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It was not the best of days for the SOL in Tuesday’s opening round of the PIAA Class AAA Tournament. Four teams were in action. Only one – Council Rock North – survived.
Rock North edged District 12 champion Archbishop Carroll 1-0 while District One champion Wissahickon fell to Hempfield 3-2 in overtime. Central Bucks East lost to District Three runner-up Penn Manor 6-0 while Central Bucks South was edged by District Three champion Hershey 3-2.
1-4 Council Rock North 1, 12-1 Archbishop Carroll 0
The Indians received a second-half goal by Michelle Hand (Carly Everett assist), and that was enough to hold off a strong Carroll squad as Rock North notched its 14th shutout of the season. Hand connected for the game winner at the 14:05 mark of the second half during corner play.
The Indians have won every game when they have scored first and lost every game when they haven’t.
“It was the most intense game we have ever played in,” coach Heather Whalin said. “It was literally up and down the field for 60 minutes.
“Our girls were exhausted after the game. It was such a back and forth game. Carroll is so fast, and they were very skilled. Their goalie is super athletic and very fast. They had their opportunities.”
Amanda Krause turned away eight shots in a standout effort, and defenders Becky Ely and Courtney Titus both collected defensive saves.
“The entire defense was unbelievable today,” Whalin said of Titus, Kara Le, Jackie Fagan and Kara Magley. “Kara Magley took the ball from one circle to the other. She was really getting it done today. She matched up with their speed, and that really helped us. Their girls could fly.
“Amanda had some amazing saves, really game-saving saves.
“Michelle Hand, Becky Ely and Carly Everett had great games, and our forwards – Gabby Tofig, Hannah Plappert and Alex Kuzma – really stepped it up today.”
Rock North held a 14-10 advantage in shots and a 7-6 edge in corners.
“It was very evenly matched,” Whalin said. “There were no lulls in the game. Usually you will get a little bit of time where you can relax – there was none.
“We came out strong and definitely dominated the first 10 minutes of the game, and they settled in and it was very back and forth. It was a great game to watch.”
The Indians will face Hempfield in a second round game on Saturday at a time and place to be determined.
“You never know,” Whalin said. “Last year’s team was the team we thought would have gone far with their talent, and they had been there before.
“This year, half the team hadn’t played in a varsity game until this year. It’s overwhelming and exciting. They’re having a great time. You saw it in their faces today – they left everything on the field. When the buzzer went off, they went ballistic. They couldn’t believe it. It was just so much fun.
“No one expected this. We’re just going to keep going with this.”
3-4 Hempfield 3, 1-1 Wissahickon 2 (OT)
The Trojans, who had not allowed a goal in four games in district tournament play, were doomed during a deadly 42-second stretch late in Tuesday’s game that saw the Black Knights score a pair of goals.
The fateful sequence began when – with the Trojans on top 1-0 – Hempfield knotted the score at the 7:24 mark when Alli Maurer deflected a corner shot by Lauren Brooks into the cage.
Lauren Becker took it upon herself to get that goal back, and in a dazzling individual effort, the Trojans’ junior midfield dribbled through Hempfield’s defense and into the circle for a goal.
The play took all of nine seconds.“After they scored, it was like a rush of emotion,” Becker said. “I just went down – I knew it was going in.”
The Trojans’ celebration, however, lasted all of 33 seconds as Hempfield’s Rachel Cox came back to score on a corner.
“I think they realized you lose and you’re out, and right after we scored, they came right back at us,” Becker said. “Sometimes, I guess, we weren’t expecting it, and then we had to pick up from there when it was too late.”
The Black Knights won it at the 13:17 mark of overtime when - with sophomore Jackie Hibbs down on the field – they capitalized on a numbers advantage with Brooks sending a pass across goal to a wide open Kelsey Nolan, who connected for the game winner.
“I think they wanted it, and it showed,” Becker said.
“They had some really good individual players,” teammate Gretchen Guaglianone said.
The junior midfielder – whose goal from the top of the circle at the 20:46 mark of the second half put the Trojans on top 1-0 – acknowledged that the game had a different look and feel about it.
“In districts, you focused on stopping them and not on getting the next goal for yourselves,” Guaglianone said. “When they kept responding, we had to keep picking ourselves up time after time, and the last time we just couldn’t get it in.”
The Trojans will return nine starters from this year’s squad next season, and the future is decidedly bright for a squad that captured the American Conference title as well as the coveted District One crown.
“I’m extremely proud of them,” Gil said. “I don’t think anybody put us all the way at the top (of the district) at the beginning of the season, and we won the games we had to win when some teams didn’t, and I think that showed their mettle.”
Wissahickon closed out the season with an impressive 20-3 record.
3-2 Penn Manor 6, 1-3 Central Bucks East 0
Coach Marie Meehan had high praise for her opponent in a contest that saw District Three’s second place team open up a 4-0 halftime lead on its way to the big win.
“They were really good,” the Patriots’ coach said. “They lost to Hershey 1-0, but from what I understand, they dominated the game but just didn’t score.
“They were batting the ball around like it was a badminton game. It was crazy. There is no team I have seen that plays like this team. The Mount was a very good team, and we had trouble with them, but this team was by far the best team we have seen.
“Their skills dribbling the ball – they were weaving in and out the whole way up the field. They scored on corners, and they were relentless in the circle. We had a couple of runs, but we were focusing on defense most of the game. It was really intense.”
The Patriots, who finished third in the Continental Conference, closed out their season with an 18-6 record.
“We are very proud of the girls,” Meehan said. “It was one of those games that was hard to coach because you see your opportunities slipping away. We focused on the girls being out there together and wanting to finish and play as hard as they could the rest of the game.
“They definitely had a wonderful season. They worked hard together, and it was a really, really special year. A lot happened that people didn’t expect us to accomplish. They grew as a team – they got better as they played together. They continued to achieve and set higher goals for themselves.
“It was a beautiful thing to watch them develop throughout the season.”
Penn Manor is Meehan’s choice to win the state title.
“Their passing game is just so sharp,” the Patriots’ coach said. “It was really, really good hockey.
“I told my younger kids, ‘Now you have seen it – this is something to aspire to,’ and they can work to get back to states next year.”
3-1 Hershey 3, 1-6 Central Bucks South 2
South’s Jessie Accurso scored what appeared to be the tying goal at the final whistle, but the goal was waved off by the officials, who ruled it had not crossed the goal line before the whistle sounded.
“We had a long hit – we brought the ball in the circle and crossed it,” coach Christina Ford said of the game’s final sequence. “We hit it into the cage, and the whistle blew.
“It was so close that you don’t know who’s right and who’s wrong. Everybody knows the ball went in. That’s not the question – it was a goal, but it was just the timing.”
That play brought to an end a postseason of great promise for a Titan squad that last year captured the District One title and advanced to the state semifinals.
“It’s extremely difficult for this to be the end of our season,” Ford said. “I feel as though the regular season went by in a flash.
“The goal from the beginning of the year was to be state champions and to get as far as we possibly could. To see it end in the first round of states is difficult. This team had high expectations, and to know how disappointed they were is hard.”
It was the third time in three years the Titans saw their season end at the hands of Hershey. The first two losses came in the state semifinals.
“It makes it worse that it’s the third year playing Hershey,” Ford said. “The girls knew that they were better than the outcome. It’s not like we were getting dominated or playing defense the entire time, and that makes it really hard.”
Hershey got on the scoreboard early in the first half, and the Titans missed out on a chance to knot the score when Hershey’s goalie turned away Maddy Harding’s penalty stroke.
“After they scored, we had the better of play,” Ford said. “The team was confident. They knew they had possession of the ball, and we just needed to execute on our opportunities.”
Hershey took that 1-0 lead into halftime and extended its lead to 2-0 at the 28:51 mark of the second half.
A Colleen Kempf goal (Casey McGowan assist) just over a minute later made it a 2-1 game, but Hershey answered with a goal at the 22:55 mark to go on top 3-1. With 11 minutes remaining in regulation, Accurso scored. It would be the Titans’ last hurrah.
“We definitely had chances to tie the game,” Ford said. “In the last 20 minutes, they didn’t have any opportunities in our circle.
“I wouldn’t say we were in their circle the entire time, but we had more possession of the ball down in their end.”
The Titans – who went through the regular season without a loss – closed out their season with an 18-3-2 record. The loss that hurt the most was South’s 2-0 district quarterfinal loss to Central Bucks East that put the Titans in a tough spot the rest of the way.
“Our losses were not at the best time,” Ford said. “That loss against East put us in the worst position possible. We dropped down from being on top of our district to being the last seed.
“After that game, we had to fight to continue. The goal still was to be the state champion. The goal was to play every game as though it was a one-game season, but if it didn’t go our way, I wanted to be proud of the hockey we played. I can fully say that I’m proud of the hockey we played.
“Obviously, there was a no-give-up effort when we’re scoring a goal in the last second of the game. The girls just kept going. I’m proud that it ended with them playing well. There was lots of talent on this team. They really were a talented group, and they were an exciting group to watch. They really were a neat bunch.”
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