Check out the recaps for SOL boys/girls lacrosse teams in action Tuesday.
Boys
SOL American Conference
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 10, ABINGTON 9
What a difference a half can make.
The Spartans trailed Abington 6-3 at halftime. They outscored the Ghosts 7-3 in the second half to earn the hard fought win. The key, according to coach Hank Resch, was simple.
“Ryan Wilsbach won like eight face-offs in a row – he played very well,” the Spartans’ coach said. “That was the main thing. He just got hot.
“He was doing okay in the first half – we weren’t getting the ground balls off the wings, but in the second half, for whatever reason, he just started controlling the ball himself. It was a great game by him.”
This one wasn’t over until the final horn sounded. After trailing by three at the intermission, the Spartans opened the second half with a 5-0 tear to go on top 8-6. They still led 10-8 late, but the Ghosts trimmed that lead to one
“They took a shot with three seconds left, and our goalie – Paul Asman – made the save,” Resch said. “In the first half, they had possession most of the time, and Paul made a lot of saves. There was a lot of pressure. He didn’t have to make saves in the second half because we had it on offense most of the time.
“Everybody played well. Abington is good. That was a (heck) of a game.”
The Spartans’ coach credited the play of several offensive players in the win.
“Paul Richardson is a very, very good player, and he had a good night tonight,” Resch said. “Paul Richardson, Wilson Krewson and Trey DuBose played well offensively.”
Springfield Township (5-2, 3-0 SOL) will host Germantown Academy in a non-league game on Thursday, and Abington (6-5, 2-2) will travel to Plymouth Whitemarsh on Tuesday.
Springfield Township 3-7 10
Abington 6-3 9
SOUDERTON 8, HATBORO-HORSHAM 2
The Indians continued to throw some serious defense at their opponents, limiting the Hatters to just a pair of goals. They have allowed only three goals in their last two games combined.
“Our entire defense played great,” coach Mark Princehorn said. “They continue to improve every time out.
“It was all around a very good effort and solid team win.”
Cole Witoslawski’s four-goal effort led the Indians’ attack. Walker Martin added two goals and an assist. Dylan Anderson and Matt Rauch both had one goal and one assist, and Nick Guthre had an assist.
Rauch also led the Indians with five ground balls. Axell Beskar recorded 10 saves in another strong outing in goal.
For the Hatters, Michael Brown and Jason Kleintz teamed up for both goals with Brown scoring a pair and Kleintz assisting on both. CJ Grier recorded 10 saves in goal for the Hatters.
Souderton (7-2, 2-1 SOL) will host Quakertown on Tuesday, and Hatboro-Horsham (2-8, 1-2) will travel to North Penn on Wednesday.
UPPER MORELAND 10, QUAKERTOWN 7
The Golden Bears led by just a 2-1 score after one quarter, but out scored the Panthers 4-1 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 6-2 lead. They never looked back.
Jeff Royall led the Panthers with five goals.
“We took too many penalties in the game, which limited our chances to possess on offense,” Quakertown coach Jay Donis said. “I felt like we were ready for this game, but we didn’t seize enough opportunities.
“Credit goes to UM for making us pay, and my guys know they have to do a better job staying out of the penalty box.”
Upper Moreland (3-8, 2-3 SOL) will travel to Wissahickon on Tuesday, and Quakertown (4-6, 0-2) will be on the road at Moravian Academy for a non-league game Thursday.
Upper Moreland 2-4-3-1 10
Quakertown 1-1-2-3 7
SOL National Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 16, NESHAMINY 7
The Bucks opened up a 5-1 lead after one quarter and took that four-goal advantage into halftime. They added to their lead with a 5-1 third quarter to earn their eighth win of the season without a loss.
A key to the win was Garrett Hitchens standout effort at the face-off X, winning 22 of 23 face-offs.
Erik Ojert had a hand in eight goals to lead the Bucks, scoring four and assisting on four others. Christian Kunkel also had four goals. Jeff Woosnam added three goals and an assist. Conor Albrecht had one goal and three assists while Jake Ojert contributed a pair of goals. Jake Lang had a goal and an assist while David Ross had one goal and Ricky Albert, one assist.
For the Redskins, Connor McVey had a goal and three assists. Adding a goal and an assist were Nick Donato and Luke Sermarini. Dawson Obringer, Ryan Maher, Jeremy Sheley and Noah Weiman each contributed one goal.
West goalie Max Dunar recorded 12 saves in the win.
Central Bucks West (8-0, 3-0 SOL) will host Penncrest in a non-league game on Thursday, and Neshaminy (6-3, 1-2) will travel to Coatesville Wednesday for a non-league game.
Neshaminy 1-3-1-2 7
Central Bucks West 5-3-5-3 16
Girls
Non-league
ABINGTON 8, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 7
Defense was the story of Tuesday night's SOL crossover game between American co-leader Abington and National co-leader CB West, so it was fitting a defensive play decided it.
Ghosts senior goalie Ellie Hughes' save with 30 seconds left in the second half preserved a one-goal lead and her defense did the rest. Shea Gormley grabbed the following ground ball and drew a foul before the Ghosts cleared the ball and ran out the clock. Abington and CB West have played some quality games the past few years and Tuesday's classic is right up there with any of them.
"We've come together as team," Abington coach Mary Elizabeth Klepper said. "It's something I've been trying to encourage all season long. We have a lot of individual talent but also a whole lot of team talent."
Hughes made 16 saves, with three coming in the first five minutes as she stonewalled some early Bucks opportunities.
“Abington’s goalie (Hughes) won that game for them – she was rock solid,” West coach Rebecca Cartee Haring said. “My players played defense end to end and worked to slow their fast break – that was our goal. We knew if we could slow that and make them work for every goal, we would have a shot. It just didn’t work out in our favor tonight.”
CB West's defense was also stout, slowing down Abington's transition game and taking away a lot of the one-on-one drives the Ghosts look to create offensively. Bucks goalie Lauren Ring made seven saves, including a few close-range denials.
The two teams spent most of the game trading goals with neither ever leading by more than one goal. Both sides' longest scoring run was two goals, but Abington's came later in the game and helped put the Ghosts in position to emerge victorious.
Senior Abby Thomas, one of three Ghosts with two goals, scored with 15 minutes left off a Kaley Ehnow feed for a 5-4 lead then again with 1:34 left on a pass from Jamira Mashore for the go-ahead goal.
"I'm really proud of these girls," Klepper said. "I say 'live in the moment' and that's exactly what we did. We weren't getting some calls but we didn't let that bother us, got back into it and stayed present."
Ehnow had two goals and an assist for the Ghosts, who also got two goals from Grace Hinkle, a goal from Maddie Hinkle and a goal and two assists from Mashore.
Casey Reichwein had a monster game on the draw control, helping the Bucks win 13 of 17 draws and added two goals. Emma Haring had a hat-trick and Maddie McGarry netted two goals for CB West.
“This one hurts,” coach Haring said. “These girls played their hearts out tonight and just came up short.
“For the first time all season, we came out to play from the start and didn’t dig ourselves into a hole. Our defense end to end was working every moment. My attackers had the re-defend, and my defense packed it in and played a controlled and disciplined game. Even though this is a loss, I think it gives us some momentum going into the second half of the season.”
Abington dedicated the game to Special Olympics and raised $1,000 to donate to the cause.
“It was a great team win tonight for the Lady Ghosts,” Klepper said.
Abington (7-2, 3-0 SOL) will host Central Bucks East on Tuesday, and Central Bucks West (5-4, 3-0) is off until Wednesday, April 24, when the Bucks will travel to Council Rock South.
Abington 3-5 8
Central Bucks West 3-4 7
NESHAMINY 12, BENSALEM 7
Caroline Angerer scored five goals and Mackenzie Foster added four to lead the Redskins to the non-league win. Adding single goals were Elizabeth Bressler, Gina Stewart and Madison Byrne.
“It was great to see so many girls involved in the offense today,” coach Ashley Belmonte said. “We have had a few tough games in a row, so it was nice to see the girls playing so well together and having fun out there.”
Neshaminy goalie Miranda Horton recorded four saves in the win.
Neshaminy (6-3, 1-2 SOL) will travel to Pennsbury on Tuesday. Bensalem will host Academy of the New Church on Wednesday.
Neshaminy 6-6 12
Bensalem 2-5 7
PENNCREST 18, WISSAHICKON 13
The visiting Trojans suffered their first loss of the season Tuesday. Sam Intrieri led the Trojans with five goals while Kelly Dickson had one goal and six assists. Quinn Gaffey and Sophia Chiodo Ortiz both added two goals and one assist. Abby Degroat had two goals. Emma Baker had one goal while Brooke Berry chipped in one assist for the Trojans, who trailed 10-6 at the intermission.
Wissahickon (8-1, 3-0 SOL) will host Springfield Township on Monday.
Wissahickon 6-7 13
Penncrest 10-8 18
About the Author
