North Penn won its third place game while Wissahickon fell in its fifth place game. They are the lone SOL schools advancing to next week’s PIAA Class AAA Tournament.
#16 NORTH PENN 5, #7 MOUNT ST. JOSEPH ACADEMY 4 (OT)
LOWER GWYNEDD - Emilie Ikeda scored all of one goal last season. The Maidens’ senior captain tripled that output in one memorable afternoon on Friday, connecting for the hat trick as the Maidens won a thriller at Wissahickon High School.
“I rarely score,” Ikeda said with a smile. “Just in general – I don’t score much, but it felt good to score. It really did.”
It felt even better to win a game that featured non-stop action and plenty of offense. The game was a stark contrast to the Maidens’ 3-0 loss to Owen J. Roberts in Wednesday’s district semifinal.
“The other day we weren’t connecting,” senior Juliamae Marger said. “Every person is a part of the machine, and if all the parts of the machine don’t mesh, then the machine’s not going to work.
“Obviously, we weren’t meshing, we weren’t playing together on Wednesday. Today we knew we had to come out, and we knew we had to connect. Team chemistry is the most important thing when you’re playing a game, and we definitely had that today. We were talking, communicating and being smart about our playing.”
The Maidens also were amazingly resilient, rallying from a 4-2 second half deficit to earn the win.
“I think there was no part in the game today where we thought we were going to lose,” Ikeda said. “I think the entire game we had the mindset – which is sometimes really hard to get when you’re down two goals – that we weren’t going to lose the game.”
The Maidens, it seems, had a point to prove. It didn’t matter to them that a win ensured their team a tougher draw in the state tournament – they will face District Three’s second place squad, either Penn Manor or Central Dauphin, instead of the champion of District 12, which has not been a power in state hockey. The Maidens flat out wanted to win Friday’s game after a disappointing showing against Owen J. Roberts two days earlier.
“Winning a game before you go into states is key because now we have momentum,” Marger said. “Especially coming out, winning in overtime and giving our all, it really gives us a lot of momentum and excitement heading into states.”
The Maidens won it in dramatic fashion at the 12:18 mark of the first overtime after the Mount had drawn an early corner. It was Ikeda slamming home the game winner from the top of the circle after Marger drew a foul just outside the circle. Ikeda says she received a major assist from Marger, even though her teammate didn’t touch the ball on the scoring sequence.
“What we started doing toward the end of the season is putting somebody on (the goalie’s) pads, and it’s usually Juliamae - somebody who’s generally fearless will go in front of the goalie,” Ikeda said. “That is how it went through the goalie’s five hole. She had trouble seeing because of Juliamae.
“The whole game was a team effort. Honestly, we don’t really care who scores. It’s everyone’s effort.”
Ikeda admits she was unnerved when the official did not indicate goal immediately.
“I shouted and no one else was shouting, and I thought, ‘Oh, is that not a goal,’” the Maidens’ captain said.
It was a goal, and it wasn’t long before Ikeda was mobbed by jubilant teammates as the Maidens celebrated an exhilarating win that left co-coach Carrie Jankowski smiling.
“At practice yesterday, I said to them – everyone we are playing is really good,” the Maidens’ co-coach said. “You wouldn’t be in the top four in the district unless you were really good. You’re not going to be in states unless you’re really good.
“They need to walk off the field proud of how they played. I said to them after the game, ‘Even had overtime gone differently, you should have been and I would have been really proud of how you played today.’”
A look back at the game would show that Brooke Sabia – who also finished with the hat trick – put the Magic on the scoreboard at the 17:14 mark of the opening half. Two minutes later, North Penn’s Kelley Colbridge connected on the equalizer.
The Mount went back on top after Sabia converted a penalty stroke into a goal with just over 10 minutes remaining in the half. The Mount took that 2-1 lead into halftime.
The Maidens drew a corner in the opening minute of the second half, and Marger (Carly Pickford assist) blasted a rocket into the cage from the top of the circle to knot the score 2-2.
Again the Mount had an answer, connecting on back-to-back goals to go on top 4-2 with 19:46 remaining in regulation. First it was Allie Sabia connecting, and three minutes later her twin sister Brooke scored on a reverse stick goal.
Less than two minutes after the Mount took what appeared to be an insurmountable lead, Ikeda (Pickford assist) scored on yet another corner.
“When we scored a goal and were only down by one, we realized – we’re going to do this,” Ikeda said. “It was a gut feeling that we wanted it, and we played like we wanted it.”
With 7:53 remaining, Ikeda converted a penalty stroke into a goal, knotting the score 4-4 and setting the stage for overtime and the dramatic finish.
In the win, the Maidens made an emphatic statement that – win or lose – they had come to play.
“In one way, the loss to (Owen J. Roberts) almost benefitted our team because we realized we need to get ourselves together, we need to pick it up and bring it for the rest of the season,” Ikeda said. “There are no easy games. Every team is extremely talented.
“They had awesome girls on that team. Today we were talking that we need to connect and need to want it. We want it all the time, but we need to play like we want it, and I think we did that today.”
#18 SPRING-FORD 3, WISSAHICKON 2 (2 OT)
The Trojans had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 but couldn’t hold on as the Rams rallied for the win in double overtime. Sophomore Gabby Major scored the game winner.
(Additional information will be added when it is received.)
- Log in to post comments
