North Penn senior Bri O’Donnell scored her 75th goal. Check out the recaps for Monday’s SOL field hockey action. (Photo provided by North Penn field hockey)
UPPER MORELAND 4, UPPER MERION 1
In a battle of former conference foes, it was the Golden Bears who had the upper hand, opening up a 2-1 halftime lead and then adding a pair of second-half goals.
“Very proud of the girls today,” coach Karen Grossi said. “They worked well as a team.
“This was a must-win game to stay in the running for the playoffs. The girls played composed, and everyone contributed to the win.”
With one game remaining, the Golden Bears are seeded 18th in the District One 2A power rankings with 20 teams earning berths.
Phoebe Longstreth gave the Bears a 1-0 lead when she scored an unassisted goal eight minutes into the contest. Jess Flanagan turned a Madison Casey pass into a goal and a 2-0 lead with 11:06 remaining in the first half. Upper Merion’s Nitzy Urias scored to cut that lead in half before the intermission.
That 2-1 score stood until Longstreth scored her second goal – this one with an assist by Claudia Zanine – with 4:16 remaining. Casey added an unassisted goal less than a minute later for the 4-1 final.
Upper Moreland (7-10, 5-9 SOL) will host Lower Moreland on Thursday in its regular season finale at 3:30 p.m.
Upper Merion 1-0 1
Upper Moreland 2-2 4
HARRY S TRUMAN 4, ACADEMY PARK 0
The Tigers continued their push to finish the season strong, winning their fourth game in the last seven outings.
“It’s nice to see Truman field hockey playing as a team and sad this is our last week,” coach Dipi Bhaya said. “We are looking to finish strong.”
Grace Sutton set the tone early, using a Kylie Hackbart assist to put Truman on the scoreboard less than four minutes into the game. Jaleezia Gibson’s unassisted goal four minutes later spotted the Tigers an early 2-0 lead that stood until halftime.
In a rerun of the first half, Sutton scored a goal early in the second half, this time using a Grace Pool assist. Olivia Kerns turned an Amanda Wilson pass into a goal with 2:23 remaining for the 4-1 final.
“It was nice to see the girls working as one unit today,” Bhaya said. “They were looking for each other, making the connecting passes and supporting each other.
“Grace Sutton had one of her best games and found the back of the net with two goals.”
Harry S Truman (4-12, 1-10 SOL) will host Pennsbury in its conference final on Tuesday.
Harry S Truman 2-2 4
Academy Park 0-0 0
NORTH PENN 9, HATBORO-HORSHAM 0
Bri O’Donnell isn’t concerned about personal milestones. As a matter of fact, the Penn State-bound senior didn’t know she was just one goal away from scoring her 75th goal until it happened at the 22:06 mark of the opening half.
“I was very surprised,” said O’Donnell, who found herself in the middle of an impromptu celebration during a Knight timeout after she scored the historic goal.
The senior captain was quick to deflect credit to her teammates.
“I love to play field hockey, I love my teammates,” O’Donnell said. “I couldn’t do it without them. They gave awesome passes, and we’re just one big happy family. It’s a team celebration.”
O’Donnell’s response came as no surprise to her coach.
“I’m just really proud of Bri,” North Penn coach Shannon McCracken said. “She is very humble and very modest.
“Every season she has no idea how many goals she scores. She always compliments her teammates for their passes, and she just does the job when she gets out there. She doesn’t care about statistics. She wants to win for her team. She’s a very selfless player. She just plays hard, and she’s always had a nose for that goal, and she’s always determined and persistent in that circle. That’s how she creates a lot of opportunities.”
O’Donnell is a four-year starter.
“What’s great about her freshman year – she played with her sister Casey, and that was really cool that they got to play alongside each other,” McCracken said. “Casey plays at James Madison now, so there’s some good hockey blood there.”
O’Donnell’s milestone goal came on the heels of a goal by Emily Crawford that was set up by a perfect O’Donnell lead pass. Crawford’s unassisted goal at the 21:22 mark put the Knights ahead 3-0. By halftime, that lead had grown to 6-0, thanks to goals from Kristin Varilla (Morgan Rees assist), Madison Stotler and Mikayla Barrow.
In the second half, Jillian Lampitoc connected on a pair of goals, and Kellie Pickford added a single goal.
Hatboro-Horsham goalkeeper Liz Wilburn did all she could to keep her teammates in the game, turning away 22 shots.
“She’s been averaging about 12 saves a game,” coach Laura Swezey said. “She had tough shoes to fill, but she’s done an amazing job since she stepped on the varsity field.”
“Their goalie played really well and had a lot of key saves early in the game,” McCracken said. “We had to keep being persistent. We made a lot of great passes, and we transferred the ball well on the field to change the point of attack. It was a great team effort.”
Despite Monday’s outcome, Swezey said she has seen improvement.
Even though the score doesn’t reflect the improvement – I know coaches say it, but it’s true,” the Hatters’ coach said. “It’s a great group of kids, and I feel they’ve learned.”
“The other night for Senior Night (an overtime loss to Quakertown) – it was great to see what they could do. The intensity was there, the passing was there.”
North Penn (11-5-1, 8-2-1 SOL) will host Pennridge on Tuesday, and Hatboro-Horsham (1-6, 1-12) will close out its season at Cheltenham.
Hatboro-Horsham 0-0 0
North Penn 6-3 9
MOUNT SAINT JOSEPH ACADEMY 3, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 2
A goal by freshman Lindsey O’Brien sent the Indians into halftime with a 1-0 lead, but the Magic scored a pair of goals out of halftime to go on top by one. O’Brien answered with a goal for the Indians to knot the score, but with 4:20 remaining in regulation, the Magic connected for a goal that turned out to be the game winner.
Keeping the Indians in the game was sophomore goalie Kyra Deehr-Lewis, who recorded 23 saves – including a stop of a penalty stroke – in a standout effort.
“Our ‘D’ was great too,” coach Heather Whalin said. “Nikki Jackson had a defensive save, and that’s without our starter, Kate McQuarrie, who broke her finger in the Pennsbury game and continued to play but is now out for the season.”
Council Rock North closed out its regular season with an 8-10 record, 5-7 in the SOL.
Mount Saint Joseph 0-3 3
Council Rock North 1-1 2
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