To view game action photos, visit the photo gallery at the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
BUCKINGHAM – In years past, Central Bucks East always had stretches during the season when ‘stuff happened,’ and as a result, the Patriots came up just a bit short.
At least that’s how senior captain Dana Thomas explained it.
This season, that ‘stuff’ didn’t happen.
Instead, the Patriots have found their stride when it mattered most, winning six straight – including Tuesday’s 5-1 win over Central Bucks West - to put themselves in a position to win the SOL Continental Conference crown. “This year we finally clicked,” Thomas said.
The ‘clicking’ Patriots will face archrival and defending conference champion Central Bucks South in Wednesday afternoon’s regular season finale. South needs only a tie to defend its title while East must win if it hopes to dethrone the Titans.
No matter the outcome, it’s a scenario few could have predicted when the Patriots limped out of the gate to a 3-4 record after one go-round in league play.
“We didn’t get off to a good start,” said senior captain Erin O’Brien, who had the hat trick in Tuesday’s win. “Right when the second half started, we had a talk and said, ‘We have to pick it up now,’ and we totally turned it around.”
“Our team is really close,” Thomas added. “We had to put all the losses behind us and move forward. We didn’t want it to end this way.”
If there was a turning point to the season, it came – according to O’Brien – when the Patriots beat North Penn 1-0.
“After that, we knew we could beat anybody,” the senior captain said.
The Patriots had just started to turn things around when Thomas broke her nose and was forced to have surgery, which sidelined her for a stretch of four games.
“After Dana broke her nose, everyone got in the mindset – ‘We don’t have one of our best players. We have to do our job to the best of our ability,’” senior captain Christina Maida said. “Everyone has really been doing it perfectly.”
And the Patriots just kept on winning.
Their win over North Penn was followed by wins over Quakertown and Pennridge, and then came the really big wins. First, it was a 1-0 win over Hatboro-Horsham on the Hatters’ home field.
“When we got the first goal, we just played a defensive game and held them,” O’Brien said. “It was unbelievable. They had 25 corners, and we didn’t let in one goal.”The Patriots followed that with a 2-1 overtime win over Souderton in a driving rain storm last Thursday.
“The next day we had a recovery practice, and we sat around in a circle and talked,” Central Bucks East coach Marie Meehan said. “Each girl had a chance to say something. It was amazing to hear the things they said
“It was the things a coach would dream of them saying, and it came out of the girls. All that intangible stuff is what you need. When you have that under your belt, you can go out and compete against anyone. People aren’t expecting East, but we are.”
Tuesday’s Senior Day win over West set the stage for Wednesday’s showdown against South.
“It’s very nerveracking,” O’Brien said. “We never thought we would get this far, and now it’s right in front of us. It’s been our goal to do this all season.”
“It was my number one goal – I wanted to win the SOL,” Thomas said.
While the Patriots have a chance to make their dreams come true, the Bucks are at the opposite end of the spectrum, wondering what went wrong in a season that saw them win just three games.
“It’s been a hard season for us,” West coach Alison Stone said. “Injuries have really cost us.
“My husband is my assistant coach at home, and he said, ‘I think if you had beaten William Tennent in your opener you would have had a completely different season.’ It’s been a confidence thing.”West lost to Tennent 2-1 in their season opener. Things were never quite the same again.
“I definitely think that had an effect on us,” senior Jordan Walls said. “It’s one of those things when you get down in that ditch, the motivation drops a little bit, and it takes a lot to get back on track.
“Our team gave it their all. We really tried, we really wanted it. It just didn’t happen for us.”
The Bucks came out of the gate on the attack and - after goalie Jessica Meisinger-McDonald turned away a pair of shots on East’s first corner – drew back-to-back corners of their own but came up empty.
“For the seniors, it’s our last East game ever, and we all came out really pumped,” Walls said. “Coach started all the seniors. We were really ready.”
The Patriots took a 1-0 lead after O’Brien, in a standout individual effort, dribbled the ball into the circle and almost effortlessly put the ball into the cage.
With 8:19 remaining in the half, Meehan called a timeout. Ten seconds later, Thomas, who is wearing a protective mask, turned a Maggie Gonsiewski pass into a goal to make it a 2-0 game.
The Bucks outshot the Patriots by an 11-6 margin in the second half, but the Patriots outscored them 3-1.
“We played well, but it just didn’t turn out the way we wanted,” Walls said. “It was the same thing the last time we played East. We outshot them, but we just couldn’t get it.”
O’Brien’s second goal made it 3-0 before sophomore Jenny Kamel turned a rebound into a goal during West’s corner play, trimming East’s lead to two.
“She’s going to be a strong player,” Stone said. “I have a couple of young kids who have been playing a little bit more, and I like what I see.”Two minutes later, O’Brien’s corner shot from the top of the circle was deflected into the cage by Shannon Devlin. O’Brien closed out the scoring with her third goal late in the half, and the stage was set for a showdown with South as the Patriots try for their seventh win in as many games.
“We wanted to take it step by step to this game,” Maida said. “We knew West wanted to come in and spoil our season and end our winning streak.
“That would have made their season, but we definitely had our heads in the game. We came out strong. Tomorrow is such a huge game for us. If we win, we come out in top. We’ve never done it before in our four years of playing, and it feels good to be where we are right now.”
And what is Maida’s explanation for East’s turnaround?
“I don’t really know what happened,” the senior captain said. “It’s almost like it happened overnight that we all just came together, our heads got in it, and everyone started stepping up.”
While the Bucks fell to 3-10 in league play (3-13 overall), the Patriots improved to 9-4 in the SOL (9-7 overall).
“I think that step by step the girls could see that they could do what we were asking of them,” Meehan said. “You ask them to believe it, and I think they finally started believing it.
“Little by little, step by step they put the plan in action. The girls work well together, they get along together. It’s just hard work and positive, positive communication.”
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 5, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 1
Central Bucks West 0 1-1
Central Bucks East 2 3-5
Goals/Assists: CB West – Jenny Kamel 1-0. CB East – Erin O’Brien 3-1, Dana Thomas 1-0, Shannon Devlin 1-0. Maggie Gonsiewski 0-1.
Shots: CBW-16, CBE-13.
Corners: CBW-9, CBE-6.
Saves: Jessica Meisinger-McDonald (CBW) 7, Christina Maida (CBE) 15.
- Log in to post comments
0
