CB East, North Penn and CB South were winners in Wednesday’s second round of the District One 3A Tournament. Check the recaps.
#5 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 7, #12 PERKIOMEN VALLEY 2
Riley Donnelly was pretty close to unstoppable, exploding for five goals to lead the Patriots to the no-doubt-about-it win in Wednesday’s second round.
“Riley Donnelly became the Riley Donnelly we know she can be,” coach Michelle Finegan said. “She was ridiculous.
“I don’t know if she’s been conservative or she didn’t want to steal the show and wanted to be a team player, but there was no doubt that we were going to win that game, and Riley Donnelly was going to have everything to do with it.
“It was awesome. The whole team was pumped, and they wanted to win for the seniors. The energy was high, they knew if they didn’t win it was their last game, and that made them play harder.”
The Patriots didn’t get on the scoreboard until freshman Phia Mannino tipped an Emma Donnelly pass over the keeper at the 7:14 mark. Once they started scoring, they didn’t stop, and a minute later, Riley Donnelly (Mackenzie Boyle assist) connected on a corner shot.
With 4:23 remaining in the half, Paige Calfapietra put the Vikings on the board, using a Gabby Martina sweep, but 50 second later, Riley Donnelly scored again on a corner, this time on a reverse sweep with a Cailey Lever assist to send East into halftime with a 3-1 lead.
Eight minutes into the second half, Riley Donnelly scored an unassisted goal, and midway through the half, Emma Donnelly tipped a shot by Whitney Dietz into the cage for a 5-1 East advantage. Another unassisted goal by Riley Donnelly was followed by a Martina goal, and the senior captain put the finishing touches on a big day when she turned a pass from Allison Gallant into a goal with 3:07 remaining for the 7-2 final.
“We knew if we didn’t win, our season was finished,” Finegan said. “The pressure of knowing this made our team play extremely focused and with more energy.
“They knew they could not let down because a letdown in the past has haunted us. The composure of the team was a factor. Going into the game, we’ve already had some very close losses, and they knew they had to stay strong for the full 60 minutes, and they did.”
While Donnelly stole the spotlight, she wasn’t the only one to come up big for the Patriots.
“The defensive leadership of Isobel Mannino, Tara Harper and Whitney Dietz definitely proved to be a factor in keeping the ball out of the cage,” Finegan said. “Emily Bullard also scrambled a few times to make seven saves.”
The Patriots’ coach lauded the play of PV’s Gabby Martina, Paige Calfapeitra and Katie Wuerstle.
“They were very strong throughout the game,” Finegan said. “Danielle Hamm and her sister Taylor Hamm were also very good. Perkiomen Valley is a very good team.”
Central Bucks East (16-3, 11-1 SOL) will travel to fourth-seeded Haverford for Friday’s 3 p.m. quarterfinal game.
Perkiomen Valley 1-1 2
Central Bucks East 3-4 7
#11 NORTH PENN 5, #6 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 4
Gutsy was the word coach Shannon McCracken used to describe her team’s performance in Wednesday’s second round win.
“Today my kids played gutsy,” the Knights’ coach said. “What I really think prepared this team for a game like this where it’s just back and forth and it’s hard play and it’s physical play is that we play in such a great conference, so we’ve been in situations like that.
“Our non-league schedule was Methacton and Downingtown West. We’ve been in those situations where we’ve had to face adversity and we’ve been down and we’ve had to fight. Again, that experience of the seniors – they’re fighters. They played with some guts today.”
The visiting Knights opened up a 3-1 halftime lead and appeared to be cruising, but the Colonials put that notion to rest in a hurry in the second half, reeling off three unanswered goals to go on top 4-3 after Kennedy Reardon scored at the 11:08 mark.
To say their lead was brief would be an understatement. It lasted all of 14 seconds as Bri O’Donnell had an immediate answer for the Knights, connecting for the equalizer on an unassisted goal.
“That was incredible – that was a game changer because they just scored three goals on us in a row,” McCracken said. “We took it right down and got it in.
“After that, we had a couple of corners, and there was some play in front of the goalkeeper. We put a shot on goal, and it hit a defender’s leg, so a penalty stroke was called.”
McCracken called on Mikayla Barrow to take the stroke, and the senior forward made it count, scoring her third goal of the game with 7:06 remaining.
“Mikayla is one of our mentally toughest players,” McCracken said. “She has this competitive edge to her. I just knew she was the kid to call on late in the game, and she stepped up to the line and put it right in.”
The Knights had the lead, but the Colonials didn’t go down quietly.
“We didn’t make it easy on ourselves,” McCracken said. “We kept possession in our attack end for a few minutes, and then PW made a good run, and we gave up a penalty corner with about 30 seconds left on the clock.
“The official re-started the corner, so time ran out and there was zero seconds left on the clock, so we have 10 PW players on the circle against us, up by a goal with no time left. We committed another foul and gave them a second corner and just toughed it out.
“It was an exciting one. All the credit to Plymouth Whitemarsh. They played tough, and they’re a good team. They have some skilled players.”
Earlier, Barrow (Emily Crawford assist) broke a scoreless tie with a goal at the 19:29 mark of the first half. Just over a minute later, Ava Borkowski scored for the Colonials, using a Jess Dixon assist. Goals by Barrow and O’Donnell within a two-minute span sent the Knights into halftime with a two-goal lead.
“We created some opportunities on our attack end and were able to capitalize, but there was a lot of back and forth play in the midfield in the first half,” McCracken said. “When we got in the circle, we made our opportunities count.
“I give PW a lot of credit. They really came out on fire in the second half. They came out hard and caught us back on our heels because they had much more energy than they did in the first half.”
The second half featured an impressive three-goal tear by the Colonials that included goals by Julia Fiddler (Dixon assist) and Sam Spera. Reardon’s goal with 11:08 remaining gave the Colonials the short-lived lead, but the Knights had an answer.
“North Penn got on the board first and kept (us) on our heels for most of the first half,” PW coach Charise Halteman said. “This was a hard loss for our team, but we have a great season to be proud of.”
PW goalie Katherine Houghton recorded nine saves while North Penn’s Anissa Gardizy had seven.
North Penn (14-5-1, 9-2-1 SOL) will travel to third-seeded Conestoga for Friday’s second round contest.
Plymouth Whitemarsh closed out its season with a 16-3 record overall (14-0 SOL).
North Penn 3-2 5
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1-3 4
#15 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 2, #2 METHACTON 1 (OT)
Remember the Titans
Those three words were emblazoned on the back of assistant coach Meg Hutchinson’s black t-shirt, and just to ensure that their squad would be remembered, the Titans went out and pulled off one of the biggest upsets in program history, defeating previously unbeaten Methacton in overtime.
The Titans won it when Kasey Dietzel – on just her team’s third shot of the game – converted a penalty stroke with five seconds remaining in overtime, giving the Titans the improbable win and setting off a jubilant celebration.
“It was the best feeling ever,” Dietzel said. “We wanted the game so bad, and just the fact that we pulled together and played together as a team – it just really feels amazing.
“Methacton’s a great team. I have to give it to them.”
The Titans – who were outshot 23-3 – were awarded a stroke when Casey Reilly was tackled from behind on a breakaway.
“Casey Reilly played an amazing game – she was the reason that stroke was called,” said Dietzel. “As soon as we got into playoffs, we began to practice strokes, so I just treated it like it was practice and tried to be as calm as I could.
“The support of my teammates really helped me doing that.”
Reilly described her emotions as she watched Dietzel hit pay dirt on the stroke.
“It was insane,” she said. “We were holding hands, and we’re literally saying to ourselves, ‘Please go in, please go in.’”
There would have been no late-game heroics had it not been for the Titans’ defense, most notably goalie Jillian Heilig.
“Our goalie was amazing,” Dietzel said. “That’s the best game she’s every played. She saved us.”
Heilig was a late addition to the Titans’ roster this fall.
“Jillian, poor Jillian,” coach Pat Toner said of her sophomore goalie. “Our starting goalie from last year (Francine Richick) had to have surgery, and we begged her to come out, so she came out a week late, and we threw her right into the fire. She’s just a great kid, and she’s worked her butt off.”
That work paid dividends in Wednesday’s second round game that saw Heilig turn away 19 shots in a dazzling outing that kept the Titans in the game and gave them a chance to win it in overtime.
Heilig not only survived a second half that saw the Warriors draw nine corners and send a barrage of shots her way, she delivered one of her biggest saves with just a minute remaining in overtime on a bang-bang play with a Methacton player barreling toward goal.
“It was so stressful,” Heilig said. “I try not to think of anything. I’m like, ‘Do your job.’ I didn’t even have time to react.”
Heilig received a major assist from the Titans’ tenacious defense that included a pair of defensive saves by Dakota Hurwitz and Sarah Duimering.
“The defense on all those corners – I think we really played as a team this game,” Dietzel said. “The intensity was up the whole game, and I think that’s what really won it for us.”
In regulation, the game pretty much belonged to the Warriors, who got on the scoreboard at the 17:58 mark of the opening half when Emily Owens converted a penalty stroke.
The Titans managed just one shot in the first half, but on this day, they didn’t need a whole lot of shots as Reilly turned her team’s second shot into the equalizer four minutes into the second half, breaking through the Warriors’ defense and firing a shot that deflected off the goalie and into the cage.
“My teammates helped me the whole way through, passing it down the field,” Reilly said. “They were with me the whole time, and I couldn’t have scored if it weren’t for them. I wanted to score so badly for our team because we were down one.”
The “team” theme was a recurring one on the Titans’ sidelines, and on this day, the team concept won out with the Titans playing the improbable role of giant killer, handing the Warriors their first loss of a remarkable season.
“I have the utmost respect for Sarah Quintois and Mary Ann Harris – they’ve done a great job,” said Toner of the Warriors’ coaches. “That is one of the scariest teams I’ve seen, and I’m really happy that we were able to withstand the storm and come out on top.
“This means the world. We’ve been trying to get them to believe in themselves. We’ve sometimes come out a little timid against some teams. I keep saying to them – ‘You can play with anyone. It’s a matter of believing you can,’ and today they did. They came out and believed in themselves from the beginning.”
Central Bucks South (12-7-1, 6-5-1 SOL) will travel to seventh-seeded Owen J Roberts for a quarterfinal game on Friday.
Central Bucks South 0-1-1 2
Methacton 1-0-0 1
#9 UNIONVILLE 4, #8 PENNSBURY 3 (2 OT)
(Submitted article)
In the end, after nearly 87 minutes of intense playoff field hockey, all that separated Unionville and Pennsbury were the emotions of the moment.
On the Unionville side, there was elation, with some relief and exhaustion at the effort it took to win this one. On the Pennsbury side, there were tears, mixed with pride, as the unforgiving harshness of the moment began to set in.
Claire Donovan finished a cross from Annie McDonough with 3:24 left in the second overtime to give ninth-seeded Unionville a heart-stopping – and for Pennsbury heartbreaking – 4-3 win over the eighth-seeded Falcons in the second round of the District 1 tournament in front of a large crowd at Pennsbury. Unionville advances to the quarterfinals at No. 1 Downingtown West with the win, while the best season in Pennsbury field hockey history ended in a blink.
"We played really hard," said Pennsbury coach Jamie Parell. "We left everything we had out there. I couldn't be more proud of us. Ultimately, someone had to win. Unionville is a great team. Both teams played with great intensity the whole time. Now we wish them luck as they go on."
The overtimes were frantic and fiercely contested, like the last few rounds of an old championship boxing match, with both teams throwing everything they had at each other and a series of figurative punches and counterpunches.
Donovan's game-winner was the second-biggest play of the game. The biggest came 83 seconds earlier, when Unionville goalie Lizze Gaebel made an unbelievable one-on-one save on Pennsbury's Maddie Hackman in front to keep her team in the game. Hackman's shot was headed inside the near post before Gaebel got just enough on it to see it roll harmlessly wide.
Gaebel made two incredible saves in the game. Her first came just five minutes in, when she stopped Kate Chesney in close and then saw Olivia Mauro's follow attempt just sail over the top of the net.
Unionville's Annie McDonough scored the first goal of the game with 13:05 left in the first half, but Pennsbury got the equalizer on a Samie Hackman drive nine minutes later, after Chesney led her into the circle, making it 1-1 at the break.
Maggie Lawrence put Unionville back up 14:36 into the second half, but Hackman, again from Chesney, tied it at 2-2 34 seconds later. Pennsbury then took its only lead at 3-2 off a corner, as Annie Price received the ball and fed Nell Webber, whose blast was tipped in by Chesney. For Chesney, it was her 50th career goal. For Pennsbury, it was the lead with 8:39 to play.
The Falcons tried to hold on from that point, but Unionville kept piling up corners and cashed one in for the equalizer, from Katie Anderson, off the insertion from Donovan, making it 3-3 with just 3:55 to go.
From there on, Unionville would outshoot Pennsbury 12-2 for the rest of regulation and through the two overtimes. In fact, Unionville would outshoot Pennsbury 31-12 and have a 24-6 edge in penalty corners.
In the face of the onslaught, Pennsbury got huge defensive performances from Price and Amy Ronin, who had three defensive saves by herself, as well as Anna Sharp, Lily Nolan, Gianna Pinto and Alexa Tannenbaum. Michelle Deodati made a career-high 11 saves for Pennsbury, including six in the overtimes.
"We did everything we could," Parell said. "Nobody on either team has anything to be ashamed of. It was a great, great high school field hockey game."
Unionville is now 15-5 as it plays on.
Pennsbury's season ends at 15-4, including a 12-0 run through the Suburban One National Conference. The Falcons graduate 12 seniors from this team.
Unionville 1-2-0-1 4
Pennsbury 1-2-0-0 3
#7 OWEN J ROBERTS 1, #10 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0
One corner, one well-executed corner. That was all that separated the Bucks and the Wildcats in Wednesday night’s second round game.
“That one corner executed well was the difference,” coach Courtney Lepping said. “There was nothing that led to that corner that was terrible, there was nothing they did that was crazy. It was well executed. We had a couple of well-executed ones that didn’t find the net.”
Julia Lamb scored the game winner just over five minutes into the second half, putting away a shot by Natalie Fuertsch and breaking a scoreless tie.
The Wildcats had a 5-1 advantage in corners in a first half that saw both goalies make three saves. In the second half, the Bucks drew five corners while the Wildcats had six. Senior Peyton Fischer recorded nine saves in goal for the Bucks – six in the second half.
“They were solid,” Lepping said of the Wildcats. “They trap and they do different things. They’re very systematic, and they manufacture goals.
“They don’t have a goal scorer. They have this collective bunch that works really well together and is strong. It was a good game through and through. They had really strong players all throughout the field, but for the majority of the game, it was really played throughout the midfield with different transitions happening.
“Honestly, both teams played well. It was really pretty hockey on both sides of the ball.”
Lepping bids farewell to 12 seniors – Eva Altadonna, Danielle Dundas, Peyton Fischer, Olivia Fitzgerald, Laura Kubit, Taylor Mason, Chloe Miller Russo, Kaci Murray, Bridget Naylor, Hanne Scheel, Emma Schwass and Lindsey Thompson.
“This senior class – 12 of them on one team with so many that didn’t have the varsity experience coming in – they just stepped up,” Lepping said. “One of the things we talked about after the game was how much fun they as a senior class had because of the underclassmen and because of the group that was there.
“They all really got along well together, they all fought together. They played together, they were unselfish. We had seniors we couldn’t get on the field with 12 seniors, and I think that’s really what defines the class – unselfish and just really great people. They were all coachable, they all listened. This is a team that it really makes you sad to lose because it was such a neat team this year and a great group of kids, and you had fun going to practice and games everyday. All of them have stuck with the program for four years. It was just a great group.”
Central Bucks West closed out its season with a 15-5 record (9-3 SOL).
Central Bucks West 0-0 0
Owen J Robert 0-1 1
#4 HAVERFORD 3, #13 NESHAMINY 0
The Redskins more than held their own in Wednesday’s second round game, battling the Fords to a scoreless tie before allowing three second half goals.
“They’re good, they’re quick, and they’re strong,” coach Jamie Pinto said of the Fords. “We had opportunities. I honestly thought we should have had two goals going into halftime. We couldn’t finish.”
Katie Redding put the Fords on the board two minutes into the second half.
“We kept putting pressure on,” Pinto said. “They called a couple of timeouts, but it wasn’t coming together for us. We had our opportunities, but it just didn’t work for us today.
“I don’t think anybody thought we would have done as well as we did and make it as far as we did this year. That’s a credit to the girls. Our senior leadership did a nice job, and our underclassmen stepped up. We’re just looking to build on this year and continue on strong next year.”
The Redskins will lose three senior starters from this year’s young squad.
“Our girls knew what we lost last year (to graduation),” Pinto said. “I think we did a nice job, and we’re only going to get better.
“We’re going to miss our seniors this year – they were a good group of girls. They were positive and did a nice job leading our team.”
The Fords held a 16-7 advantage in shots. Both teams had 10 penalty corners.
Neshaminy closed out its season with a 13-7 record overall (10-2 SOL).
Neshaminy 0-0 0
Haverford 0-3 3
#1 DOWNINGTOWN WEST 7, #16 COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0
The Whippets have spent the season beating up one opponent after another, and it took them less than a minute to get on the scoreboard, thanks to a Tatum Johnson goal.
They didn’t score again until Celina Riccardo found the cage with 13:12 remaining in the half. Three Whippet goals in the final six minutes – one each from Tatum, Claudia Jasczak and Ciana Riccardo – sent the Whippets into halftime with a 5-0 lead.
“Their biggest threat is their offense,” Rock South coach Lisa Belz said. “They got down in the circle, and they were very dangerous.
“I really am pleased with the way my girls played. We played hard, we challenged them, but we really struggled against them in the defensive circle.”
The scoring slowed down considerably in the second half with the Whippets connecting for a pair of goals.
“I really felt as though our midfield was lined up okay,” Belz said. “We drew four corners, so it’s not like we didn’t have opportunities.
“When they had opportunities, they were able to capitalize. They have three girls with over 20 goals, so the way it lined up – their forwards to our backs – we don’t have a lot of experience in the back. There was only one returning defender. They’re all new back there. It took my backs awhile to adjust to the quick sticks, good stick work and the quick shots. We just go caught off guard, and we had a hard time adjusting.”
The Whippets held an advantage in shots (15-1) and corners (11-4).
Council Rock South closed out its season with an 11-9 record (7-5 SOL).
Council Rock South 0-0 0
Downingtown West 5-2 7
CLASS 2A
NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 2, SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 0
In a game of limited offensive opportunities for both teams, the Spartans did not take a shot. The high-scoring Lions managed just four, but they converted two of those into goals.
Sarah Wilson scored the only goal of the opening half, finding the cage at the 12:34 mark. The Lions tacked on an insurance goal just over seven minutes into the second half when Lilly Smith turned an Erin Firth pass into a goal.
The Spartans – who will still have an opportunity to vie for a one of three state berths – didn’t win, but they did hold the Lions to a season-low two goals. The Lions averaged 8.5 goals a game heading into Wednesday’s contest.
Springfield (14-5, 11-3 SOL) will face Lower Moreland in Friday’s third place game.
Springfield Township 0-0 0
New Hope-Solebury 1-1 2
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