PW & Central Bucks East earned wins and advanced to Thursday’s District One 3A title game. PW/Methacton photos courtesy of Kim Supko Photography. CB East/CB South photos courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for galleries of both games.
#3 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 3, #7 METHACTON 2 (OT)
Kaleigh Missimer remembers glancing at the scoreboard late in the third quarter of Tuesday’s District One 3A semifinal and seeing a 2-0 score staring back at her with the visiting Warriors in the lead.
“When I looked up and it was 2-0, I was like, ‘Okay, we’ve got to fix this if we want to play again,’” the Colonials’ senior co-captain said.
And fix it the Colonials – or more specifically Missimer – did, reeling off three unanswered goals to notch the improbable come-from-behind win that vaulted PW into Thursday’s district title game.
“It means so much because last year I was so happy we made it, and I was kind of star struck at the idea of playing in the district final,” Missimer said. “This year we’re like, ‘Okay, we’ve been here before, and we lost. Now we have so much more going for us.
“We’re on this incredible run, we’ve had some incredible games. I think everybody is just so glad we had a season and so happy that we’re there together. We just can’t wait to give it our best.”
Missimer’s personal tear began during corner play with time expired in the third quarter and her team trailing 2-0.
“We had a bunch of corners before, and I remember watching their film, and they had two posts, which means there are less people coming out on me as the shooter,” she said. “I just decided that I would try something new, so I pulled around their flyer, and it was pretty much just me in front of the goal and their girl standing in the way.
“I just lifted it to the corner, and luckily, their girl missed it. It ended up looking really pretty.”
The goal not only cut the Warriors’ lead in half but gave the Colonials a much-needed boost heading into the final frame. With 4:53 remaining in regulation, the Colonials were awarded a penalty stroke because the ball – according to Missimer – hit a defender’s foot when she was behind the goalie.
Missimer was money on the stroke, knotting the score and setting the stage for overtime.
“I missed one in the beginning of the year, so every day at practice I just take like 10 strokes, and I practice both corners,” the senior captain said. “I just do it over and over again until I’m very confident that in a game it’s no pressure.
“To be honest, I was pretty calm, which I was surprised about because it was very loud, and the game was on the line. I said to myself, ‘I practice these for a reason, I know I’m not going to miss. I do these all the time.’”
After rallying from a 2-0 deficit to knot the score, it might seem as though the Colonials had all the momentum, but they still had to deal with the not-so-little matter of playing down two players for a brief stretch and down one player for five minutes – three-plus minutes of that carrying into the 7v7 overtime.
“I think I was playing more conservatively than I usually do because I know if they get a breakaway – I’m going to have to run as fast as I can,” Missimer said. “We’ve had an overtime before against Wissahickon, and I sent a big ball up to our forwards. I thought – ‘With a player down, I’m going to hang back, and if we get it, I’m going to pass it all the way up. I know it’s going to be a lot of running, but this is for the season – I can push it.’”
“The goal was to maintain possession as long as possible,” PW coach Charise Halteman said. “I thought our team did a really good job of trying to maintain pressure and also showing good composure.
“We talked about how overtime games can turn into track meets, back and forth and back and forth. We did give up a corner, but we defended that. We got our extra player back and we were able to possess back downfield.”
When the Colonials were awarded a corner with six minutes remaining in OT, Missimer duplicated her first goal of the game, once again scoring on what is becoming her trademark lift shot.
“The same corner was called, and there’s one less defender in the cage, and I said, ‘Well, if they’re going to use their two posts again and they only have one flyer this time, why not just do the same thing I did the last time?’” Missimer said. “So it was pretty much the same thing – it was just a little easier because I had one less defender.
“There was actually a little bit of confusion because they thought (the shot) was high, but since I didn’t have a backswing, I knew it counted, and I already celebrated.”
For three quarters, it looked like the Colonials might not be celebrating.
“I think we just weren’t used to the level of play Methacton was playing – their passing was so good, and we’re not used to playing teams that have that much movement, and we didn’t know what to do at first,” Missimer said. “I know a few of the girls on Methacton because I play club with them, and I knew they had lots of skill, but I didn’t know how well they worked together, and it took our team a little bit to figure out how to work together ourselves to be able to beat their offense.”
“Methacton is a fundamentally solid team,” Halteman said. “They seem to be playing well, but I also was like, ‘This is a beatable team, we can win this game,’ but first and second quarters, we were not playing up to our best, so we were making our jobs a little more difficult.
“I do feel slowly, quarter by quarter we got better and better until the fourth quarter when they found another gear and put a lot of pressure on Methacton, so that was good.”
“It think it was just our overall energy on the field,” Missimer said. “We usually aren’t in situations where we’re down, and all of a sudden, our team was like, ‘This could be our last game. We need to do better, we need to work harder. Every single play, every single pass, you need to go as hard as you can.’
“I think in the first half we were playing more conservatively, but in the second half we realized we really needed to step it up if we wanted to play another game.”
The Colonials needed every one of Missimer’s three goals to keep their season alive.
“She’s been a solid player all season long,” Halteman said. “Through the regular season, we were able to set up all kinds of attacking plays. Now we’re kind of limited on those opportunities.
“Kaleigh is reading the plays well, she’s using really good skills. We see this stuff from her in practice all the time. A lot of people are worried about Ava (Borkowski), and Kaleigh is really skilled and making really good decisions. She was just composed today. She is our primary corner hitter, so that’s where most of our scoring opportunities came from today, and she made the most of them.”
Halteman went on to credit the performances of several other players.
“I thought Hailey Copestick, my left mid, got better throughout the game, so that’s a testament to her skill and her mental toughness,” the Colonials’ coach said. “She might not have had the best first half, but she came out and kept getting better and made some really great plays for us down the stretch.
“We talked at halftime that they really needed to play and have each other’s backs, and I thought they did a much better job of that in the second half, just trying to support the player in front of them or support the player behind them. It doesn’t always take super fancy skills or amazing plays. It just takes hard work and doing it as a team. I think that’s what they did in the second half.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (13-0, 10-0 SOL) will host #5 Central Bucks East in an All-SOL District One 3A final on Thursday. In last year’s district title game, the Colonials fell to Downingtown West 3-2 in overtime.
“It’s hard to get back in a district championship game two years in a row, and the girls have a lot to be proud of,” Halteman said. “They’ve worked really hard. They’re motivated, they want to try and win this one. I know East has some really quality players and has a good team. I think it will be a good game.”
Methacton 0-1-1-0-0 2
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-0-1-1-1 3
#5 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1, #16 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0
There was a bit of confusion on East’s 16th and final corner of Tuesday’s District One 3A semifinal. As the ball was inserted to Phia Mannino at the top of the circle, East coach Meghan Spratt shouted from the sidelines, “Phia, shoot,” instructions Mannino never heard.
Instead, the senior captain passed the ball to Kenzie Lever on her left. It turned out to be the perfect call as Lever fired a rocket into the cage, breaking a scoreless tie and giving the Patriots a goal with two minutes remaining that stood as the game-winner.
“I was confused – I thought it was supposed to be a straight shot to me, and then it went to Phia, and Phia thought the same,” Lever said. “She ended up passing to me, and it was wide open.”
“I kind of just read what’s open,” Mannino said. “Personally, I don’t use my drive that often, and Kenzie has a really pretty shot.
“I started carrying it to kind of pull the defender and then I just dropped it to her. She one-timed it and shot. I thought that was wide open and really smart on her part. She told me to shoot too, but I trusted her more to take the shot.”
Lever’s goal punched the Patriots’ ticket into Thursday’s District One 3A title game. It was their third win in as many games over their sister school this season.
“It’s really hard playing any team three times because they know how you play,” Mannino said. “South is always a strong team and very scrappy. They’re a good team and obviously would not go down without a fight.
“We had to step it up and keep pushing, so it was overall a really competitive and intense game. I thought South did a great job holding us, but we wanted it and came out with a win.”
It took a perfectly executed corner to win it for the Patriots as the Titans’ stingy defense and goalie Gwen DiPrinzio stymied the Patriots for 58 minutes.
“It was very difficult – the corners were getting super frustrating because it would go post and no one was there or it was a bad shot,” Mannino said. “It was – I don’t want to say wasted opportunities, but we didn’t create anything out of it, so it just got more frustrating, but I think we all knew in order to win we had to stay under control was to play our own game.”
“It was definitely frustrating because usually we have a good corner percentage for execution,” Lever said. “There were a lot of missed opportunities on post and pads and everything.
“I think we were definitely getting flustered every time a corner was called because we were missing so many. We just needed to reset, and the fourth quarter we were a whole different team coming out than we were in the first three.”
The stakes were high for Tuesday’s game with the winner earning a spot in the district final and the losing team going home. Only the winner of the district title game advances to states in this year’s abbreviated tournament.
“Knowing you have to win the district championship to get to states – we just wanted to go as far as we could because we want to make states this year,” Lever said.
The subplot to Tuesday’s game was the remarkable run by a Central Bucks South team that appeared to be on the outside looking in when the tournament brackets were being finalized.
“It was really great going into playoffs – we didn’t think we were in the playoffs,” South senior captain Sophia Wasyliw said. “We were 17th by some small amount, a tenth of a point.
“We were actually in a captains’ meeting with PT (coach Pat Toner) and we were looking at the screen and saying, ‘Let’s try to get another game with a team that’s also not in playoffs.’ As we were looking at it, we jumped up to 16th, so we were just so grateful, lucky and happy to be able to play. And what do you know? We get three more games.”
Wasyliw and her teammates walked off the field with no regrets except for the fact that their season was over.
“That’s why I got a little teared-up in our very last huddle over there,” the Titans’ captain said. “I don’t want it to end – our last game ever, but it was a good loss. We hung in there with them, and I’m glad because playing East – we’re all in our heads about the game because they’re a really good sister school of ours. I think the last two games we played them it’s been such a good game and really showed them who we are.
“I’m just really happy with how we played and we even got a season to begin with – with the circumstances of how everything is right now, but I’m so proud of everyone. We deserved to be out here today.
For the underdog Titans, it was a remarkable run to the district semifinals.
“I think we’re all just a fun, determined group of girls,” Wasyliw said. “Actually, this whole time during playoffs PT has been calling us clueless 
because we kind of just walk on the field and play how we know we can play and don’t get in our heads. Monday our first playoff game was against the number one team, and she said, ‘Do you realize what you guys just did?’ I think we’re just a really happy, determined group of girls.”
If the players were reluctant to see their season end, so were their coaches.
“They’re the nicest, most awesome group of kids,” assistant coach Kerry Dietzel said.
“They really are,” Toner added. “We just gave up too many corners. That was one of our things we tried to prevent, but we gave up so many of them that eventually you’re going to get burned on it. I’m pretty proud of us.
“To me with a season like this, I’m glad to have three extra moments with them and four or five extra days to practice with them. To me, that was amazing. We would have liked to get to the district championship, but I think we gave it everything we could.”
On the other side of the field, Spratt credited the Titans’ effort.
“They have played such great hockey,” she said of South. “It’s always a pleasure to have us representing, and it’s a shame one of us has to lose.
“It was a great game. I thought it was well played, I thought it was a clean game, I thought the reffing was terrific. This type of game can get so physical, so emotional, but I just through everyone remained in check and it was a really good hockey game.”
Spratt was especially pleased with her team’s mental toughness.
“This kind of game has so many different facets when you’re playing a sister school, not just a district game to get into the championship but playing a team a third time – we had North Penn three times and now South three times,” Spratt said. “The mental challenges and just the pride itself was huge.
“I was really proud of my kids’ mental toughness today and keeping their poise. They had many opportunities but we stayed calm and composed. It was a very good win.”
Central Bucks East (12-1, 9-1 SOL) will travel to #3 Plymouth Whitemarsh for Thursday’s District One 3A title game. Central Bucks South closed out its season with a 6-6-1 record (4-5-1 SOL).
EXTRA SHOTS: Both coaches had good things to say about their teams, and both pointed to the performances of several that stood out. South coach Pat Toner said, “I thought junior Grace Haag came up with some big defensive plays and stepped up to the ball very well. It was a tough game and I felt our defensive corner team of Sophia Wasyliw, Alyssa Endrick, Anna Shirley, Sarah Cooper and GK Gwen DiPrinzio did a fantastic job of neutralizing East’s very dangerous corners. East’s goal was on a beautifully executed corner.” Spratt also had high praise for several players whose names didn’t show up in the box score. “I thought Paige Hussie played very strong at center back, and she added to the transition of our attack,” the Patriots’ coach said. “Emily Bullard played well when needed, and I also thought Paige Keller, who’s really coming into her own as a freshman – I had her at midfield, I had her at forward, and she truly has been a diamond in the rough. It’s just so fun to watch her grow and her confidence build.”
Central Bucks South 0-0 0
Central Bucks East 0-1 1
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