It’s been an interesting week of SOL action.
On Monday night, Council Rock North faced Abington in a key National Conference showdown – the Indians won 10-7, and one night later, Souderton took on North Penn in a crucial Continental Conference game, battling the fifth-ranked Maidens until the final whistle before falling 11-8. Check out the lacrosse home page for complete coverage of both of those contests.
On Saturday, a pair of SOL teams will be competing in the Katie Sansom Lacrosse Festival at Radnor High School. Abington will take on Germantown Friends at 9 a.m., and Upper Dublin will face Springside at 10:45 a.m.
Also on Saturday, the 9th Annual Lacrosse-A-Thon to benefit the Deb MacFarland-Corrigan Memorial Fund will be held at Springfield High School. The tournament schedule is as follows:
Game 1: Central Bucks South vs. Gwynedd Mercy Academy @ 9 a.m.
Game 2: Hatboro-Horsham vs. Lower Merion @ 9:30 a.m.
Game 3: Penn Wood vs. Mount St. Joseph’s @ 10:30 a.m.
Game 4: Springfield vs. Central Bucks South @ 11:30 a.m.
Game 5: Hatboro-Horsham vs. Gwynedd Mercy Academy @ 12 noon
Game 6: Lower Merion vs. Mount St. Joseph’s Academy
Game 7: Springfield vs. Penn Wood @ 1:30 p.m.
Be sure to check the web site for scores and updated standings.
National Conference
“You don’t drown by falling in water; you drown by staying there.” –Edwin Louis Cole
Those have become words to live by for Pat Toner, who received the above quote from a former player.
The Council Rock North co-coach was still coming to grips with the loss of her younger brother Stephen – who passed away suddenly in the summer of 2008 – when she received word that her sister Jeanie had collapsed in Penn Station after a day in New York City to see a Broadway show. She was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
The death of Toner’s sister on Feb. 15, 2010 was followed by news that her newborn grandson would need to undergo open heart surgery. Her grandson’s surgery was successful, but for Toner, the pain of the sudden and inexplicable loss of a pair of siblings remains very fresh.
Coaching sports might not have been at the top of the list of things she most wanted to do when spring rolled around, but the veteran coach was back on the sidelines.
Her team is playing a major role in Toner’s healing.
“They helped me through a really rough period,” the Indians’ coach said. “It’s been very difficult for me to come back to coaching and even to come back to school, and they’ve been very helpful with that.
“I figure all the times I tell them they need to be resilient and they need to bounce back – everything I have ever told them about resiliency and overcoming adversity is what I have to apply to myself. That’s the way life is – it doesn’t always hand you what you want, but you just have to play with the cards that you’re given.”
The Indians are off to a dazzling 6-0 start, and leading this year’s squad are the team’s tri-captains – seniors Elly Plappert and Sara Clark and junior Lindsay Rheiner.
“What you ask they’ll do, and then some,” Toner said. “I don’t teach at (Rock North) and neither does (co-coach) Carolyln (Kacergis), and if you just ask them anything, it’s done. It’s done immediately.
“They ran their own practice one day because they felt they had to run through their plays a little bit more. They’re so concerned that sometimes they’ll text during the school day because it’s on their mind. They’re really focused, and they’re really dedicated athletes.”
Strong leadership has been paramount on an Indian squad that starts five sophomores – Hannah Plappert, Kara Magley, Molly Doyle, Kara Le and Bridget Doyle, all of whom started last year as freshmen.
“Carolyn (Kacergis) and I needed last year to kind of assess the situation and see what was going on and figure out what we needed to work on,” Toner said. “We’re a little bit ahead of the game this year.
“It’s tough because there are so many distractions in the spring season with the class trip and spring break and things like that. It’s tough to have any kind of cohesiveness going, but I’m really proud of how hard they’ve been working.”
A newcomer to the team and the sport is senior Sarah Kiely, who has stepped into the starting goalie position.
“We’re really thrilled with her,” Toner said. “She’s a stud athlete.”
Kiely- bound for American University on a basketball scholarship - admits it’s been an interesting experience.
“Lacrosse is so competitive - even the goalies have to run at practice,” she said. “This team is so great. I came on not knowing anything, and they’ve helped me through everything.”
After Monday night’s 10-7 win over Abington, the Indians have established themselves as the team to beat in the conference.
“They have been working hard,” Toner said. “We have played some good teams, and we have been fortunate to do well.
“Abington is one of the premier teams. Abington and North Penn – we’re hoping to get our program to that level at some point. It remains to be seen whether or not we’re there yet. A lot of people are talking about how young (their teams) are, but I could say the same thing.”
For Toner, the events of the past several years have forever changed her perspective on life and sports.
“It makes you re-evaluate things,” she said. “I look at Marie Schmucker and what she’s gone through, and I have a lot of respect for her.
“When I look at what some kids have gone through, it just makes you re-evaluate things. Yes, sports are important, and I always want to win and would do anything to try to win, but at the same time, there are a whole lot of other things that have to come into play. I love these kids. They’re awesome, and I’m very blessed to have the opportunity to work with them.
“We will do the best we can this season and see how we do. My goal would be to be a program like Abington or North Penn or Radnor or some of the premier teams. That’s what I’d love to see us get to at some point.”
Continental Conference
Breast cancer can happen to anyone.
The Hatboro-Horsham lacrosse team found that out firsthand when their coach, Marie Schmucker, was diagnosed with the disease on Feb. 5, 2008.
“No one ever thought it could be coach Schmucker,” senior captain Lauren Purvis said. “It just shows you it could hit anyone.
“Everyone was like, ‘No way,’ but if she can get it, I could definitely get it. It makes you really think.”
Schmucker returned to the sidelines this spring after taking a medical leave the past two seasons, and on Tuesday, her lacrosse team held its ‘Play 4 the Cure’ game
“We know about (breast cancer) firsthand,” captain Sarah Tustin said. “Where other teams might think, ‘Oh cool, we get to wear pink shirts.’
“We’re like, ‘This is really cool because we’re actually doing it for someone.’ We’re not just doing it for everyone who has breast cancer. We’re doing it for our coach.”
Tustin acknowledged that no one could have imagined their coach would be stricken with breast cancer.
“Never in a million years,” the senior captain said. “Our coach was so fit. She did everything right. She eats the healthiest of anyone I know. She couldn’t do anything to prevent it.”
Not surprisingly, Hatboro’s ‘Pink Game’ is a whole lot more personal than most.
“Some other pink games – and not to be rude or anything, but they just do it to raise awareness,” Purvis said. “We really do it because we have a passion for someone who has been through it.
“She’s told us how bad it is and how she doesn’t want it for us. We’re not only doing it for her but for everyone who has breast cancer and who has been affected by it.”
Schmucker is not only trying to raise the awareness about breast cancer but also raise funds to find a cure for the deadly disease. This fall she and four team members on ‘Marie’s Mission: Pay it Forward’ will be participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure, a 60-mile walk to raise funds for breast cancer research.
“Who better than me to do this,” she said. “A lot of people know me, and it’s for a great cause.”
Schmucker’s training regiment begins on May 1.
“It’s pretty intense,” she said. “From what I hear, it will change each and every one of us.”
All those participating in the walk must raise $2,300, but Schmucker is aiming to do better than that.
“My goal is $5,000,” she said. “I thought this would be a great way to get it out to the community. There’s someone in their lifetime that has been affected by cancer.
“I have more people around me who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. It hits one in eight women, and every 13 minutes someone dies of breast cancer. My goal is to get the word out there and to help find a cure.”
In an attempt to raise funds for her walk, Schmucker will be holding a Beef-N-Beer fundraiser on Friday, May 7, at the Knights of Columbus in Glenside. Tickets are $30 on a first-come, first-served basis. The event begins at 8 p.m. and continues until midnight.
In the meantime, Schmucker, who has spoken at several high schools, will continue to spread the word about a disease that forever altered her life.
“I tell the girls every day it’s about lifelong lessons,” Schmucker said. “It’s not about winning and losing.
“We had a heart-to-heart talk one day, and I said, ‘I’m going to be honest with you – athletics are great and teach lifelong lessons, and one of the lessons I learned - if it wasn’t for me being involved in athletics, I don’t know if I would have fought as hard as I fought to get through this.’
“That’s where I’m talking about lifelong lessons. Going after every ground ball – you’re fighting. Who would have ever thought this would happen? You fight like hell, and this is what the kids are seeing. Whether it’s on the field or in the classroom, whatever it may be – don’t you dare quit.
“Every day these kids motivate me to be out on this field.”
American Conference
Up and down.
That’s how Cheltenham coach Dave Burton described his team’s season so far.
And no game better demonstrated that inconsistency than the Lady Panthers’ contest against Upper Merion on April 9.
The Lady Panthers found themselves on the short end of a 13-4 score at halftime.
Sounds pretty hopeless, right?
Guess again.
The Lady Panthers outscored the stunned Vikings 18-1 in the second half on their way to a you-had-to-see-it-to-believe-it 22-14 win.
“I have been coaching something for almost 25 years now, and I can’t really remember a game that was so dramatically different in two halves,” Burton said. “A lot of people have said, ‘That must have been some speech at halftime.’
“I said nothing that would have prompted or motivated that kind of change. I just said, ‘We have to play better lacrosse. We have to take care of the ball.’”
The Lady Panthers did just that.
They had 14 first-half turnovers and only four in the second half.
They controlled three of 18 draws in the first half but came back to control 17 of 20 in the second half.
“We were struggling with the draw, and at halftime, one of the kids (low defender Liza Brazil) said, ‘I think I can get the ball’ – she wasn’t doing the draw but on the circle,” Burton recalled. “I was all for it, and sure enough, she did. She got at least four.
“When we got the ball, we got the ball behind their defense so quickly, and they were really struggling to stop our transition, but they’re much improved this year. They did a great job throughout the game of possessing the ball and taking care of it.”
Talk to Burton about his players, and he describes them as ‘really good girls.’
“Most of them are smart, and they’re calm and quiet and really, really exemplary students,” he said. “Coming into the season, I never had less of a feel for what to expect from a team.
“I was cautiously optimistic, and a lot of it was because we have a real dichotomy in terms of our class.”
The Panthers’ roster includes 12 seniors but also six freshmen – four of whom who have started at some point.
“There’s a real separation of experience, and that has certainly had an impact,” Burton said.
The Lady Panthers are without last year’s big gun – Charlotte Swavola, who is attending Temple on a lacrosse scholarship and has twice been named the Atlantic 10 Lacrosse Rookie of the Week.
“For four years, these seniors have had either Charlotte Swavola or Mary Dean to look to,” Burton said. “We have a broader base of players that we can count on this year, and I think they’re finding their way.”
Liz Heiman, a senior captain who will be playing lacrosse at Trinity College, has led the Panthers offensively. Alex Nortel has been a quiet contributor.
“She’s a kid that would never make any waves in lacrosse in terms of being noticed, but she’s really a nice girl and is just steady,” Burton said. “She plays all the time, and she very seldom hurts us, but you wouldn’t notice her.”
The sister act of junior Rachel McManus and freshman Sammie McManus have also been key pieces to the puzzle.
“Rachel has been very consistent and is our second leading goal scorer this year,” Burton said. “Sammie has started every game since the third game of the season, and she’s contributed really well for us.”
Junior Madi Brunk takes the draws and plays center.
“She’s been really steady,” Burton said.
Midfielder Olivia Dudo has been battling an ankle injury since our second game and been out a week and a half. She’s expected to make important contributions when she returns.
“The girls keep things in perspective, and for a coach – and I am competitive, it can be really frustrating sometimes,” Burton said. “Lacrosse is not life or death to them, and it’s not to me either, but I wish it was a little more to them, but they have so many more talents and interests.”
In back-to-back seasons, the Lady Panthers hosted a lacrosse team from England. Each time, the team has said that Cheltenham was its favorite stop on its U.S. trip.
“The girls are so welcoming and so warm,” Burton said. “They’re really a close-knit team. They like each other, they like lacrosse, and they have a really good perspective on how important it is.
“They’re friendly, thoughtful and kind, and they’re quiet also, so getting them to talk on defense – all the things that contribute and make it more likely you’ll succeed against tough teams, those girls don’t naturally have that, but they try.
“They understand how important a component that is, and they certainly compete. They get excited when they win and down when they lose, but they manage to keep it in great perspective. I’ll be honest – they help me with that because sometimes it’s tough for me to do that.
“On the field, we really play hard to win, and it’s tough sometimes to know we’re better than what we play, but the girls really help me with that. They’re really amazing.”
SuburbanOneSports.com’s Fab Five
- North Penn (7-0) (What’s not to like about a Maiden squad that boasts talent up and down the lineup and just keeps on winning.)
- Upper Dublin (6-0) (The Cardinals have been flying high this season, riding their explosive offense to a dazzling start.)
- Council Rock North (6-0) (The Indians proved they are the real deal with their 10-7 win over Abington.)
- Souderton (5-2) (Souderton gave North Penn all it could handle before falling 11-8.)
- Wissahickon (6-1) (The Trojans’ only loss came at the hands of Upper Dublin by two goals.)
Under consideration: Abington (4-3) (The Ghosts, who have played a tough schedule, have struggled early after losing Kate Cooper for the season with a knee injury.)
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