SOL District Field Hockey Preview (Second Round)

Eight SOL teams will be in action in Wednesday’s District One AAA second round. Check back for recaps of the games.

Central Bucks South is undeniably the surprise team in the Sweet 16 of District One Class AAA after coming out of nowhere to pull of an opening round upset of 10^th-seeded Avon Grove.

Last week this time, the Titans were wondering if they would earn a berth in the tournament, but they proved they belonged. Pat Toner credited the level of competition her team sees game in and game out in the SOL Continental Conference for preparing the Titans for the postseason.

“I’ll take my chances with anybody because we have seen everyone,” the Titans’ first-year coach said after Monday’s win. “We have seen every difficult team from Episcopal Academy to open the season to Conestoga and North Penn and CB West and CB East.

“On top of that, people don’t realize Pennridge is really strong so is Tennent, so is Souderton. There’s nobody in our league that’s an easy game. I give a lot of credit to the rest of the teams in our league. We play in the playoffs all season long. Every game we play was a playoff game.”

South will travel to seventh-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh for an all-SOL contest in Wednesday’s second round. Ninth-seeded North Penn will be on the road at eighth-seeded Council Rock South in another all-SOL matchup that features two of the league’s prolific scorers in South senior Caroline McGovern (37 goals) and North Penn junior Bri O’Donnell (28 goals).

It promises to be an interesting day.

#12 HAVERFORD at #5 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST (7 p.m.)
Central Bucks West

14-3-1 overall
9-2-1 Continental Conference second place
Explosive offense led by Bryn Boylan (25 goals, nine assists), Cadera Smith (18 goals, nine assists), Taylor Mason (13 goals, five assists) & Ryan Murray (eight goals, 10 assists).
Split regular season series with #6 Central Bucks East (3-4 & 4-3) and #9 North Penn (6-3 & 2-3). Tied #18 Souderton (3-3) in initial meeting and won rematch (5-2).
Regular season wins over Class 2A #2 Mount St. Joseph (5-3), #20 Council Rock North (4-1) and #22 Pennsbury (4-0)

How they got here: The Bucks had an opening round bye.

Haverford

12-7 overall
10-1 Central League second place behind Conestoga
Regular season win over seventh-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-1)
Attack led by sophomore Kelsy Knapp (14 goals), Carly Gannon (nine goals), Sydney Corcoran (eight goals) and Laura Winters (eight goals)

How they got here: In an opening round game, the Fords rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to score a pair of goals by Sydney Corcoran and Carly Gannon to earn a 2-1 win.

#11 OWEN J ROBERTS at #6 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST (3:30 p.m.)
Central Bucks East

13-4-1 overall
11-1 SOL Continental Conference champions
First program championship since 2002
Multi-faceted attack is led by Riley Donnelly (23 goals, nine assists), Cailey Lever (17 goals, 10 assists), Emma Donnelly (nine goals, eight assists), Reilly Finegan (nine goals, five assists), Abby Butler (five goals, eight assists) & Lindsey Adriaansen (eight goals, one assist).
Regular season win over #3 Downingtown West (3-2) and tied #4 Methacton (2-2) in regular season finale.
Swept season series with #9 North Penn (6-4 & 6-2), #18 Souderton (5-1 & 6-1) and #23 Central Bucks South (2-0 & 4-3). Split season series with #5 Central Bucks West (4-3 & 3-4)

How they got here: Central Bucks East had an opening round bye.

Owen J Roberts

15-5-1 overall
10-2-1 PAC-10 Liberty Division tri-champs with Methacton & Spring-Ford
Led by Leanna Faust (17 goals, 5 assists), Sarah Garritano (13 goals, 8 assists), Bridget Guinan (eight goals, eight assists) & Jenna Kirby (six goals, four assists)
PAC-10 Tournament champions for second straight year and third time in four years with 2-1 win over top-seeded Upper Perk
Swept PAC-10 series with #21 Perk Valley (1-0 & 1-0), defeated and tied #4 Methacton (1-0 & 2-2), twice defeated and lost once to #14 Spring-Ford (3-2, 1-0 & 1-2)
Regular season wins over #13 Neshaminy (3-1) in season opener and #16 Lower Merion (4-0).
Lost to #9 North Penn 3-2 in late-season contest.

How they got here: In an opening round game, Owen J. Roberts defeated 22^nd-seeded Pennsbury 2-1, using goals by Sarah Garritano and Maddie Parr in a contest that saw the Wildcats hold an advantage in shots (14-1) and corners (15-1).

#23 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH at #7 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH (7 p.m.)
Plymouth Whitemarsh

16-1-1 overall
14-0 SOL American Conference champion
Fourth consecutive conference title
Offense led by Frankie O’Brien (27 goals, nine assists), Sam Spera (12 goals, 14 assists), Kennedy Reardon (11 goals, two assists), Jess Dixon (eight goals, four assists), Julia Fiddler (10 goals) & Kerin Bechtel (eight goals).
Swept regular season series with #17 Upper Dublin (8-1 & 4-0) and #24 Wissahickon (3-1 & 2-1).
Regular season win over #16 Lower Merion (5-0) and tied #22 Pennsbury (2-2)
Only loss to #12 Haverford (3-1)

How they got here: The Colonials had an opening round bye.

Central Bucks South

9-8-1 overall
5-7 SOL Continental Conference fifth place
Rebounded to finish season with .500 record under first-year coach Pat Toner after winning just three games last year.
Tied perennial Inter-Ac power Episcopal Academy (2-2) and split season series with #18 Souderton (1-0 & 0-2).
Led by senior co-captains Erin Chioffe (four goals, eight assists) & Lauren Dougherty (six goals, four assists)
Megan Weeks (nine goals) and Casey Reilly (10 goals, four assists) lead attack while sophomore goalie Francine Richick anchors defense.

How they got here: Central Bucks South turned heads with its 3-1 upset of 10^th-seeded Avon Grove that saw the Titans rally from a 1-0 halftime deficit to score three unanswered goals in the second half. Erin Chioffe scored the equalizer and Casey Reilly added a pair.

#9 NORTH PENN at #8 COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH (3:30 p.m.)
Council Rock South

15-3 overall
12-0 SOL National Conference champion
Senior Caroline McGovern (37 goals, nine assists), the SOL’s most dangerous offensive weapon, recently surpassed the 100-goal milestone
Other offensive contributors include Tori Wright (10 goals, 11 assists), Mikayla VanAken (eight goals, 10 assists), Paige Schmid (nine goals, three assists) and Katelyn Cocco (eight goals, two assists).
Swept regular season series with #13 Neshaminy (2-1 & 2-1), #20 Council Rock North (4-3 & 5-1) and #22 Pennsbury (3-2 & 4-2).
Regular season wins over #6 Central Bucks East (4-3) in season opener an #24 Wissahickon (7-2)

How they got here: The Golden Hawks had an opening round bye.

North Penn

13-6 overall
9-3 SOL Continental Conference third place
Finished regular season 12-2 after 0-4 start that included losses to #3 Downingtown West, #4 Methacton, #5 Central Bucks West and #6 Central Bucks East
Averaged over four goals a game in final 14 games
Offense is led by the one-two punch of juniors Bri O’Donnell (28 goals, 12 assists) and Mikayla Barrow (25 goals, six assists). Emily Crawford (eight goals, eight assists) and Amber Blackshear (six goals, seven assists) also contribute.
Split regular season series with #5 Central Bucks West (3-6 & 3-2)
Regular season wins over #11 Owen J Roberts (3-2), #18 Souderton (5-1 & 2-1) and #23 Central Bucks South (4-1 & 3-0).

How they got here: Bri O’Donnell scored a pair of goals while Mikayla Barrow and Amber Blackshear both added single goals in the Knights 4-1 opening round win over 24^th-seeded Wissahickon.

#13 NESHAMINY at #4 METHACTON (6 p.m.)

Neshaminy

14-5 overall
10-2 SOL National Conference second place
Led offensively by senior Mia Sexton (21 goals, 13 assists) as well as Elayna Curtin (15 goals, five assists), Emily Alexis (four goals, 11 assists), Peyton Ritchey (seven goals, six assists) and Kayla Connelly (six goals, five assists).
Third meeting between the two teams. Twice defeated Council Rock North (1-0 & 2-0) in the regular season.
Regular season wins over #6 Central Bucks East (3-2), #22 Pennsbury (3-1 & 2-0) and Class 2A #11 Great Valley (1-0).
Won seven of eight to close out regular season.

How they got here: The Redskins needed an overtime goal by senior Mia Sexton with time winding down to eke out a 2-1 win over 20^th-seeded Council Rock North in an opening round game. Taylor Benton scored in regulation to knot the score after the Indians took an early 1-0 lead.

Methacton

14-3-2 overall
10-2-1 PAC-10 Liberty Division, three-way tie for first place
Lost in PAC-10 semifinals to Upper Perk (2-0)
Tied #6 Central Bucks East (2-2) in regular season finale and defeated #9 North Penn 6-1 in season opener
Regular season sweep of #21 Perk Valley (2-0 & 1-0) tied and lost to 11^th-seeded Owen J Roberts (0-1, 2-2), split regular season series with Spring-Ford (2-1 & 2-3). Regular season win over Class 2A #5 Upper Perk (3-2).
Led by Olivia Hoover (17 goals, 4 assists), Emily Owens (10 goals, five assists), Julia Dickinson (six goals, seven assists) and Jackie Cerchio (seven goals, seven assists)

How they got here: Methacton had an opening round bye.

#17 UPPER DUBLIN at # 1 UNIONVILLE (3:30 p.m.)
Upper Dublin

12-6-1 overall
11-3 SOL American Conference second place
Swept season series with #24 Wissahickon (1-0 & 2-1) and Class 1A Springfield (2-1 & 2-1) while splitting series with Class 2A #18 Upper Moreland (1-2 & 5-2)
Led offensively by Jess Grodsky (18 goals, eight assists).

Unionville

17-1 overall
13-0 Ches-Mont American champions
Two-time defending District One champions
Only loss to Class AA #1 Villa Maria Academy (4-3 OT)
Attack led by Katie Anderson (27 goals) with Annie McDonough the leader in assists with 17.

How they got here: Unionville had an opening round bye.