Wissahickon, CB East and CR North were winners in Tuesday’s opening round of the District One AAA Tournament. Photos of the CR South/CB East game courtesy of Karen Discavage. Check back for a gallery of photos of action photos.
#19 WISSAHICKON 2, #14 SOUDERTON 0
Maddie Elwell is the big-name player on Wissahickon's roster, the one that scores many of her team’s goals, assists on others and draws the attention of defenses.
But she's not the only player on the Trojans’ roster, and Elwell's teammates stepped up and proved that Tuesday night. On a chilly night at Souderton, the Trojans' midfield, back line, goalkeeping and even forwards all rose to the challenge as they advanced to the second round for the second straight year.
With a common opponent in Pennridge awaiting the winner, the two teams entered wary of each other.
"We didn't know a lot about Souderton, but we knew they had power and they had speed," Wissahickon senior midfielder Rachel Coleman said. "Going into this game, we had to have a strong mentality, and also, we have a tendency to come out slow, so the main thing was we needed tempo right away."
There was tempo in the first half, but it was more cautious and measured than anything. Souderton wasn't taking any chances, putting senior Sara Cassel, it's best defender, on Elwell as a mark all game. The two had a good individual duel all night, each taking and conceding a few of their battles.
Souderton was led by an inspired effort from its young attackers, most notably Taylor Moritz, Allie Trick and Tori Dowd. Dowd in particular was very strong, hustling to keep balls alive and generating some chances.
"It just didn't happen in the middle," Souderton coach Chris Felber said. "Right at the start, it's hard for me to tell, but it looks like Allie's in, she goes in and they call it offside. It could be 1-0 a minute in."
"They put everything out there. Tori worked her butt off, Sara worked her butt off, they all did."
Coleman scored the game's first goal on a well-hit and purposefully placed volley from about 35 yards out in the 43rd minute. Wissahickon used the first half to learn Souderton's tendencies, where the Indians were strongest and adapted how it was going to play in the second half.
The senior midfielder's goal was a perfect example. She knew Souderton keeper Vivian Feliciani was very good and a big presence in the goal, so Coleman wanted to strike where she couldn't get to it.
"My first thought was wait for the bounce," Coleman said. "It's all about timing, power and placement. On a shot like that, it's not always about power, it's more about placement. Seeing it come out, I went for it, put my body over it and it happened to go in."
The Indians perked up after the goal and Trick tried to will her team back. Trick, a sophomore, had a shot saved and was nearly in on another chance if not for a brave challenge by Wissahickon keeper Nicole Hastings.
Wissahickon didn't have many chances after its first goal and before its second, but Hastings (seven saves) and her back line kept coming up with an answer. Defenders Mary Matthews and Anna Wilde played well in central defense.
"We weren't really changing too much," Wissahickon senior Jasmine Bishop said. "Anything could happen, it's still anyone's game at that point. Once we got the second goal, that's when we said we have to play smart, we have to keep the ball, run some time and stay calm."
Bishop added the insurance with 9:20 left in the game on a shot about 20 yards out.
Dowd rang a shot off the crossbar with 2:47 left, an unfortunate break after her great effort and a symbol of how Souderton's night had gone.
"It's probably not much more (in possession) for us, but (Wissahickon) was definitely good, they had their moments," Felber said. "It's a tough one to take. We couldn't score, and if you can't score, you can't win the game."
WISSAHICKON 0 2 – 2
SOUDERTON 0 0 – 0
Goals: W – Rachel Coleman 43', Jasmine Bishop 71'
#21 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 0, #12 UNIONVILLE 0 (4-3 PKs)
Council Rock North prides itself on being one of the fittest teams around.
In Unionville, the Indians found a team that rivaled them in terms of fitness. For 110 minutes, the two battled but neither could find a way to break down the other. From there, it was on to penalty kicks, the cause of much bemoaning and far too much heartbreak at this time of the season.
What Council Rock North had as its ace going in was Carly Riggs.
"It was a battle," North coach Wendell Beres said. "It's one of those games where you hate to see either team lose. We took care of business in the PKs and took care of business defensively and were fortunate to come out with the win."
Beres said Unionville, also the Indians, was a very direct team with a lot of athletes. Some research revealed a few players were Division I recruits in other sports. One of them, junior Veronica Hineman, proved especially troublesome.
"She's going to Duke to play lacrosse and she gave us fits in the second half," Beres said. "It was to the point that we ended up man-marking her in overtime and were able to shut her down which got us to PKs. Caitlin Duffy did a great job on her, then turned around and made her PK."
Even into the late second half and overtime, the Indians of Unionville didn't seem to wear down. Beres was impressed by their fitness and the seemingly endless waves of athletes that kept coming in off the bench and going after his team.
"They wore us down a little bit, and there's not many teams that can say they can do that," Beres said. "We held tough and Carly Riggs made two or three really good saves to keep us in the game."
North was finally healthy after weeks of nagging injuries, but the effects of those injuries is still around the team. Players who missed time aren't quite at full match fitness but put forth everything they had.
The defense was bolstered by the return of Mia Scalamandre, who was a calming presence in the back and played a key role in keeping Unionville off the board.
"It was evident pretty early that we've missed her," Beres said. "She's a calming force back there and everyone around her plays with a lot more confidence when she's on the field. She played the entire game and scored the game-winning penalty kick so that alone tells you how much she means to our group."
Riggs has been a consistent performer all year, and Tuesday was her 12th shutout of the season. What's changed for the first-year starter, Beres said, is that she's making the saves she needs to plus the ones that change games.
Tuesday, she did it twice. The first came with about five minutes left in the game and the second on a breakaway in overtime that saved the result.
"Right before the penalty kicks I said to her, 'Your job is to save one,' if she could save one, I told her we would do the rest," Beres said. "Their first shooter missed high and I thought that would be enough, then on the second shot, Carly made a great save, and anytime you get a goalkeeper making a save and they miss one, you feel pretty confident."
North has a quick turnaround to get ready for No. 5 Spring-Ford, which had a first round bye, on Thursday.
"We're going to do some resting and our athletic trainer's going to have a lot of work to do," Beres said. "I told him to get ready. Nobody came away injured, everybody's just going to be tired and sore. The good thing is we've been here before."
#17 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1, #16 COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0
Perseverance.
That’s the only word Abby Brown needed when asked the key to the Patriots’ recent success, which included an opening round win over the Golden Hawks on Tuesday.
“Coming in we set a goal for ourselves – we are committed, we don’t care who we lost or who’s coming in,” the Patriots’ senior captain said. “Everyone is going to work hard, and everyone is going to contribute to the fullest of their abilities.
“We’re going to work with what we have and not hang our heads that we lost these great players and they’re not here this year. People are stepping up, and I think that means a lot. They’re like, ‘Hey, you know what, we can do this.' It doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman or sophomore, you’re going to fight and we’re all fighting.”
It took every ounce of fight the Patriots had to defeat the Golden Hawks, and in the end, it became a battle of wills – and styles.
After a first half that saw neither team generate any serious offensive threats, the Patriots got on the scoreboard just over seven minutes into the second half when Hannah Zach lofted a shot from close to 30 yards out into the wind that deflected off the tips of the goalie’s fingers and into the net for a goal that stood until the final whistle.
“I’ve scored from there before, and I can tell you – I’m not trying to score from there,” Zach said.
The Golden Hawks didn’t go down quietly, and it took a diving save on the right post by goalie Kristen Obetz of a shot by junior Keira Flanagan with just under eight minutes remaining to preserve the lead. The Hawks continued to battle until the final horn, but the Patriots’ defense held.
“I thought we came in with a good game plan,” South coach Kim Francis said. “For us, it honestly just didn’t come together.
“Their style of play disrupted us a great deal, and we could not find it in us to settle the ball down and play the style of soccer that we like to play. When they’re getting the ball and just launching it forward to their forwards hoping to disrupt, that’s exactly what they were doing, and we just couldn’t grab hold of it and settle it down.
“At different times of the game, we had spurts where we played well – mostly towards the end of the first half and the second half was when we made our push, but it just was not enough.”
“They played a lot of kick and run,” senior captain Kasey Schlupp added. “I feel liked we just played into it, and that’s not our style of play. We’re a more technical team.
“We couldn’t get to play our game. It’s very disappointing. We really wanted to win. We’ve been playing with the same girls since we were younger. Not playing with them is going to be hard.”
For the Patriots, the win continued their late-season surge. They are 4-0-2 in their last six games.
In recent weeks, the team – according to Zach – has found its own identity, and that has been significant.
“Last year we had Emma Loving to score all of our goals – All-American, lead goal scorer, going to UPenn now and doing amazing up there, and it feels like we’ve finally moved on from that,” Zach said. “All year we’ve been rebuilding. Who’s going to score the goals? Who’s going to do this?
“We knew this was going to be a tough game, and it was like we needed this. Neshaminy is going to be a huge game – number one seed, and we have keep fighting and keep thinking we can do this as a team and make this a memorable year.”
Coach Paul Eisold lauded the play of his midfielders in the second half.
“I have to really compliment Delaney Kennedy, I have to compliment Katie Bloom, and I have to compliment Bri Talbot,” the Patriots’ coach said. “Those three players in the center of the park did not have a very good first half.
“We spoke to them, but Bri especially is such a competitor that when I talked to her, she just gets more and more focused and mad. She channels that energy into improving her game. Delaney is just a workhorse for us. She’s always the littlest kid on the field, and she’s always the biggest player.
“Katie Bloom has just matured tremendously as a young lady who understands the game and her physicality and the idea of winning things and why it’s important that she has to work hard.”
The Patriots (10-6-3, 6-4-2 SOL) will travel to Neshaminy on Thursday for a second round game at 7 p.m.
Extra shots: Zach offered a word of appreciation for East’s administrators supporting the team from the sidelines. “Our principals are a huge support,” she said. “Our one principal was our goalie for PKs the other day in practice. Just them being here is a huge support.”
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 0 1 – 1
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0 0 – 0
Central Bucks East: Hannah Zach 47’
#15 BOYERTOWN 4, #18 UPPER DUBLIN 2
The Flying Cardinals fell behind early and had to chase the Bears for most of Tuesday night's contest.
"They scored probably in under 10 minutes," Upper Dublin coach John Topper said. "It was a result of a few mistakes on our part and it was an unfortunate way to start the game. But things settled down and I was proud of how my girls competed."
The Cardinals eventually fell behind 3-0 after throwing some numbers forward. Topper felt the Bears were what he expected with some quick and talented players across the board and thought the result was a fair indicator of how the game went.
UD got a goal from Tina Haig to cut the lead to 3-1 and the Cardinals got a temporary shot in the arm. The goal came on individual effort after Haig beat a defender on the right side and went far post.
"We felt like we had a chance there," Topper said. "We were putting some pressure on. We felt like we were getting opportunities, but that fourth one they got was a real killer."
Topper said the Bears scored very late in the first half to put the game away, although his girls pulled one back when sophomore Sizzy Lawton created some space on the right and found her older sister Paige, a senior, in the box for the finish.
"It was pretty fitting way for them to end things," Topper said. "They've accounted for a lot of our offense this season. It was a pleasure to coach both of them together. They're something special."
The Cardinals have a lot of their offensive playmakers coming back, but will lose some influential seniors that helped turn the course of the season around.
"It was the story this year," Topper said. "We had a lot of youth and a lot of talent, but the seniors we had helped to bring them along. It reflected in the results how much we improved throughout the year and that was in large part due to our senior leadership."
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