Pennsbury defeated Neshaminy for the first time in six years, and CB South picked up a non-league win in SOL field hockey action Thursday.
PENNSBURY 3, NESHAMINY 1
The Pennsbury field hockey team picked the right time to play a nearly flawless 12 minutes.
Facing a Neshaminy team that it had not beaten in six years, Pennsbury got goals from Olivia Mauro, Nell Webber and Kate Chesney in the first 12 minutes and held on for a 3-1 victory.
The win, Pennsbury's first over the Redskins since 2011, left the Falcons as the only unbeaten team in the Suburban One National Conference. Pennsbury can celebrate that for exactly no time at all, since there is a lightning quick turnaround for Friday’s game against defending conference champion Council Rock South.
"The first thing I told them was that this was a great win for us as a team but that we have another huge game tomorrow," Pennsbury coach Jamie Parell said.
The first 12 minutes saw Pennsbury score its three goals while outshooting Neshaminy 10-3 to that point. The first goal came when Maddie Hackman won a 50-50 ball and played it to Annie Price, who dribbled down the right side and crossed to Kate Chesney in the circle. Chesney then sent it to the far side of the goal, where Mauro tipped it in, making it 1-0 after 5:03.
Nell Webber then made it a two-goal lead 3:15 later. Maya Geller cleared the ball out of the defensive end to Webber, who dribbled from across midfield all the way into the circle before rifling a shot into the cage. Kate Chesney knocked in a rebound with 11:34 gone, and it was 3-0 Falcons.
It stayed 3-0 through halftime, but Neshaminy's Peyton Ritchie scored off a rebound just 1:48 into the second half. From there, Neshaminy was relentless, but neither team would score the rest of the way.
"Neshaminy is a great team," Parell said. "They have a lot of pride, and we knew they were going to fight until the end. We couldn't relax until the final whistle."
Pennsbury would outshoot Neshaminy 20-12. Both goalies were very sharp, as Neshaminy's Maddie Tiemann made 10 saves and Pennsbury's Michelle Deodati made seven. Pennsbury's defense of Lily Nolan, Alexa Tannenbaum, Gianna Pinto and Jamie Hude was strong all game.
The teams combined for 28 corners, and neither team would score on any of them.
Pennsbury (4-1, 3-0 SOL) will host Council Rock South on Friday, and Neshaminy (3-2, 2-1) will host Council Rock North on Friday.
Pennsbury 3-0 3
Neshaminy 0-1 1
Non-league
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3, GWYNEDD MERCY 1
The Titans played their second game in less than 24 hours against a strong Monarch squad. Annie Brady scored on a beautifully executed corner hit from Kasey Dietzel to start off the scoring less than two minutes into the game. Dietzel connected on an unassisted goal midway through the first half, and the Titans took that 2-0 lead into halftime.
The Titans lead grew to 3-0 when Kaitlyn Barnhart carried the ball the length of the field, dodged the goalkeeper and put the ball in the cage. Alden Bocella accounted for GMA’s lone goal at the 13:57 mark of the second half.
The Titans held a 10-6 edge in shots. Goalie Jillian Heilig recorded five saves in the win.
Central Bucks South (4-2, 3-1 SOL) will travel to Coatesville for a non-league game on Saturday.
Gwynedd Mercy 0-1 1
Central Bucks South 2-1 3
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