PW & Souderton saw their seasons come to an end in Tuesday’s opening round of the PIAA Tournament. Springfield Township advanced. PW/Easton photos provided courtesy of Kim Supko. Check back for a gallery of photos.
Class 3A
#11-2 EASTON 2, #1-2 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 1
Sometimes field hockey is a game of inches.
That was certainly the case in Tuesday’s state opener. With PW trailing 2-1 and the final seconds ticking off the scoreboard clock, the Colonials were awarded a corner. In the frantic seconds that followed, Ava Borkowski – arguably the area’s most dangerous offensive weapon – saw that goalie Danielle Swallow was down in front of the cage and lifted a shot that ricocheted off the crossbar and out of harm’s way.
An inch or two lower, and the game is heading into overtime, but it didn’t happen, and one of the most successful seasons in program history had come to an end.
“Ava made a really good choice there at the end to lift it over,” coach Charise Halteman said. “It was just slightly too high. You won’t fault her for making the right choice there.
“I thought it was a very well-played game. It was great playoff hockey. In a lot of ways, I thought we controlled it as a team for large parts. They had a lot of good individual talent and skill on that team, but I thought we played a nice team game. They got two goals pretty quick, and that changes things, but we were still putting pressure on at the end. That’s what we like to see.”
It was Borkowski who gave the Colonials a 1-0 lead three minutes into the second half when she took the ball off a defender’s stick in the circle and – before the Red Rovers’ defense had a chance to react – somehow managed to find the cage with a powerful reverse chip.
That lead stood until midway through the half when Riley McDonald scored on a reverse chip, knotting the score. With 7:21 remaining in regulation, McDonald – who inserted the ball– gave the Red Rovers a lead they would not lose when she scored on the left post during corner play.
“They moved her around the field – she was all over,” Halteman said of McDonald, a University of Delaware recruit. “She reads the play in front of her very well, and she was very skilled. I thought for the majority of the game we actually played their talent well, so I was happy with that.”
Tuesday’s game marked the Colonials’ first state playoff game in 15 years.
“It’s been since 2004 since we’ve been able to compete at this tournament and this level, so it’s really exciting for the team,” Halteman said. “I thought my senior captains – Kayla Link and Livia Truong – played so consistently all year long and have really been working for this for three to four years.
“For all the seniors, they led a really special team this year, and we did a lot of nice things and competed with great teams. That’s what we want to see. I hope it gives inspiration for years to come about what’s possible and how close you can come and those sorts of things.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (14-0 SOL) – winners of the program’s seventh consecutive SOL American title – saw a successful season come to an end with a 20-3 record.
Easton 0-2 2
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-1 1
#3-1 LOWER DAUPHIN 1, #1-6 SOUDERTON 0
It would have been hard to blame a young Indians’ squad if they had been intimidated going against a Lower Dauphin team that had not lost in 22 games and includes 10 Division I and II commits in its lineup.
It turns out they weren’t, hanging with the District 3 champions for 60 minutes.
“Good as they are, we went into the game confident tonight,” coach Sue Casciato said. “They were ranked number one in the state, so obviously, they’re a good team, but we weren’t intimidated in the slightest. We were ready to play.”
The Indians battled the Falcons to a scoreless halftime tie despite Lower Dauphin’s 9-0 edge in corners. The Falcons got on the scoreboard 37 seconds into the second half on a goal by Paige Bitting.
“It was the weakest shot they took the whole game, which was unfortunate,” Casciato said. “We gave up a lot of corners. Jordan Michalak played well in goal, and we defended well on corners. They didn’t really get great shots off on corners.
“It’s not like their corners were bad – we just defended well. They rocketed one ball that went off one goal post and then hit the other goal post and bounced out to the 50-yard line.”
The Indians’ coach credited the defensive play of Ange Borisow, Lauren Frye, Taylor Weaver and Autumn Hunter.
“They dominated us,” Casciato said of the Falcons. “They didn’t have a weak spot. Every single one of them is going on to play in college.
“The best 10 minutes we played were the last 10 minutes. We actually had them on the ropes. They called a timeout. We had three corners.
“I would say the last 10-12 minutes of the game we dominated.”
Casciasto bids farewell to three senior starters – Courtney Kenah, Anna Gwiazdzinski and Kylie Norbeck.
“The three of them carried us this year in different ways,” the Indians’ coach said. “I think we probably exceeded expectations this year. I said to them on the bus tonight – ‘We lost to a very good team tonight. They were the better team, but you did something no Souderton team has done in 15 years – you won a league title.’
“I feel like we have played well. We outplayed Garnet Valley the other night (a 1-0 overtime loss), we outplayed Owen J and lost that game, so we’ve been close. Tonight would have been one of those wins we didn’t deserve, but that happens in hockey.”
Souderton (11-1 SOL) closed out its season with an 18-5 record and a share of the SOL Continental Conference crown.
Souderton 0-0 0
Lower Dauphin 0-1 1
Class 2A
#1-2 SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 7, #12-1 LANSDALE CATHOLIC 0
Sparked by the four-goal effort of Anya Kochanowicz, Springfield rebounded from its district title loss to New Hope-Solebury to soundly defeat the Crusaders in an opening round state game.
“It was nice to see us be able to pick up our pace and find our game today,” coach Linda Nixon said.
Kochanowicz also had an assist on the game’s first goal by Charlotte Henry. Back-to-back goals by Kochanowicz – the second with a Kate Wojeck assist – sent the Spartans into halftime with a 3-0 lead.
Brigid Roy opened the second-half scoring, using a Maddie Yoder assist. Kochanowicz sandwiched a pair of goals around a goal by Kaelen Loscalzo to close out the scoring. Wojeck had assists on all three of those goals and finished the game with four assists.
The Spartans held a decisive advantage in shots (16-0) and corners (13-0).
Springfield Township (17-5, 10-4 SOL) will face District 3 champion Greenwood in a second round game Saturday. Greenwood pummeled Bloomsburg 6-0 in an opening round game.
Springfield Township 3-4 7
Lansdale Catholic 0-0 0
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