There were three scoreless ties in SOL field hockey action Monday. Check the recaps. CR North/CR South photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL National Conference
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 0 (OT)
On a day when scoreless ties were immensely popular (three of the SOL’s 10 games ended in a 0-0 tie), neither the Indians or Golden Hawks could find the cage in Monday’s battle between the sister schools.
“I think we were pretty evenly match,” South coach Lisa Belz said. “I was really pleased with how my team played today. Everybody really played well.
“Overtime was exciting to watch.”
Although the teams were deadlocked on the scoreboard, the Golden Hawks had a 14-5 advantage in corners, but both teams managed just seven shots.
“It was a well-played game on both sides,” Rock North coach Heather Whalin said. “South definitely dominated inside the 25 because they got a lot of corners, but we have a real good corner defense to the point where they didn’t get shots off. The shots were even.
“We had more shots in overtime. My team actually thought they scored, but the (ball) was out of bounds before we passed it across goal. South definitely played a really nice game. It was a well-played game, so it was fun to watch.”
The Indians were playing with a brand new system, a change implemented by Whalin after last week’s 6-1 non-league loss to Mount Saint Joseph.
“This is our first day playing with it,” the Indians’ coach said. “I felt like we were exposing ourselves way too much in the defensive end by being too offensively minded, so we did fix that part.
“The bad part about it is now we have to fix the offense. We saw what the problem is today, and I think we might be able to fix it.”
The two coaches took time to acknowledge the efforts of players from both sides.
“We got a little tired at the end – trying to keep up to Katelyn Cocco. She is so fast, and she’s really a good player,” Whalin said. “Bianca Bonanni played a nice game and so did Bridget Doherty and Lauren Mitchell.
“Both goalies were great in the game, and Hannah Barsky had a good game for us. Both defenses played excellent.”
Rock South goalie Aspen Handel and Rock North goalie Kyra Deehr-Lewis both were credited with seven saves.
“Bianca Bonanni was stepping up to the ball – she was all over the field. She was outstanding,” Belz said. “Bridget Doherty did outstanding, and so did Katelyn Cocco. Both goalies on both sides played well.
“I’m still trying to pull my teams together, get my team in the right place, and get over some injuries. Overall, I was really pleased with how my team played. They came out excited to play.”
Council Rock South (3-4-1, 3-1-1 SOL) will be back in action Tuesday at Pennsbury in a key conference battle. Council Rock North (6-2-1, 4-1-1) will host Pennsbury on Wednesday.
Council Rock South 0-0-0 0
Council Rock North 0-0-0 0
NESHAMINY 2, PENNSBURY 1 (OT)
In a classic battle between the neighboring rivals, it was the Redskins eking out a 2-1 win when – at the 11:45 mark of overtime – Dylan Beegal turned a Peyton Ritchey pass into the game-winner.
“We were happy that we won, but we said, ‘Girls, you have to realize – they came out hard, they want to beat you. That’s how it always is, and we need to come out strong too,’” Neshaminy coach Jamie Pinto said. “We have to step up our game. This was a little bit of an eye opener. Especially in our league, the teams are coming out strong.”
It was the third overtime game of the season for the Redskins. This was their first win in OT, and chalk this win up to an adjustment to the lineup.
“In those games as well in regulation time, we had our opportunities to finish and not get into overtime, and ending up losing in those overtimes were killers because we had our opportunities,” Pinto said. “They knew what we needed to work on, decisions that had to be made. We moved Dylan Beegal up top because she is aggressive and plays hard, and it paid off today.
“We worked hard in overtime. I had confidence in them. We had the momentum going, and we knew what we needed to do from the other overtimes – I think we learned from them, and we didn’t want to lose either. We knew it was going to be tough, but our girls stepped up at the end.”
For the Falcons, it was another game of coming oh-so-close but falling just short.
“We’re like one goal, one goal, one goal – we’re hanging on a thread, and we just can’t seem to finish,” said Pennsbury coach Jamie Parell, who lost 12 seniors from last year’s conference championship squad to graduation. “For whatever reason, we just get this extra fire with Neshaminy.
“I just expressed to the girls after the game – that’s got to come every game. South and North went to a 0-0 tie. It’s one goal here and one goal there. I keep stressing to the girls – there’s no one really in the forefront. I know Neshaminy has the most wins out of it, but goal-wise – we’re right there.
“We just have to learn to finish. We worked well as a unit today. The number one key word I’ve been saying game in and game out is finishing.”
With two minutes remaining in the first half, Maya Geller spotted the Falcons a 1-0 lead when she scored during corner play. The Redskins rallied to knot the score at the 20:29 mark of the second half when Ritchey scored with an assist from Sophie Schardt. That lead held until Beegal’s OT game-winner.
“The first half it felt like we had our opportunities, but Pennsbury got down in our end and executed a nice corner and scored off of that, so that gave them a little bit of momentum,” Pinto said. “At halftime, we had to fire the girls up a little bit because we knew Pennsbury wasn’t going to give up.
“We did come out stronger, we got the ball in the circle a lot, but we just weren’t able to finish. Peyton scored a beautiful goal, but I was nervous until the second half was over. I knew anytime they got down to our end they were going to keep fighting.”
Pinto acknowledged the strong play of several players.
“Peyton Ritchey did a nice job of getting the ball into the circle, and Brooke Cordisco and Tori Young played well defensively,” the Redskins’ coach said.
Parell lauded the play of her goalie, Keira Korzeb.
“She had a couple of really nice saves,” the Falcons’ coach said. “Anna Sharp has been playing really, really well. She plays all over – sometimes she’s my top mid, left mid. She’s just been a dominant force for us in every game.”
Neshaminy (7-3, 6-0 SOL) will host Council Rock South on Friday, and Pennsbury (4-6, 4-2) will travel to Council Rock Tuesday for the second of three back-to-back-to-back conference games. On Wednesday, the Falcons will travel to Council Rock North.
“That could be a couple of great games,” Parell said. “I told them – I know we’re in a little bit of a skid, but the second half (of the season), it can totally change, and they have to use today’s game as a stepping stone.”
Neshaminy 0-1-1 2
Pennsbury 1-0-0 1
WILLIAM TENNENT 1, HARRY S TRUMAN 0
The Panthers broke a scoreless tie with a goal in the final minute of overtime to eke out the win over the Tigers.
SOL Continental Conference
PENNRIDGE 3, NORTH PENN 1
It was just a matter of time.
That was coach Becky Spahr’s thinking after watching her squad extend Souderton to overtime before the Indians eked out a 2-1 win and then keep the district’s top-seeded team, Central Bucks East, off the scoreboard until the second half in a 2-0 loss last week.
“It’s been coming,” the Rams’ coach said. “We’re definitely figuring things out, and tonight we figured out how to put the ball in the cage, which is nice.
“CB East and Souderton are not only two of the best teams in our conference but in our district. I know 2-0 to East sounds like a bigger margin, but we held them for a really long time and played real well.”
Six minutes into the game, the Knights got on the scoreboard when Jillian Lampitoc found the cage, using an Emily Crawford assist. Two minutes later, the Rams scored the equalizer with an assist from Caitlyn Amsden, who had a hand in all three goals. The two teams went into halftime deadlocked 1-1.
“I think we knew we could play with North Penn,” Spahr said. “I think we’ve been gaining confidence from the last few games, so when they scored, we just continued to play our game.
“We had a bunch of opportunities before that to score, but we hadn’t, so we knew we would have more opportunities to actually put one in.”
With 21:38 remaining in regulation, it was the Amsden siblings hooking up for a goal during corner play. Emily Amsden deflected a Caitlyn Amsden shot into the cage for a goal that turned out to be the game-winner. For good measure, Caitlyn Amsden added an insurance goal with 10 minutes remaining, using a Sydney Borneman assist.
“I think our girls know our potential this year,” Spahr said. “We have a big senior class, and they want to go out strong.
“We’re just putting all the puzzle pieces together, and everything is starting to click. All of our lines – defense, midfield and forwards – they’ve been working well separately, and tonight I felt they worked well together.
“We had a talk beforehand and said – we need this one to get ourselves back on track. When we were walking off, one of the girls said, ‘This is the first of many.’”
Coming up huge yet again for the Rams was goalie Mac Bross with 14 saves.
“She has been fantastic for us all year,” Spahr said. “Having her back there obviously is very helpful, and our defense is playing really well. It’s nice to have people helping her out.”
Anchoring the defense in front of Bross are Shannon Griffin, Lexie Dinsmore and Kelcie Mannon.
“Macy Price is our low center mid, and she helps out defensively so much,” Spahr said. “Caitlyn Amsden was involved in our goal scoring, and Caitlyn and Sydney Borneman worked super well in the middle together. They do a really good job.
“Everybody played well – it was definitely a full team effort.”
The Knights held an advantage in shots and corners (8-5).
“Pennridge made the most of their opportunities in the circle tonight,” NP coach Shannon McCracken said. “Even though (we) had eight penalty corners and 14 shots, we couldn’t find the back of the net more than an early goal in the first half. “In the second half, North Penn hit the post and put a deflection on top of the net. It was a well-played game by both teams.”
Pennridge (3-5, 2-4 SOL) will host William Tennent on Wednesday, and North Penn (3-6, 2-4) will host Souderton on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Pennridge 1-2 3
North Penn 1-0 1
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0 (OT)
The visiting Titans held a decided statistical advantage, but it didn’t translate into goals, and the neighboring rivals were forced to settle for a scoreless tie.
South outshot its hosts 11-0 and drew 11 corners to just three for the Bucks.
“The entire game was intense with CB South holding the statistical advantage but unable to find the back of the net,” South coach Pat Toner said. “CB West played very well, and in my opinion, their record does not reflect their ability. Good job by both teams.”
Central Bucks West (2-7-1, 2-3-1 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks East on Wednesday, and Central Bucks South (5-4-1, 3-2-1) will be on the road at Quakertown on Wednesday.
Central Bucks South 0-0-0 0
Central Bucks West 0-0-0 0
SOUDERTON 14, QUAKERTOWN 0
Courtney Kenah scored four goals, and Anna Gwiazdzinski, Randi Hess and Kate Martin each added two to lead the Indians. Contributing single goals were Liz Kuduk, Lauren Shaughnessy, Caitlin Lennon and Alyssa Krady.
The Indians, who led 9-0 at halftime, drew eight corners to none for the Panthers.
Souderton (8-1, 5-1 SOL) will be on the road at North Penn on Wednesday, and Quakertown (2-7, 0-6) will host Central Bucks South Wednesday.
Quakertown 0-0 0
Souderton 9-5 14
SOL American Conference
UPPER DUBLIN 0, SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 0 (OT)
Both teams had opportunities, but neither team could convert those opportunities into a goal.
UD coach Heather Boyer credited the play of several players.
“Emma Kate Powell and Jamie Rock played outstanding in the backfield, and Ryann Kullmann, Mikayla DeMichele and Madeleine Casey played exceptionally well in the midfield, especially in the OT period to keep Springfield’s opportunities to a minimum,” the Cardinals’ coach said.
The Flying Cardinals held an advantage in shots (9-6) and corners (10-8), including several corners with time expired in regulation.
Springfield goalie Rebecca Berglund was credited with nine saves, and UD’s Meghan Muth had six saves.
Upper Dublin (4-3-1, 3-3-1 SOL) will host Hatboro-Horsham for its Senior Night on Wednesday at 7 p.m., and Springfield Township (6-2-1, 4-2-1) will host Abington on Wednesday.
Springfield Township0-0-0 0
Upper Dublin 0-0-0 0
ABINGTON 2, CHELTENHAM 0
Devin DiMaria turned a pass from Abigail Thomas into a goal in the first half. That lead held until halftime, and the visiting Ghosts added an insurance goal in the second half.
Keeping the Lady Panthers in the game was goalie Nimi Badejoko, who turned in a stellar outing.
Abington (6-3, 6-1 SOL) will travel to Springfield Township on Wednesday, and Cheltenham (0-6) will travel to Upper Moreland on Wednesday.
Abington 1-1 2
Cheltenham 0-0 0
WISSAHICKON 1, UPPER MORELAND 0
Hannah Havrilla scored on a penalty stroke with 37 seconds remaining in the first half. That goal not only sent the visiting Trojans into halftime with a 1-0 lead but also proved to be the game-winner.
Meghan Reilly recorded three saves in the shutout win in goal for the Trojans. Isabella Guarenghi kept the Golden Bears in it with 14 saves.
Wissahickon (4-3, 3-3 SOL) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh on Wednesday, and Upper Moreland (3-7, 1-5) will host Wissahickon on Wednesday.
Wissahickon 1-0 1
Upper Moreland 0-0 0
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 8, HATBORO-HORSHAM 0
Ava Borkowski connected for a hat trick, and Kennedy Reardon had two goals and one assist to lead the Colonials to the shutout win. The Colonials – who were coming off their first loss of the season – received a goal and an assist from both Sam Spera and Kaleigh Missimer. Autumn Luptak added a single goal while Hailey Copestick and Kayla Link both had an assist.
“We played a strong attacking game,” said coach Charise Halteman, whose team took 27 shots and drew 18 corners.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (9-1, 7-0 SOL) will travel to Wissahickon on Wednesday, and Hatboro-Horsham (1-6, 1-5) will be on the road at Upper Dublin on Wednesday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 6-2 8
Hatboro-Horsham 0-0 0
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