Five SOL girls lacrosse teams were winners in District 1 Tournament action Monday. Upper Moreland/Springfield Twp photos provided courtesy of Kathy Leister Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos. Upper Dublin/Souderton photos provided courtesy of Geanine Jamison.
CLASS 3A
#1-14 UPPER DUBLIN 13, #1-19 SOUDERTON 8
Jackie Rama had a little score to settle with the Indians. It wasn’t anything personal, but the UD junior had missed the first half of the initial meeting between the two teams – a 15-13 Souderton win – for a funeral.
“I came at halftime last game, and even when I came back, I wasn’t on my game,” Rama said. “I was in my head the whole time, so that really changed everything.”
Rama’s presence on Tuesday certainly changed everything. Thanks in no small part to her draw controls – she finished with 10, the Cardinals opened up a 5-0 lead when Becky Browndorf scored at the 17:17 mark of the first half.
“That was huge having her here, and that helped us set the tone,” UD coach Dee Cross said. “Getting that momentum, getting that confidence definitely made a difference.”
Riley McGowan broke the Cardinals’ run with a goal for the Indians, but the Cardinals reeled off four in a row to go on top 9-1 with nine minutes remaining in the first half.
“We came into this game and wanted revenge really bad,” Rama said. “The intensity was a lot higher so that helped a lot. Today it was just positivity and playing my game and really just trying my best.
“We came into the year wanting to get into playoffs and go far into playoffs. We wanted to improve as a team, which I think we definitely did.”
The Indians trailed 11-5 at halftime, and although the scoring slowed down considerably for the Cardinals, the Indians never could dig themselves out of that early hole.
“Rama is obviously very good on the draw,” Souderton coach Nancy Offner said. “Possession was a big part of this game. Having Mack Moore in there really lights a fire.
“Defensively, we started a little flat, and it was tough to come back from. Upper Dublin always gives us a good challenge. We were lucky to come out on top last time, and we wish them the best against Conestoga.”
Rama led the Cardinals with four goals, one assist and 10 draw controls. Julia Reardon had three goals while Browndorf had two goals and two assists and Mack Moore added two goals and an assist. Jenn McCarry had a pair of goals, and Michelle Wright had one assist.
“For them to come in tonight and not be intimidated – they just said, ‘This is our game, this is our field,’” Cross said. “We were really proud of their effort for the whole game.
“You hate to play an in-league opponent first round, but obviously, it helped. We both knew each other pretty well. It was just a matter of who was going to control the draws, and I think tonight that was the key.”
Riley Brady recorded nine saves in goal in a winning effort for the Cardinals.
“We have not won a first round playoff game in at least five years, so no one’s used to this,” Cross said. “The last two years we had a home playoff game, and we lost both games pretty handily, so for them to come out – we saw Souderton, we knew what they did, and basically last time, they just outplayed us, and we knew that.
“Even today, they beat us to ground balls because they are very athletic, but we made adjustments, and our shooting percentage was definitely better. Our defense – we gave Aidan (Hopkins) the job of marking Riley McGowan. You can’t stop her – we know she’s going to get her goals. Between her and Becky (Browndorf) sliding and covering her, that made the difference tonight. It took her out of her element.”
For the Indians, McGowan’s hat trick led the way. Lauren Kenah had a pair of goals – both on free positions. Randi Hess, Lauren Hallman and Sophia Sclafani each added one.
Lauren Scott recorded 12 saves in goal for the Indians.
Upper Dublin (13-6, 6-3 SOL) will travel to second-seeded Conestoga for Thursday’s second round game. Souderton (6-3 SOL) closed its season with a 10-8 record overall.
Souderton 5-3 8
Upper Dublin 11-2 13
#1-10 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 13, #1-23 UPPER MERION 10
Casey Reichwein, an all-league defender for the Bucks until this year, is making the switch to attack look oh so easy. The senior captain turned in a monster performance in Tuesday’s opening round win, finishing with six draw controls, seven goals and two ground balls to lead the Bucks.
Reichwein was not the only player to make a switch in positions.
“This year we all realized that the CB West lacrosse team was different from the team last year, which had lots of varsity experience and several D1 recruits, particularly in the attacking end,” coach Rebecca Cartee Haring said. “We knew that only having five players on the team with real varsity experience was going to impact the team. Not only that, with the exception Lauren Ring, I asked every returning player with varsity experience to play a different position.
“Casey moved from defense to attack, Emma (Haring) moved from attack to midfield, Maddy (McGarry) moved from defense to midfield and Julia (Carey) moved from midfield to attack. Some of them welcomed the change and others were nervous about it. We lucked out in three ways, Shannen Roy, a senior defender, moved here and brought incredible leadership and calm to our defense. She has anchored them throughout the season. Second, many of the girls had either played for me in club at some point or on JV for the past few years. Third, we saw the return of Lindsey Horton, who played for me in club, but had not played high school lacrosse at all and Tori Albrecht, who played her freshman year, but did not play last year.”
The Bucks, who captured a share of the SOL National title, opened up an 8-5 halftime lead on Tuesday and never looked back.
“It was a great game tonight,” Cartee Haring said. “Upper Merion is a solid team, and they made us work for the win.
“I am so proud of my team. It was a total team effort. Our hustle to the 50/50 ground balls and our end-to-end defense made the difference.”
In addition to Reichwein, Emma Haring had three goals, four assists, six ground balls and two caused turnovers. Maddy McGarry had six draw controls, one goal, one assist and two ground balls. Lindsey Horton had one goal, two assists and six ground balls, and Paige Gilbert added one goal, one draw control, four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Also contributing were Kristen Rice (one ground ball, one caused turnover), Shelby Hahn (four ground balls), Tori Albrecht (one ground ball), Julia Carey (one ground ball, two caused turnovers), Kiersten Mangin (one caused turnover), Shannon Roy (one ground ball, two caused turnovers) and Ryan Kelly (two ground balls, two caused turnovers).
“We knew that we had the pieces to be a good team, but also knew that we had real challenges with a group of players who had limited experience on varsity and playing together,” Cartee Haring said. “We told the girls that they needed to bring whatever their talent/strength is to the field and to promise to work on their challenges. They made that commitment to the coaches, the team and to themselves. We decided that our focus would always be on the positive and we would lead with our strengths and help our teammates at every turn.”
It has turned out to be a recipe for success for the Bucks (14-5, 7-1 SOL), who will travel to seventh-seeded Downingtown East for Thursday’s second round game.
Upper Merion 5-5 10
Central Bucks West 8-5 13
#1-18 NORTH PENN 11, #1-15 METHACTON 10
The Knights – sparked by some late-game heroics from Grace Sacchetti – pulled off a gutsy come-from-behind win.
They could have folded when the Warriors scored the go-ahead goal with 59 seconds remaining. Instead, they scored not one but two goals in the final 44 seconds to win a thriller in Tuesday’s opening round. Sacchetti scored the game-winner with 25 seconds remaining.
“It was a crazy game,” NP coach Heather Mellow said. “It was just an all-around team effort. I keep saying that, but it really was. This team has just jelled as a group, and they really feed off each other.”
The Knights needed every ounce of teamwork they had in them to eke out their first district win since 2012, and it didn’t look real promising when they went into halftime trailing 6-4.
“We just needed to be patient offensively,” Mellow said. “We were making some poor decisions offensively in the first half that were hurting us and hurting our midfield and really, really tiring us out.”
The Knights reeled off three straight goals to open the second half and took a 7-6 lead on a goal by Sacchetti with 17:19 remaining in regulation. The Warrior knotted the score 7-7, but the Knights answered with back-to-back goals. The Warriors came roaring back, scoring three straight goals to go on top 10-9 with 59 seconds remaining.
The Knights needed just 15 seconds to knot the score on a goal by Lily Szilagyi (Sacchetti assist). They won the ensuing draw, and Sacchetti scored a goal that turned out to be the game-winner with 25 seconds remaining.
“We won the last draw and held onto the ball,” Mellow said. “In the second half particularly, I think Grace was our catalyst. She had a huge game.”
Sacchetti seemed to have a hand in every big play in the second half, scoring three of her four goals after the intermission. She finished the game with four goals, four assists and four draw controls. Szilagyi added three goals and one assist. Alli Lindsay added one goal, one assist and two draw controls. Adding one goal each were Emily Varilla, Casey Cavanaugh and Brooke Millevoi. Varilla also had three draw controls and Cavanaugh had one.
Ashley Lambert was credited with five saves in goal for the Knights, and she had help defensively. Shannon Haedrich face-guarded the dangerous Sydney Tornetta, who finished with two goals.
For Mellow, Tuesday’s district opener evoked conflicting emotions.
“It’s a little bittersweet,” the Knights’ coach said. “I know quite a few of the girls on the team. Some I even work with in club lacrosse, so in any other situation, I’m rooting for them.
“I’m in the school district, my kids go to the school, so it’s tough, but I will take the win. I would have preferred to have been paired up against somebody else, but it is what it is. It was a well-fought game by both teams. They had some nice players, and they have a young team. They’re going to be good.”
In the absence of the Warriors’ starting goalie (illness), Mackenzie Clark, according to Mellow, filled in admirably.
“I’ll tell you what – their back-up keeper did an outstanding job,” the Knights’ coach said. “She was very good.”
North Penn (11-8, 7-1 SOL) will travel to Garnet Valley for a second round game Thursday against the second-seeded Jaguars.
North Penn 4-7 11
Methacton 6-4 10
#1-24 BOYERTOWN 14, #1-9 PENNSBURY 9
The Falcons led 6-2 with five minutes remaining in the opening half of Tuesday’s district opener, but the Bears reeled off four unanswered goals to go into halftime deadlocked 6-6. The Bears scored four straight to open the second half, capping an 8-0 run. The young Falcons never recuperated.
Maddy Spratt, Emelie Curtis, Sarah Walcott and Darrien Furiness each scored a pair
of goals, and Lexie Snyder added a single goal.
Pennsbury (5-3 SOL) closed out a successful season with a 15-4 record.
“They’ve really come a long way,” Pennsbury coach Shannon MacPherson said. “We are young, which is awesome to have them back next year.”
Boyertown 6-8 14
Pennsbury 6-3 9
#1-16 UNIONVILLE 16, #1-17 WISSAHICKON 10
The Trojans made the trek to Unionville to face the defending state champions, who opened up a 10-4 halftime lead. The Indians were aided immeasurably by three first half cards that were handed out to the Trojans.
The Trojans are young – they start three freshmen, including their goalie, four sophomores, two juniors and only three seniors, but they regrouped at halftime and scored five of the next six goals to make it an 11-9 game.
Unionville won the next several draws and went on to earn the win.
The Trojans, after back-to-back 6-12 season, turned the program around, closing out the year with a 13-6 record under first-year coach Rob Intrieri.
“We have a very young starting group and will have nine returning starters back for next year,” the Trojans’ coach said. “The future looks bright for our program.”
Leading the Trojans attack were Sam Intrieri, Sophia Chiodo Ortiz and Emma Baker with three goals each. Quinn Gaffey added one goal.
“Kelly Dickson once again did a great job quarterbacking the offense,” coach Intrieri said. “For the four seniors on the roster playing their final game in a Wissahickon uniform, it was an emotional moment as the final horn sounded.”
Samantha Intrieri will continue her lacrosse career at Towson University. Kelly Dickson will continue her lacrosse career at St Francis University. Naomi Bram will continue her lacrosse career at Colorado College, and Isabella Ferrante will be studying on the beach at the University of Tampa.
“This was such a fun group of kids to coach this year,” coach Intrieri said. “They all liked each other and it showed on and off the field. They all rooted for each other and always hustled to the final whistle of every game. I'm very proud of every player on this roster.”
Wissahickon was 6-3 in conference play.
Wissahickon 4-6 10
Unionville 10-6 16
#1-12 WEST CHESTER RUSTIN 16, #1-21 HATBORO-HORSHAM 10
The visiting Hatters led 6-3 with 10 minutes remaining in the first half, but the Golden Knights rallied to go on top 8-7 at the intermission. They went on to outscore their visitors 8-3 second half to earn the win.
Gabrielle Liott had another big game for the Hatters, finishing with five goals and two assists. Cam Ryan had two goals and one assist while Audrey Leibfreid, Lindsey Coats and Megan Acker each added a goal.
Freshman Sophia Liott had the difficult task of guarding High Point commit Ashley Chisholm and did a great job of limiting her chances in the first half. Rustin made adjustments in the second half to free up Chisholm for scoring opportunities.
Hatboro-Horsham (5-4 SOL) closed out its season with an 11-8 record.
Hatboro-Horsham 7-3 10
West Chester Rustin 8-8 16
#1-22 PERKIOMEN VALLEY 11, #1-11 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 9
CLASS 2A
UPPER MORELAND 12, SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 10
The Golden Bears took an 8-6 lead into halftime, and the two teams spent the second half exchanging goals.
“This wasn’t the prettiest game of lacrosse for us, but we are excited for the win,” coach Kim Frantz said. “We were able to get an early lead in the game, but Springfield battled back, and the game was back and forth.
“Our defense had a lot of stops today and was able to make Springfield really work for their goals.”
The UM coach lauded the strong defensive play of AbbyEllen Wood, Maddy Zachwieja, Kat Morrow, Kayla Meakim and Riley Mullen.
“They played awesome defense today,” Frantz said. “Bella Guarenghi also played awesome defense keeping their leading scorer to one goal for the game.”
Emma Meakim led the Golden Bears with four goals and one assist. Moira Olexa added three goals, two assists and three draw controls. Bryanna Gordon and Cassidy Hirsch both had two goals. Hirsch also had one assist and two draw controls. Alexis Lamb added one goal, one assist and one draw control.
“Emma Meakim helped control the offense, and Moira Olexa had an all around great game,” Frantz said. “Bryanna Gordon also helped at the offensive end.
“Cassidy Hirsch really helped us in transition. Sarah Veneziale and Maddy Trzaska both played great on the offensive end, coming up with some key ground balls. It was a team effort today. We are ready and excited for the challenge on Thursday against Bishop Shanahan.”
For the Spartans, Emily Walsh had four goals while Ella Marina and Emily Smith both had a pair. Maddie Yoder and Lauren Corrado each had one goal.
Upper Moreland (13-6, 6-3 SOL) will travel to fourth-seeded Bishop Shanahan for a second round game Thursday (4 p.m.).
Springfield Township 6-4 10
Upper Moreland 8-4 12
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