Check back next week for a feature about Hatboro hockey and lacrosse coach Marie Schmucker as she comes down the home stretch of a journey that began on Feb. 5, 2008, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
HORSHAM – The script for Wednesday’s regular season finale read a bit like a fairy tale for the Hatboro-Horsham field hockey team.The Hatters opened the specially designated ‘Play 4 the Cure’ contest against Central Bucks West by presenting a pink fleece and flowers to coach Marie Schmucker, who is on medical leave battling breast cancer.
They closed in it electrifying fashion when senior Jenna Gould slammed home the rebound of a goalie save 29 seconds into overtime, giving the Hatters a scintillating 1-0 win over the Bucks in a key SOL contest.
“It was awesome to see her here and to do this for her,” Gould said of Schmucker. “I know it (Breast Cancer Awareness) is a whole month, but it especially hits us hard because of her.
“I did not want to lose today.”
Gould’s goal came so quickly that fans had barely settled into their seats for what promised to be an entertaining overtime period when it ended. The Hatters, who took the initial tap, carried the ball into the striking circle, fired a shot that was turned away, and Gould was there for the rebound.
“We were like, ‘Let’s get this over with,’” Gould said. “Overtime can get tiring with seven people. We just wanted to get it over with and done and have a win.
“I was just at the right spot at the right time. It came to me, and I hit it right in.”
If following a shot was as easy as Gould made it sound, the Hatters would have been on the scoreboard a whole lot sooner. So would the Bucks.
Both teams had golden opportunities to get on the scoreboard – the Bucks in the first half and the Hatters in the second, but the respective goalies came up huge.
Hatboro’s Jenna Phillips had five first-half saves, three during a spectacular sequence late in the half.
“You know what, the more you bring at her, the better she is,” Hatter coach Krista Greene said. “The games I’m concerned are when she doesn’t touch the ball. She loves the pressure.”
The Bucks were awarded a stroke but missed high. Phillips, according to Greene, has been outstanding against strokes – a fact that may have played into the miss.
“I think people know she’s a great goalie,” the Hatters’ coach said. “She’s started since she was a freshman, and she’s gotten better and better and better.”
Then came a second dominated by the Hatters. All told, they drew nine corners and took 12 shots, but Summers was equal to the task, making 10 stops in a superb showing.
Thanks in no small part to the glittering efforts of Phillips, Summers and the respective defenses, the stage was set for a 15-minute overtime that was over in 29 seconds, thanks to Gould’s heroics.
“I was shocked because it was so fast,” senior co-captain Colleen Eppinger said. “We would have liked to win at the end of the game, but to win in overtime is awesome too.”
The loss was a disappointing one for a West squad that could have ensured itself sole possession of second place in the Continental Conference standings with a win.
“I really thought we played a good first half,” West coach Alison Stone said. “Our decision-making was really bad in the second half. I felt we got into a mode where they don’t play together.
“It’s hard to know what to say to them when it’s just a complete change. It’s just really disappointing.”
Both team finish the regular season with identical 8-5-1 records in league play.
The Hatters, who finished strong, were 1-4 after five games and 9-2-1 since then.
“Our positions stayed mostly the same, but instead of having four backs, we went to four forwards and three backs,” Eppinger said. “Something changed, and we just turned it on and started to win.
“This game was really important because we weren’t sure if we’d be in the playoffs if we lost. We’re still not positive, 
but we definitely needed this win.”
but we definitely needed this win.”“This game depends on whether we make it into the playoffs or not,” Gould said. “We did it for playoffs and for Schmucker.”
And on a day when the Hatters wore pink headbands and warm-up t-shirts with the letters HHFH4L (Hatboro-Horsham Field Hockey 4 Life) on the front, when their field was lined with pink and their goalie had a large pink breast cancer ribbon insignia on each pad, the Hatters went out and won a big game.
For their coach and for themselves.
Schmucker, who has just one week of radiation remaining, admits it has been quite a journey.
“This is probably the hardest training I have ever had to do, but you do what you have to do to get through it,” she said. “You take one minute, one day at a time.
“I wake up, go outside and thank the person up above that I have another day of seeing the sunshine, taking a breath of fresh air and getting a second chance at life because I basically am getting a second chance at life.”
And that is reason to celebrate.
HATBORO-HORSHAM 1, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0
Central Bucks West 0 0 0-0
Hatboro-Horsham 0 0 1-1
Goals/Assists: Hatboro – Jenna Gould 1-0.
Shots: CBW-7, HH-13.
Corners: CBW-3, HH-9
Saves: Emily Summers (CBW) 11, Jenna Phillips (HH) 5.
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