Three SOL field hockey teams advanced to Friday’s round of eight in the District One AAA Tournament. To view photos of the Hatboro-Horsham/PW and CR South/Neshaminy games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
#14 HATBORO-HORSHAM 2, #3 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 0
Hatboro-Horsham defense sets tone in district playoff win
By Dave Conard for SuburbanOneSports
PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP—In her 17 plus years at the helm for Plymouth Whitemarsh, head coach Marianne Paparone has always stressed the importance of a fast start, especially in the “win or go home” pressure cooker otherwise known as the PIAA District One playoffs.
Despite the fact that the Colonials owned the first five minutes of their second round battle with Hatboro-Horsham, it was not enough to overcome the emotional high the Hatters where still on from their opening round win as 14th seeded Hatboro-Horsham ended third-seeded P-W’s season with a near flawless 2-0 win.
“I think we were ready to play,” said Paparone. “The days off gave us time for some very good practices and really helped us get healthy. We came out and did exactly what we wanted to do, but just could not get that first goal.”
Hatboro-Horsham’s junior net minder Emily Braunewell was sensational in weathering the Colonials’ early barrage - which included four corners in the first six minutes of the game, allowing her offense time to shake off any jitters and come to her rescue tilting the field in the direction of the P-W net.
“All of my girls played so well in front of me today,” said Braunewell. “We knew after Monday that we could play with anyone. We just had to be sure to limit their ability to get at rebounds and loose balls around the net. I love all of these girls so much and this is just amazing. We get to keep playing - yeah!”
Hatters’ senior captain Colby Eldridge had one thought in her mind as she took a feed from junior Casey Swezey and then watched the ball squeak under the pads of sophomore keeper Victoria Byrne after she ripped a shot - “wow did this just happen?”
“I am so happy right now,” said Eldridge, who also assisted on the Hatters second tally. “I could not believe it, I watched the ball come out the other side of her pads and rap the board. This is such an amazing group. We just keep working and have faith in each other to get the job done.”
Eldridge’s marker, which came with 15:39 left in the first half, was the catalyst to a ten-minute spurt during which the Hatters owned a 4-0 edge in corner chances while outshooting the Colonials 6-1.
With nine minutes left in the opening frame, Eldridge launched a laser that Byrne got a piece of only to have sophomore Syd Rausa deposit it to the short side of the cage, giving Hatboro-Horsham’s stifling defense - led by defensive backs Brenna Reilly, Keeley Henry and Jane Henry - all the insurance they would need.
“Everybody played so well as a unit today,” said Hatters’ coach Laura Swezey, who is in her third year as head coach. “There I definitely no I in the this team. They all play for one another and just enjoy being with each other. It is just so nice to coach a team where there is no drama amongst the players.
“We play tough teams all year in our conference and had a very tough game Monday with Spring-Ford, so we were fairly confident coming in here today.”
Swezey also lauded the performance of Jaime DiQuattro, who was assigned the task of containing PW's Rachel Konowal.
"She did an excellent job," the Hatters' coach said.
The Hatters’ win wasn’t without drama as PW ended the first half with a flurry in front of the cage, recording three corners in the final two minutes of the first half and five shots and two corners in the closing minutes of regulation after H-H had again established control.
“These girls are used to winning, which makes it tough to end the season so abruptly,” said Paparone. “That’s what they do - they win. We just talked about the fact that we had a great season and today’s outcome doesn’t change that. Give them (Hatboro-Horsham) credit - they came out and beat us at our own game.”
While the Colonials closed out a successful season with a 17-2 record (14-0 SOL), the Hatters improved to 13-5 (9-5 SOL) and will hit the road on Friday for a quarterfinal date with Downingtown West.
“We will be ready to go on Friday - bottom line is we are playing hockey,” said Eldridge. “It will be tough again, as we know we will probably be on the road against a good team, but we play good teams all year long. We’ll be ready.”
Hatboro-Horsham 2 0 --2
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0 0 --0
Corners- H-H (8) P-W (7)
Shots- H-H (22) P-W (15)
#2 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 5, #18 STRATH HAVEN 0
Offensive outbursts have not been a trademark of this year’s Central Bucks South squad.
At least not until Wednesday night.
The Titans exploded for three first half goals and then added two more in the second half. Only the brilliant 18-save effort of Panther goalie Caroline Boyd prevented the Titans from adding to that total.
“It was really exciting,” senior captain Megan Hamilton said. “For the past couple of games, it’s been 2-0 or 2-1 and scores like that.
“We knew we had to get it done – we knew we had to work on scoring, and I’m happy that coming into a district game that’s what we did.”
The Titans – who had a first round bye - showed no ill effects from the seven-day layoff.
“We were ready to go,” Hamilton said. “We’re a very superstitious team, and we always say that teams that get a bye – it’s bad luck. I’m pretty happy that wasn’t true.”
Hamilton and her teammates hadn’t forgotten their team’s early exit from districts two years ago when the then top-seeded Titans were sent home by conference rival North Penn in a second round game.
Any thoughts about a potential upset were put the rest before fans had settled in their seats when Rachel Gorman deflected a corner shot by Jessica Schmidt into a goal 90 seconds into the game. The fun was just getting started for the Titans, and junior Corrine Kenney made it a 2-0 game when she took a ball off the keeper’s pads and turned it into a goal midway through the half, prompting the Panthers to call a hasty timeout.
Not a whole lot changed.
On their fourth corner of the half, the Titans sent a pair of shots that Boyd deftly turned away, but the Titans weren’t finished yet, and Kenney capped the sequence by slamming home her second goal of the half. The Titans took that 3-0 lead into halftime.
Less than three minutes into the second half, the Titans once again capitalized on a corner. This time it was Hamilton at the right place at the right time, redirecting a Schmidt shot into the cage for a textbook goal. The Titans upped their lead to 5-0 when Gorman scored her second goal, this one on a deflection of a Hamilton drive.
The Panthers scored a meaningless goal with 22.5 seconds remaining on their only shot of the second half.
“It was a shame we gave up that goal, but I was glad we could get on the board enough that it wasn’t that big of a scare,” senior captain Mackenzie Harding said. “This was a total team effort. I thought everyone played really well.”
The Titans (18-1, 13-1 SOL) will host seventh-seeded Council Rock South in quarterfinal game on Friday at 3 p.m. at War Memorial Field.
Strath Haven 0-1 1
Central Bucks South 3-2 5
#8 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, #9 DOWNINGTOWN EAST 1
There’s nothing quite like a good halftime talk to turn things around.
The Bucks, to steal a phrase from coach Courtney Hughes, were “on their heels” in a first half that saw the Cougars not only control play but also open up a 1-0 lead. The Bucks didn’t draw their first corner of the game until the closing seconds of the half.
“We had a good halftime talk,” Hughes said. “We talked about what they were doing, especially not knowing a team - they were very aggressive.
“They traveled in packs and did a couple of things we haven’t seen yet. You beat one, and there were three others, and they had really strong tackles. They did a great job with their tackles. Defensively, they were a really strong team.
“We took halftime to really talk about adjustments, made sure we stayed composed and stayed confident with our game plan. We started switching our field and using the middle.”
The second half was another story entirely as the Bucks had the better of play, something that came as no surprise to senior Maddie Shields.
“We’re the comeback kids,” she said. “We don’t give up.
“The second half is when we really like to put it out. We like to put two good halves together, but we don’t give up. We like to give it all we got – don’t quit.
“After halftime, we just kept in mind our goal of wanting to get to November, and it just clicked. We stepped up as a team. One person hustled and we all hustled.”
That hustle paid off when Christian DeAngelis – who came close to scoring his first goal of the season two nights earlier against Pennridge – turned a Shields assist into a goal at the 24:01 mark, knotting the score 1-1. The goal was the result of a relentless effort in the circle by the Bucks.
“I was just trying to be at the right place at the right time,” DeAngelis said. “It was my first goal, and it was really exciting.”
So excited was DeAngelis that he forgot to get the ball out of the cage, a customary practice for goal scorers, but teammate Erick Fiorelli was happy to do it for him.
It was Fiorelli setting up the game winner during play on West’s second corner of the half when he found Shields for the score at the 13:06 mark. With 4:26 remaining, DeAngelis connected on his second goal of the night – and season, scoring on the rebound of a goalie save for the 3-1 final.
“We have really been working hard on our corners because we want to execute off of them,” said Hughes, whose team scored on two of its four corners. “I know we didn’t have a ton of corners, but we made them count.”
Wednesday’s game was the final home game of the season for the Bucks, who improved to 18-2 overall (12-2 SOL). It couldn’t have been a better sendoff for the seniors.
“Our seniors were some of our biggest talkers during our halftime discussion,” Hughes said. “They’re the heart and soul of your team. They put it out on the line.
“They’ll spark our team, and that’s really what they did tonight. It’s really great for them because they wanted it on this field. We talked about it – this is our field.”
And in the second half, the Bucks owned the field, and as a result, they have advanced to the round of eight where they will face top-seeded West Chester Henderson, which brings a perfect record into Friday’s game.
Downingtown East 1-0 1
Central Bucks West 0-3 3
#7 COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 1, #10 NESHAMINY 0
There were certainly no surprises when the National Conference rivals met for the third time this season.
“It’s very hard because every single game is a hard match, and we knew we would have to play well in order to win this game,” Rock South senior Kristen Meihofer said. “Although we won (1-0) and tied (1-1) the first two games, we knew that it wasn’t going to be easy.
“It didn’t really feel like a playoff game playing them, and that was hard too because you always get pumped up for a playoff game. Everything is so much more intense, and it didn’t really feel like that environment because we had an opponent that we were so used to playing, so that made it a little bit harder as well. We knew there were weaknesses and strengths, but they also knew ours.”
Sophomore Sam Olson scored the game’s only goal with 17:52 remaining in the first half.
“It was honestly a very even match,” South coach Tina Reinprecht said. “Neshaminy had numerous opportunities, and the outcome was up in the air until the last minute of the game.
“We scored early on, but in the midfield, Neshaminy had the majority of possession. They came and played a really terrific game. We’re very happy to get out of there with a win.”
The Redskins held an advantage in shots (6-3) and corners (9-5).
“Really, because we didn’t play well and to hang in there mentally and to not go hang dog – at halftime, the kids really spoke up about being leaders,” Reinprecht said. “My thoughts were – you’re league champions, and win or lose this game, you need to play like champions. That’s the bottom line.
“At least they brought that mentality to the second half. They kept working through it, working through it, working through it.”
“It definitely wasn’t our best game,” Meihofer agreed. “But we pulled through and got a win, and there’s nothing more we can ask for.
“We came off two strong wins, winning the league versus (Council Rock) North and then winning our first district game versus Haverford. We played really well in those two games, and this was definitely a step down, but I’m really proud of my team that we could just keep it a 1-0 game and hold it together to win. I think that requires a lot of heart.”
This is Rock South's second trip to the third round in the history of the program.
“It’s remarkable,” Reinprecht said. “It’s such a milestone to get to that (third) game in districts. This has been a goal from the early preseason.
“I don’t think they took any game lightly. They definitely had to earn it, and they really had to earn it today, and they were able to pull it out.”
The Golden Hawks (15-4-1, 12-1-1 SOL) have earned a quarterfinal date with second-seeded Central Bucks South. It is a rematch of an early season contest that saw the Titans notch a 2-0 win.
“Last year we lost in the second round, so this is definitely a big step for us,” Meihofer said. “It’s awesome. It brings our team together in a way I didn’t think we could.
“To be a senior doing this is amazing because it’s your last year and you’re making it a great year. In the beginning of the year, we didn’t think we could make it this far, but throughout the year, we’ve gotten so much better. It’s just so great to be a part of this.
“We won today, and we just looked at each – wow, if we win one more game, we could be in states. We’re the number seven seed, and we’re playing a team that’s a number two seed, but every single team is so great. You have to play your best. We know we have the ability to win. It’s real exciting just to be part of this journey.”
Neshaminy 0-0 0
Council Rock South 1-0 1
#7 SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 2, #10 MARPLE NEWTOWN 1 (OT)
Juli Cardamone has been a dangerous offensive weapon for the Spartans all season, and it was Cardamone turning a pass from teammate Katherine McVeagh into a goal three-and-a-half minutes into overtime, propelling Springfield to the dramatic win.
The two teams exchanged goals in the first half with Holly Ludwig (Marie Brockman assist) scoring during corner play to put the Spartans on top 1-0. Marple came back to knot the score a few minutes later, and that score held up until Cardamone’s heroics in overtime.
The Spartans held a 9-3 advantage in corners. Springfield goalie Kim Machalette was credited with four saves.
Waiting in the wings for the Spartans on Thursday is second-seeded Upper Perkiomen.
Marple Newtown 1-0-0 1
Springfield 1-0-1 2
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