PENNSBURY 2, WISSAHICKON 0
Twins Sarah and Emily Zazzu each scored a goal to propel the Falcons to the win over the defending American Conference champion Trojans.
“They’re a very strong team,” Pennsbury coach Jamie Parell said. “We played a great game from beginning to end.
“As well as we played today, I do think they were flat. Not taking anything away from my girls, but I know (Wissahickon) is capable of more.”
The Falcons were coming off a pair of tough one-goal losses, most recently Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to Central Bucks West in overtime.
“We’re a very young team, and we’ve lost some very close games,” said Parell, whose team dropped its season opener by an identical 2-1 score to Mount St. Joseph. “We’re definitely hanging tough and continuing to grow from our mistakes. As much as a loss is frustrating, it’s even more frustrating when you play a great game. Coming off a frustrating loss yesterday, they really put their anger into the game today, and it showed.”
Sarah Zazzu scored a goal in the first half to send the Falcons into halftime with a 1-0 lead, and Emily Zazzu tacked on an insurance goal in the second half.
Parell credited the standout performances of midfielders Marguerite Salamone, Erin Trapp and Missy Frankil.
“My mids are really jelling together,” the Falcons’ coach said. “They have really been a constant for us, and they really helped not only our defense, but they’ve been pushing the ball forward and really feeding our forwards the balls they need to succeed.”
The Trojans held a 10-6 advantage in corners while the Falcons had a 4-2 edge in shots.
“Neither team had a lot of shots on goal,” Parell said. “It was pretty even, but I felt we were in our offensive end a little bit more.”
While the Trojans fell to 0-2, the Falcons improved to 1-2, and Parell is hoping this win can give her team momentum heading into the SOL season.
“I think they know their capabilities,” the Falcons’ coach said. “Especially getting our first win because we were 0-2, and it was hard not only for the coaches but also for them as well. All of my talks to them were, ‘You’re playing well. Keep at it. It will come. It will come.’ And it did.”
Wissahickon 0-0 0
Pennsbury 1-1 2
SOUDERTON 4, UPPER DUBLIN 1
Abbey Gabriel scored a pair of goals and assisted on another as the Indians rallied from an early 1-1 tie to defeat the Flying Cardinals.
“Abbey has been a huge leader for us on the field and off the field,” coach Lauren Whiteside said of her senior captain. “She is nothing but positive, talking to the girls and directing the girls on the field.
“You can tell she is just a ball of energy up on that forward line. She had a really good game.”
The Indians (1-1) took a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the first half when Gabby Sedares connected, using an Erin Sayboldt assist. Upper Dublin’s Jen Harcut (Emily Long assist) knotted the score six minutes later, but the Indians broke the deadlock with time expired on the scoreboard clock, capitalizing on a corner when Meghan McDermott scored (Gabriel assist) to send the Indians into halftime with a 2-1 lead.
They added to that lead in the second half with a pair of Gabriel goals, the second with a Keeley Jennings assist.
“Yesterday we tried a different formation than what we’ve been trying, so we weren’t sure how it would go in the game today,” Whiteside said. “We just had a really good talk about things we had to do, like moving the ball to the right.
“We were putting people in specific positions and not letting them move – like staying in the alley and staying only in the alley so we could open up the field a little bit more.
“In the second half, we really started passing to space, which is what we’ve been emphasizing, and keeping the field wide so that we could use our passing game. The formation we were trying to do required Abbey (Gabriel) to come back on defense a little bit more, and she stepped up.”
The win came on the heels of the Indians’ 5-0 loss to Upper Perkiomen on Friday.
“We decided at the end of the game against Upper Perk that that was never going to happen again – that we were never going to have a game where we didn’t try our best or score,” Whiteside said.
The Indians created plenty of offense in Wednesday’s win, holding a 19-4 advantage in shots. They had 15 corners to five for Upper Dublin (0-1). Upper Dublin goalie Sara Weinberg was credited with 14 saves.
Souderton 2-2 4
Upper Dublin 1-0 1
- Log in to post comments
