Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ lacrosse teams in action on Monday. Pennsbury/Pennridge photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL National Conference
NORTH PENN 11, SOUDERTON 9
Kiera Holt’s 11-save effort helped propel the Knights to the come-from-behind win over the visiting Indians. The Knights trailed 6-5 at halftime but outscored their visitors 6-3 in the second half to win Monday’s battle of the conference’s lone unbeaten squads.
According to coach Heather Mellow, the Knights’ sophomore goalie provided a much-needed spark.
“Every time she made a big save, that just lifts you up,” the Knights’ coach said. “It’s huge. It really, really picks you up.
“Sometimes maybe we didn’t capitalize on the save and maybe turned the ball over in transition, but even just those saves were huge for us. They were great.”
The Knights appeared to be in command when they opened up a 5-2 lead only to watch the Indians reel off four unanswered goals to go into halftime with the one-goal advantage.
“We weren’t taking care of the ball when we needed to,” Mellow said. “Especially in the first half, we started off strong and then we just relaxed.
“I think my defense got tired, my midfielders were pretty burned out, and that allowed them to come back. We weren’t communicating on defense very well. In the second half, we did a much better job of sliding and helping and picking up our communication level.”
The Knights opened the second half with a 5-0 run to take a lead they would not lose.
“This (win) was huge,” Mellow said. “It was very much a collective effort. Kayla Stressman came up huge a couple of times with draw controls that we really, really needed and put some pretty goals in.
“Jordan Baily did a nice job with the goals. They were really face-guarding Lily Szilagyi very well, trying to shut her down completely. She was still able to put our first goal in and had an assist, but they did a good job on her. Like I’ve been saying, we have so many other people that have the ability to put the ball in the net, so you take her away. We’ll use other people.”
Jordan Baily contributed three goals and an assist to lead a balanced attack. Stressman added two goals and two draw controls, and Alli Lindsay had two goals, two assists and two draw controls. Szilagyi had one goal and one assist, Emily Varilla had one goal and two draw controls, and Kerry and Riley O’Donnell had one goal each.
Isabel John’s hat trick led the Indians while Reiley Knize and Lauren Hallman each had two goals and one assist. Avery Farina added a goal and two assists, and Caroline Kelly had one goal.
Defensively for the Indians, goalie Courtney Mallon was credited with eight saves. Caroline Kelly had three caused turnovers.
“We lost a good game to a good team,” Souderton coach Claudia LaMarca said. “It just boiled down to the team that had fewer mistakes came out with a win, and that was not us. We committed too many turnovers in crucial moments to find success yesterday.
“Our energy and fight were there, and the girls stayed hungry until the last whistle. Our focus after Friday’s loss to Henderson was to stay focused – and I think they were successful with that.”
The Indians were without one of their top players in junior Lauren Kenah, who was sidelined with an injury.
“I think that was a big difference for them,” Mellow said.
North Penn (5-2, 4-0 SOL) will travel to Pennsbury on Wednesday, and Souderton (5-2, 3-1) will host Neshaminy on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Souderton 6-3 9
North Penn 5-6 11
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 22, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 11
Bridget Curtis stuffed a stat sheet in a stellar all-around effort for the Titans in Monday’s win, finishing with four goals, six assists, eight draw controls, five caused turnovers and eight ground balls.
Janessa Watson also had a big game for the Titans, contributing six goals, four assists, six draw controls and seven ground balls. Tegan Mullen was the third Titan to have a hand in 10 goals, scoring seven and assisting on three others. She also had one draw control. Grace Gannon contributed two goals, two assists, five draw controls and four caused turnovers. Kate Victor had one goal and three assists, and Maddy Flynn rounded out the scoring with a pair of goals.
South goalie Gaby Mayo recorded 10 saves.
“It really was a total team effort and we had a very balanced attack,” South coach Janique Craig said. “It was really nice to see everyone working well together.”
For the Indians, Grace Valiet had three goals, two assists and three draw controls while Morgan McCaffrey had two goals, three assists, eight draw controls and three caused turnovers. Rebecca Ripans also had a hat trick to go with two assists, and Carpentier had two goals. Emma Sadovy had one goal. Marlena Ries and Bridget Fitzpatrick both were credited with one ground ball. Lily Sadovy was credited with three saves in goal.
Central Bucks South (3-6, 3-1 SOL) will host Central Bucks West on Wednesday at 7 p.m., and Council Rock North (2-5, 1-4) will be on the road at Central Bucks East.
Central Bucks South 10-12 22
Council Rock North 5-6 11
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 11, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 8
Rianna Shields and Carley Irvin both had a hand in five goals to lead the Golden Hawks to their third win without a loss in conference play. Shields finished with three goals and two assists while Irvin had four goals and one assist. Cailey Hiscox was credited with a hat trick while Julia Levin had one goal and two assists.
For the Patriots, Paige Keller had a big day, leading the way with five goals and one assist. She also had seven draw controls and four ground balls. Courtney Mackenzie added two goals and one assist. She also had four draw controls and one ground ball. Sammy Kishel had a goal and one draw control. Courtney Curry added an assist to go along with three ground balls.
Also for the Patriots, Morgan Eater had two ground balls and one caused turnover. Sophia Buesing had three ground balls and one caused turnover. Abby Durr also had one ground ball while Grace Bethke and Leah Trichon each had one caused turnover.
Council Rock South (4-1, 3-0 SOL) will host Springfield Township in a non-league game Thursday, and Central Bucks East (2-7, 0-4) will host Council Rock North on Wednesday.
Central Bucks East 3-5 8
Council Rock South 7-4 11
PENNSBURY 13, PENNRIDGE 1
The visiting Falcons excelled in all facets of the game, opening up a 7-1 halftime lead and rolling to the big win.
“Today’s win was a full team effort,” Pennsbury coach Shannon MacPherson said. “The girls are really meshing well and feeding off each other. They had a great energy today and that lasted throughout the game.”
Darrien Furiness led a balanced attack with four goals. Maggie Golder had a hand in seven goals, connecting for a hat trick and assisting on four goals. Sarah Walcott also had three goals. Maddy Spratt added two goals and three assists and Olivia Walcott chipped in a single goal.
Once again, the Falcons controlled the draw. Golder had seven draw controls while Furiness and Spratt each had three. Golder also had a team high nine ground balls to go along with three caused turnovers. Furniess had five ground balls and two caused turnovers, and Spratt was credited with three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Sarah Walcott had a pair of ground balls and a caused turnover.
“Maggie Golder again did a great job taking the draw for us,” MacPherson said. “Maddy (Spratt) and Darrien (Furniess) continued to get draw controls.
“The attack worked together and set each other up to be successful. They make it fun to watch them play. The defense communicated and our crashes were on point today.”
Pennsbury (5-1, 2-1 SOL) will host North Penn in a key conference battle Wednesday, and Pennridge (3-5, 2-2) will host Bensalem on Wednesday.
Pennsbury 7-6 13
Pennridge 1-0 1
SOL American Conference
WISSAHICKON 13, NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 12 (OT)
The Trojans opened up a 10-4 halftime lead and appeared to be well on their way to another lopsided win. The Lions had other ideas, rallying to take a 12-11 lead before the Trojans scored a goal in the closing seconds to send the game into overtime.
Lexi Hobson came up with a turnover on the defensive end that set up Emma Baker’s equalizer with 30 seconds remaining. Baker also scored the game-winner 47 seconds into OT.
“After we tied the game, we came off the field and did a huge exhale,” Wissahickon coach Jamie Kane said. “I said, ‘Now it’s a clean slate, it’s 0-0 and a new game.’
“I turned to Abby DeGroat who’s excellent on the draw. I said, ‘Do you think we need to switch it up? What do you need to do?’ She’s like, ‘I don’t think we need to switch anything. I think we’re going to win this one.’ Abby basically got the draw to Emma Baker, who won the draw and got it down to our attacking end. Our attack worked the ball around, and then Emma was able to score 47 seconds in.”
Baker’s five goals led the Trojans. She also had seven draw controls and one ground ball. Sophia Chiodo Ortiz scored four goals and also had one draw control. Hobson had one goal, one assist, five caused turnovers, five ground balls and two draw controls in a standout effort.
“I think they had maybe a slow start because the team that started was a little tentative and hesitant, and within 20 minutes, they were winning every draw and making next to no errors,” Kane said. “They were doing really well. They have some excellent ball handlers on their team. They were winning every draw, winning every ground ball and getting the ball in the back of the net. It’s a great program.
“Abby, Sophia and Emma were excellent on the draw for us, and so was Lexi.”
DeGroat had two goals and three draw controls. Quinn Gaffey contributed one goal, one assist and one ground ball, and Alena Doll had two caused turnovers and one interception. Nora Ryan also had one caused turnover.
For the Lions, Rachel Saxton’s four goals led the attack. Kate Dougherty added three goals and three assists, including the go-ahead goal that gave the Lions a 12-11 lead with 5:14 remaining in regulation (Rylie Hepp assist). According to Kane, Dougherty was a force.
“She’s excellent – uncheckable, fast and tall,” the Trojans’ coach said of the Penn State-bound senior. “She was hard to stop. I don’t think she dropped the ball once.”
Madie Thistelwaite added a pair of goals, including the goal that tied the game 11-11 with 9:56 remaining in regulation. Dougherty had the assist. Lily Smith, Emma Ives and Juliana Covino contributed one goal each.
“A tough loss today after an awesome comeback,” NHS coach Betsy Dougherty said. “They fought their way back to a tie with 10 minutes to go in the game, then scored the go-ahead goal with five minutes left in regulation.
“We got possession and were able to hold the ball until 36 seconds were left in the (second) half. The Trojans got the ball back on a turnover and took it down to tie it up. Wissahickon won the draw and scored the winning goal 47 seconds into overtime.”
Wissahickon goalie Madeline Murphy had five saves in the win.
Wissahickon (7-0, 2-0 SOL) will host Springfield Township on Wednesday, and New Hope-Solebury (4-3, 1-2) will travel to Abington on Tuesday for a 5 p.m. contest.
Wissahickon 10-2-1 13
New Hope-Solebury 4-8-0 12
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 17, LOWER MORELAND 4
The Colonials raced out of the gate to a 12-2 halftime lead on their way to the convincing conference win. Meghan Wendler led a balanced attack with five goals while Max Leszczynski added four goals and one assist. Contributing two goals each were Raya Gauntlett, Fiona Gooneratne and Haley McCourt. Gooneratne also had a pair of assists. Brianna Austin added a goal and an assist, and Lauren Ianello had one goal.
For the Lions, Paige Malpezzi had a hat trick and Sara Asmann added a single goal.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-5, 3-1 SOL) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham on Wednesday, and Lower Moreland (1-4, 0-3) will host New Hope-Solebury on Friday.
Lower Moreland 2-2 4
Plymouth Whitemarsh 12-5 17
Non-league
VILLA JOSEPH MARIE 17, NESHAMINY 3
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