North Penn fell to Owen J. Roberts in Wednesday’s district semifinal while Wissahickon defeated Central Bucks East in an elimination game. To view photos of the North Penn/OJR game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
#5 OWEN J. ROBERTS 3, #16 NORTH PENN 0
No one was feeling especially happy on North Penn’s sidelines after Wednesday’s loss, and that feeling of dissatisfaction had less to do with the score than the Maidens’ performance.
Senior Emilie Ikeda spared no punches.
“This is probably one of the most frustrating games,” the Maidens’ captain said. “When we look back at this game, we will think back to the first Souderton game (a 3-0 loss) where there wasn’t really a good three minutes where we played throughout the entire game.
“We do really want it, and I think our attitudes have really picked up over the past couple of games because we have been on a little bit of a winning streak, but we did not play like it. We didn’t hustle to the ball, we had no heart. It’s kind of embarrassing.”
A week to the day earlier, War Memorial Field was the site of the Maidens’ greatest triumph when they upended top-seeded Central Bucks South. Seven days later, the Maidens never really were in their game against the fifth-seeded Wildcats.
“I’m sure CB South is embarrassed because we played so poorly today, but we beat them,” Ikeda said. “We’re not the most skilled team, and not everyone plays club and not everyone has the fancy stick work. For us, it really does come down to heart and athleticism – running full speed or just wanting it more.
“Today we did not play like we wanted it, and from here on out, when you do not play 100 percent, you’re not going to win.”
Owen J. Roberts coach Clarence Janelle acknowledged that despite his team’s dominance, it was not easy adapting to the Maidens’ style of play.
“You have to hustle harder in a game like this because you never know where the ball is going to go,” he said. “In a game like Wissahickon, you can anticipate where it’s going to go, and you can cut it off and be on the move with a quick pass rather than with a run.
“The bottom line this is harder work than playing a skilled team because you run more in this than you would in any other game.”
Although the Wildcats had the better of play, neither team had all that many offensive opportunities in the first half. The Maidens best opportunity came early in the game when Juliamae Marger sent a pass across goal from the right alley. The Maidens couldn’t convert.
The Wildcats got on the scoreboard midway through the first half when Haley D’Orsaneo (Jen Schweppe assist) converted the rebound of a goalie save into a goal.
“Especially when we score first, it always helps us play better,” Wildcat senior Amanda Fuertsch said. “When the other team scores first, we’re definitely on our heels.”
Late in the half, Heather Morris and Schweppe blew by every Maiden defender in their path with Morris finishing off the nifty fastbreak with a goal that sent the Wildcats into halftime with a 2-0 lead.
“I’m not going to take anything away from them – they’re a very good team,” Maiden co-coach Carrie Jankowski said. “They’re very skilled, they’re well coached, but I don’t think I would necessarily say that we’re not as a good of a team and we shouldn’t have been able to play right there with them, but you’re not going to be able to play right there with them unless you enter the field with the attitude that you’re going to set the tone of play, that you’re going to control the momentum of the game, and we didn’t.
“When you give a good team the ability to control the game, they’re going to control it. What happened was we sat back and watched, and we reacted. I felt like the entire game we were reacting. When you react, you’re slower, and you can’t counterattack.”
The Maidens did draw a pair of corners to open the second half. They managed one shot, but goalie Ali Mooney turned it away. For good measure, the Wildcats added an insurance goal when Haley turned Fuertsch’s reverse stick pass into a goal with 2:28 remaining for the 3-0 final.
“They did play well, but they didn’t really have much good competition playing us today,” Ikeda said. “I think just about any team could have beaten us the way we played today. It was just really frustrating.
“We definitely don’t come out of this smiling. From here on out though, we know we have to win, and we want to win. We want to go as far as we can in states, and whoever we’re playing on Friday – we’re ready to beat.”
The Maidens will face defending district runner-up Mount St. Joseph Academy, which fell to Unionville in penalty strokes after the two teams battled to a 3-3 tie.
The Wildcats have earned a date with Unionville in Saturday’s district final. Their celebration after Wednesday’s win was relatively subdued.
“Our first goal was definitely to win the PAC-10s for the third year, and we did do that,” Fuertsch said. “From then on, we were going to see how it went. We were going to take it game by game. We would love to win districts.”
#4 WISSAHICKON 3, #24 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1
While the Patriots saw their magical postseason run come to an end in Wednesday’s elimination game, the Trojans punched their ticket to the state tournament.
“That’s everybody’s goal,” coach Lauren Luft said of earning a trip to states.
The Trojans received first-half goals from Emily Gallagher and Taylor Myers to go into halftime with a 2-0 lead. The Patriots cut that lead in half before Lauren Becker scored a goal to ice the win.
“Today we had good ball movement, and we came together as a team and a unit,” Luft said. “We used each other more today, and I think they trusted each other more.
“I still feel there’s bigger and brighter light at the end of the tunnel. We definitely have things to work on and improve on, but that’s every single team after every single game. Even if you’re a champion, you still have flaws and still have things to work on.”
The Trojans will face Spring-Ford in Friday’s fifth place game at North Penn.
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