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Four SOL teams have ensured themselves a spot in the district tournament’s elite eight – three at the expense of other SOL squads. Another SOL squad – North Penn – is hoping to become the fifth. Top-seeded Central Bucks South ousted Plymouth Whitemarsh, thanks to the Titans’ 4-0 win. Central Bucks East needed double overtime to edge Methacton 2-1.
Wissahickon rolled to a 4-0 win over William Tennent, and Council Rock North sent Upper Dublin home as a result of the Indians’ 2-0 win. Mount St. Joseph defeated Souderton 2-0.
North Penn was the lone team to have its game postponed. The Maidens will face Downingtown West on Thursday.
#1 Central Bucks South 4, #17 Plymouth Whitemarsh 0
Katie Blackwell, wearing a smile from ear to ear, looked for all the world like someone who is enjoying herself immensely.
If there’s pressure involved in being the district’s top-seeded team, the senior midfielder as well as her Titan teammates certainly didn’t let it show in Wednesday’s second round game.
“There’s definitely pressure, but at the same time, there’s so much excitement on the team that we don’t focus on the pressure,” Blackwell said. “We focus on getting out there and playing our game.
“We have lived with pressure on our shoulders the whole season, and I think we’re moving past that now.”
Anyone worried that the Titans might be showing signs of rust after a seven-day layoff needn’t have been concerned.
“We haven’t played for awhile, but we came out strong,” Blackwell said. “When we scored that first goal and started to finish, that kicked us off and gave us a spark.”
That first goal didn’t come until the 9:49 mark of the first half but not because the Titans weren’t on top of their game.
“We started this game very intense,” coach Christina Ford said. “We came out fired up, ready to start our postseason.
“They had the circle packed with their defense, and we had a little difficulty in their circle at first.”
Once Kayla Kenney (Colleen Kempf assist) found the cage at the 9:49 mark, the Titans were off and running. Jessie Accurso scored with 20 seconds remaining in the half, sending the Titans into halftime with a 2-0 lead.
“I was worried about how we would start out,” PW coach Marianne Paparone said. “It was important that we start out strong. Clearly, they’re a very, very strong team, but I thought we started out well.
“We started out tough defensively, and we held our ground for 20 minutes. That first goal was pretty big, and you could see we let down a little bit. We’ve had a bad habit this season of giving up a goal late in the half, and we did it again today.
“That was huge because once that happened – my kids knew they had to score three, and that’s not going to happen, but I thought we competed pretty well.”
Senior Maddy Harding connected on a pair of second- half goals – the first with an assist from Kenney at the 22:16 mark and the second on a rocket during corner play (Casey Haegele assist) with 17:56 remaining for the 4-0 final.
“I couldn’t be more pleased,” Ford said. “This is a great way to start our postseason. I’m very happy with the way we played.
“We hadn’t played in a week, but I’ve got gamers, and they were ready.”
PW’s Becky Stiteler turned away 12 shots in a busy night in goal as the Titans held a 17-1 advantage in shots and a 13-3 edge in corners.
“This is definitely a very fast field, and they’re a very fast team,” Paprone said. “That was a pretty big advantage. I think we’re fast too but not compared to them.
“They have good stick skills, but I thought we hung in. You can’t give them that many opportunities to score. We knew we weren’t going to have a ton of chances to score, and the few chances we did, we shot ourselves in the foot.
“I’m pleased with the season overall, but I’m not pleased with where we’re seeded. If we were seeded anywhere but here, I thought we could have made another run or two.”
The Titans – and neighboring Central Bucks East – are playing their home playoff games on the turf at War Memorial Field.
“It’s a lot better than our field,” Blackwell said. “I think that’s what we like most about the playoffs – the turf.
“It changes the game because we’re so much faster on turf, and when we pass somewhere, we know it’s going to go there. We know it’s not going to get messed up by the grass. We don’t have to compensate for missed balls because we know we’re going to stop it.
“You can be quicker when you’re running down the field dribbling in and out of people, and the game goes a lot smoother.”The Titans will face East at 3 p.m. on Friday at War Memorial Field.
“I think it will be a great game because the two times we played them in the regular season it was close,” Blackwell said. “They were both really good games.
“I think it will be great to play them on the turf. It will definitely be a different style. We’re excited.”
South won both regular season meetings between the two Continental Conference squads – winning the first 4-0 and rallying from a deficit to earn a 6-4 win in the rematch.
“It’s always difficult to play a team that you’ve seen twice in your conference, but it’s exciting too because there’s that rivalry with our sister school,” Ford said. “The girls are going to be ready to play and come out the same way they did tonight.”
The Colonials closed out their season with a 9-3 mark in league play (11-7 overall).
#2 Wissahickon 4, #15 William Tennent 0
It was the Gretchen Guaglianone and Jackie Hibbs show when the Trojans faced the Panthers.
Guaglianone scored all four of her team’s goals while Hibbs had a pair of assists. Emily Gallagher and Lauren Becker both added a single assist.
“Gretchen had an awesome game,” coach Lucy Gil said. “Actually, they all played really, really well.
“Gretchen scored our goals, but Jackie Hibbs had a really amazing game. She carried the ball down the right side and was pretty unstoppable. She sent the ball over to Gretchen, who very nicely put them into the goal cage. Gretchen and Jackie stole the show.
“They were getting some really nice balls from Lauren Becker and Jacquelin Coupe, but they played really well. It was a nice game. We played really, really well. I was really impressed with the girls.”
The score was just 1-0 at halftime with Guaglianone connecting for the game’s lone goal at the 18:08 mark.
“Even though it was 1-0, we really were pounding on them,” Gil said. “A defense can’t take that kind of pressure for an entire game. You could see that they were rapidly losing steam towards the end.”
Guaglanone scored at the 16:38 mark of the second half and then added goals at 2:36 mark and with one second showing on the clock.“They put up a really good fight,” Gil said of the Panthers. “Their girl - Kelsey Hiltebeitel – I have never seen anyone as fast as she is.
“When I went to scout them when they played Spring-Ford, she was playing a middie or center back position, and I was really worried. I guess for today’s game they wanted her to be more defensive against my offense, and they put her all the way in the back, and they never mounted much of an offense without her.
“She could beat people to the ball. Gretchen is really fast, and she outran Gretchen. Kudos to her. She was all over the place and was working really, really hard.”
While the Panthers closed out their season with a 9-3 record in the league (11-7-2 overall), the Trojans will take on seventh-seeded Haverford in Friday’s district quarterfinals.
#5 Council Rock North 2, #11 Upper Dublin 0
Becky Ely (Michelle Hand assist) scored seven minutes into Wednesday’s game, and with five minutes remaining in the game, Hand (Hannah Plappert assist) connected on a corner shot for the 2-0 final.
“We came out on fire in the beginning,” coach Heather Whalin said. “Then we were back on our heels a little bit, and they came down and had a couple of opportunities, but we shut them down.
“We stepped up at times when they had the ball in our end.”
A key to the Indians’ standout defensive effort was the performance of Kara Magley.
“She played awesome,” Whalin said. “She marked Emily Hitchings, and she didn’t do anything. I don’t think she even touched the ball. That’s how good Kara was.”
The Indians’ coach went on to laud the performances of midfielders Hand and Ely as well as Carly Everett.
“Our midfielders were pretty much on today, which we needed,” Whalin said.
The win vaulted the Indians – who lost in the second round last year and the first round the year before – into the quarterfinals for the first time in three years. The 2007 squad advanced to the state quarterfinals.
“This is like a whole new crew,” Whalin said. “I don’t think they expected to go this far considering we lost six really important players last year, but they’re doing the right things at the right time, and they’re starting to play as a team when you want them to start peaking. “They’re getting better and better each game, so it’s just exciting. We’re having a really good time, and I know the seniors want it to last forever. We do have a younger team, but they’re just excited to be here. Even though we won the division, we were kind of quiet all year. I don’t think a lot of people expected this from us.”
The Indians will travel to Owen J. Roberts on Friday to take on the third-seeded Wildcats. The Flying Cardinals closed out the year with a 9-3 mark in league play (14-6 overall).
#8 Central Bucks East 2, #9 Methacton 1 (2 OT)
The Patriots won a thriller, winning in dramatic fashion when Marissa Glatt turned a Carolyn Remmey pass into a goal with 11:26 remaining in the second overtime.
“Both teams threatened in overtime,” coach Marie Meehan said. “Both teams had a lot of opportunities.”
Earlier, Jamie Schlotterer scored a goal to put the Patriots on top 1-0, but the Warriors rallied to knot the score.
“They had a couple of breakaways, but we definitely controlled possession,” Meehan said. “Their goalie was unbelievable.
“She was so agile – she would reach for the ball and come back and get the rebound. She was very, very good.”The Patriots will face a familiar opponent in Friday’s quarterfinal round when they take on the Titans.
#5 Mount St. Joseph 2, Souderton 0
The Magic controlled play in Tuesday’s second round game, but the Indians hung tough, keeping them off the scoreboard until 12:40 remained in regulation when the Magic converted a penalty stroke. They added an insurance goal just over a minute later.
“I didn’t really know how good they were, but they played well,” coach Mary Ann Harris said. “They went to the ball well, and their outside forward was good.
“They also went down the middle into the circle, and their center midfielder played well. I don’t think we challenged them that much. They always had a defensive stronghold back there.”
The Mount held a commanding 11-1 advantage in corners.
“To beat a team like that, you have to rise to the level of the way we played against North Penn,” Harris said of her team’s 2-1 upset of the Maidens during the regular season. “We kept it 0-0 a long time.
“All we needed to do was get a corner and get a shot off, but we only had one corner. Mount St. Joseph was the better team, and you have to rise to the occasion when you play a team like that. We don’t have the experience they have.”
Souderton goalie Morgan Brozena turned away 13 shots – nine in a busy second half.
“She had some good saves,” Harris said. “I considered their corners dangerous, and we did a good job on that.”
The Indians closed out their season with a 10-4 mark in league play (13-6-1 overall).
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