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FRANCONIA TWP – They still might have to pinch themselves occasionally to believe it’s real, but the Souderton field hockey team is adjusting very nicely to life on its new turf field.
“After preseason, we were like, ‘This is really it,’” senior captain Olivia Shoemaker said. “This is our field.”
On Wednesday night, the Indians picked up their second win in as many games on their home field when they defeated Neshaminy 1-0 in a tightly contested non-league game.
“It’s amazing,” Shoemaker said. “The turf is so nice, and it’s so much fun to play on. It’s a whole different game than grass, and I think we adjusted really well to it and have been playing really good.”
Anything less would not have been good enough against a Redskin squad that - still stinging from its 3-1 loss to Hatboro-Horsham in its opener – battled the Indians tough for 60 minutes.
According to captain Kristine Dougherty, Wednesday’s performance was a marked improvement from the Redskins’ season opener.
“Oh my gosh, we were all so motivated tonight,” the senior defensive back said. “I haven’t seen that out of my team before. We have to take this into practice, and the next step is winning.
“This is such an inexperienced team, and against Hatboro we let some goals in that shouldn’t have been in – mainly on our defensive corners. Tonight, they had about seven or eight, and they scored on one, but we played really hard. We improved a lot.”
That improvement was not lost on coach Sara Camilli, who underscored the importance of Wednesday’s improved effort.
“I think this game was the deal breaker for us,” the first-year coach said. “We lost to Hatboro on Friday, and we walked off the field with our heads hanging low, but today they hustled, they put all the effort out on the field, and you can’t ask your team for anything more than that.”
The Indians seized control early, drawing their first of eight corners just over two minutes into the game. Alexa Bell, who finished with seven saves, turned away Shoemaker’s shot and then turned away back-to-back shots on the Indians’ third corner. 
The Redskins mounted some offensive pressure of their own, drawing three corners in the final eight minutes of the half. Late in the half, a Redskin goal was waved off with the official ruling that it had been kicked in by a Neshaminy player.
“Of course, I wanted that goal, but they took it back,” Camilli said. “We wanted to keep fighting, fighting, fighting for another goal. We had some opportunities. We didn’t get outplayed.”
The Indians’ lone goal came during corner play three minutes into the second half when Alex Atiyeh uncorked a rocket from the top right of the circle that wound up in the opposite corner of the cage.
“That was an amazing shot,” Shoemaker said. “She worked really hard for that shot, and she got open. It was like, ‘Yes, we are on top. We can do this. We will win.’”
There wasn’t a whole lot anyone could do to stop the junior midfielder’s laser shot, and after the game, Dougherty gave credit where credit was due.
“Great shot,” the Redskins’ captain said as she hugged Atiyeh, her teammate at Futures.
“It’s really fun,” Dougherty said of going against her friend. “I know how she plays – she’s a great player, and you could that see from the shot she had, but I’m just glad we could play competitively and still be friends.”
The game was not without its anxious moments for the Indians – who needed a pair of saves by sophomore goalie Morgan Brozena in the closing minutes to preserve the win.
“We all kind of had butterflies before the game, and those last three minutes - we knew we had to get out there and play strong,” said senior defensive back Kayla Schlosser. “We were really excited to hold them off and get that win.”
The Redskins and Indians have developed a friendly rivalry over the years. Last year, the Redskins defeated the Indians twice, including a 1-0 double overtime thriller in the district quarterfinals, but in Wednesday’s rematch, the more experienced Indians had the upper hand.
“Last year was a tough one, and tonight I had all the butterflies – I was really excited,” said senior Carly Hughes, who helped key a standout defensive effort at center back. “Defensively, we knew we had to come out strong because we knew they were going to be faster and a lot more competition than the Upper Perk game (a 4-2 Souderton win)
“Our defense was strong, our clears out were strong, and we were marking really well. Overall, we played pretty good.”
Hughes would get no argument from coach Mary Ann Harris, who pointed to the leadership of Hughes as key.
“Carly really stepped up today, and I hope that she will continue doing that,” the Indians’ coach said. “They (the Redskins) had all these new players that didn’t have that continuous attack on goal, but they had the speed and stickwork, and they stepped up and marked very well.
“They’re still a good team. They’re small, but they’re fast, and their goalkeeper does a good job. It was a nice win.”
Although the Redskins fell to 0-2, Camilli believes her team is heading in the right direction.
“We’re a really young team,” she said. “I think this game gave our younger girls confidence that we can do this – we are Neshaminy field hockey, and we can play even though we lost 12 seniors last year and everybody was doubting us.
“Souderton is a really skilled team. They’re fast, they’re a turf team, and we are not, but our passing looked unbelievable. We had younger girls stepping up that haven’t seen the varsity field before in their lives. It’s one step closer in the direction we want to go.”
EXTRA SHOTS: The Redskins have several upperclassmen with varsity experience who are sidelined with injuries, but Camilli lauded the efforts of Dougherty (right back), freshman Annie Kopera (sweeper) and Dale Mason, who played four different positions.
SOUDERTON 1, NESHAMINY 0
Neshaminy 0 0-0
Souderton 0 1-1
Goals/Assists: Souderton – Alex Atiyeh
Shots: N-5, S-9.
Corners: N-4, S-8
Saves: Alexa Bell (N) 7, Morgan Brozena (S) 3
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