NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 10
WARRINGTON, PA -- It was Senior Night at the final home lacrosse game for Central Bucks South; so it was only fitting that the seniors led the way. Senior Willie Pendleton notched the Titans' first goal of the game off a highlight reel feed from senior Steve Mohapp. This set the tone for a 4-1 first quarter for the hosts. The Titans got solid defense from seniors Tim McCrudden and Connor Bechtel, as well as sophomores Kevin Witchey and Tim Ross; en route to a 5-2 halftime lead.
The Lions came storming back in the third quarter, erasing their three-goal deficit with a five-goal outburst. However, the Titans dug deep, and their hard work and conditioning paid off as they outscored the Lions 6-3 in the fourth quarter, wrapping-up a 13-10 victory.
With less than a minute left and the Lions pushing to cut the lead to one, Tim McCrudden came up with a key interception and clear, which led to Tyler Strayline's final goal of the game, sealing a big 13-10 win for the Titans.
The Lions' Tyler Nangle led all scorers with four goals. But Central Bucks South got hat tricks from three of their seniors: Willie Pendleton, Tommy DiBrino, and Tyler Strayline as well as single goals from Brendan McGrath, Jake Henze, Joel Zimmerman and Anthony Paone. They got assists from Zimmerman (3), McGrath (2), Mohapp, Henze, Tyler McGee and A.J. Caputo (1 each). Senior goalie Ryan Kelly made 14 saves to earn the victory, a few of them from point-blank range.
Central Bucks South will close out their regular season play tomorrow at Central Bucks East.
New Hope-Solebury 1 - 1 - 5 - 3 = 10
Central Bucks South 4 - 1 - 2 - 6 = 13
RIDLEY 10, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 5
Corey Kelly connected for the hat trick, and Ryan Kelly added two goals to lead PW. Alex Bilodeau had four assists, and Andrew Jones added one assist. Riley White had 13 saves in goal for the Colonials.
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