Check out the recaps for SOL field hockey teams in action Tuesday. PW/Wissahickon photos courtesy of Kim Supko, CB South/Pennridge photos courtesy of Karla Donohoe, and Pennsbury/CR North photos courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for galleries of all three games: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f435525856
SOL Patriot Division
PENNSBURY 2, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 1
(Article submitted by Pennsbury field hockey)
A Hydra is a many-headed serpent or monster from Greek mythology that was slain by Hercules. However, facing such a creature is not for the faint of heart as it is said to grow two heads where one is removed, making the task more difficult with each step.
Josh Kaufman’s book, How to Fight a Hydra, is an essential handbook for anyone getting ready to face an ambitious challenge, and the Pennsbury Falcons’ head coach, Traci Curtis, was drawn to this fable at just the right time. She and her coaching staff used the Hydra story with the team to create the perfect metaphor leading into the final five games of their 2023 season. Their serpent had five heads – Hatboro, Truman, Bensalem, CR South, and CR North. Each of those five games was a head of the Hydra, and each one had to be faced individually with courage and confidence.
After coming off of an eight-game losing streak, the Falcons kicked off the challenge by defeating Hatboro-Horsham and Truman. That put some spark in their fight. Two Hydra heads slain. Next came their victory against Bensalem on Senior Night to knock off the third head of the serpent. The task became more intense, as expected when battling such a monster, but PHS prevailed over Council Rock South on an exciting Friday afternoon, slaying the fourth head of the Hyrdra and really rattling the beast.
Continuing to draw inspiration from the most unconventional source, the Pennsbury Falcons began to feel like Hercules in their battle and came together in the most powerful way – using love, unity, sisterhood, believing, and family as their weapons. Their game against Council Rock North would be the last of the regular season and the final serpent head to be slain to complete the task. PHS lost to CR North the first time they met earlier in the season, and there is always the historical rivalry to amp things up. Today was high intensity. Both teams came out with something to prove – PHS wanting to move up in the Patriot Division and North protecting a playoff berth.
As North notched the first goal six minutes into the first quarter, Curtis knew it was going to be a long rollercoaster ride kind of night. She was right – twenty seconds later, the Falcons tied it up 1-1 with a convincing goal by Chelsea Todd. With the help of Riley Henderson in the middle distributing the ball to the forwards, right wing, Mia Popovich, fed the circle allowing Todd to clean up. The second quarter was a scoreless back and forth with many moments being won by both defenses including a great defensive save by PHS senior Gabby Darling.
Tied at 1-1, the five-minute halftime was a much-needed breather for both teams. The Falcons had possession to start the third quarter. Gabby Darling, whose talents reach beyond being a defender, used her strong aerial to kick off the offensive push, and one minute after the starting whistle, Mia Popovich collected a rebound off of the pads and scored what would end up being the winning goal. The remainder of the third quarter was full of energy and excitement end-to-end and then the fourth was another scoreless fifteen minutes of high intensity hockey.
CR North earned seven penalty corners to Pennsbury’s two, and the shots on goal and goalie saves were pretty even.
“We really worked on possession skills today and focusing on making decisions that would allow us to keep the ball on offense,” explains Curtis. “Although we did not capitalize on earning penalty corners
like we wanted to, we were very pleased with their passing, stepping up, and defensive strengths. Our attack created many scoring opportunities and finishing on two of them was enough today, but as we move forward as a team, we need to get better at knowing how to score more goals for sure.
“Our goalie, Kayla Shaffer, has done an absolutely incredible job this season. She made some key saves tonight to keep us in the game. She rose to the challenge from day one, knowing the role she had to play. It has been a joy to watch her work hard and succeed the way she has. We attribute a lot of her growth to our new goalie coach, Michelle Siegle (Coach Siegs) who has guided Shaffer and our JV goalie for the past two months.
“North is a great team and they always come out ready to play at a super high level. They have been such a force this season and definitely made us earn every moment today. It’s always a great game between us and it’s a shame there has to be someone who walks away with the loss, but we make each other better and that helps us all in the end. They kept earning penalty corners in the final quarter all the way to the two-minute mark and made us work harder than ever to put a complete game together.”
As the clock ticked down with the Falcons still leading 2-1, the orange and black bench toed the sideline ready to run. The final head of the Hydra was slain, giving them the ending they worked for – five wins in a row and sending ripples through the league. The dog pile said it all.
“The reward for slaying the Hydra is never the treasure you think it is supposed to be,” Curtis said. “We are most likely not
in playoffs, and we aren’t winning any championship trophies, but that is not the reward we were seeking. The treasure is the journey we took to get to this point and the multitude of lessons we will walk away with to use in our lives.
“We did it together – Coaches Lori Riley, Lauren Gerth, Michelle Siegle, and I fell in step beautifully and I cannot thank them enough for their dedication, heart, contributions, and friendship. Because of our connection, there are 38 female athletes in our family who are brave souls, prepared for their next battle and can light their torch with confidence and move forward with pride,” said Curtis with a smile.
Best of luck to all of the teams making a playoff run. Thank you for making us work harder and be better than we were when we started. Go out and represent! We will be rooting for you.
Pennsbury closed out its season with an 8-10 record (6-10 SOL). Council Rock North (10-8, 8-8) is 23 in the latest District 1 3A rankings.
“Pennsbury played a strong and aggressive game,” Rock North coach Jules Singer said. “Traci Curtis and staff have done a great job with the team throughout the season.”
Pennsbury 1-0-1-0 2
Council Rock North 1-0-0-0 1
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 9, HARRY S TRUMAN 0
The Golden Hawks closed out their season with a convincing win, opening up a 4-0 halftime lead and never looking back.
“For me it was a bittersweet ending,” Rock South coach Kelly Mason said. “Obviously, this wasn’t the season we anticipated on having, but our team put up the best fight they could.
“There were a lot of life lessons learned during this season, and sometimes that’s more important than the record. This was a good sendoff for seniors and a rebuilding year for our underclassmen. It was a fun game on both sides of the ball.”
Kelly Longmore’s unassisted goal gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead after one quarter, and she scored her second goal in the second quarter with a Jenna Evangelist assist. Elise Lindros and Annagrace McKinney each added a goal for the 4-0 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Clare Morgan, Sarah Freeman and Ava Leonetti each scored a goal. Leonetti’s second goal and a goal by Meghan O’Brien in the fourth quarter gave the Golden Hawks their final margin of victory.
Council Rock South closed out its season with a 5-12 record overall (5-11 SOL). Harry S Truman (0-17, 0-15) will travel to Bensalem on Thursday for a 7 p.m. game.
Harry S Truman 0-0-0-0 0
Council Rock South 1-3-3-2 9
NESHAMINY 8, BENSALEM 0
Kasey Rieger scored three straight goals to open the game, setting the tone for the Redskins’ shutout win over the visiting Owls.
Rieger turned a pass from Hannah Stanton into a goal 42 seconds into the game, and she was off and running. Midway through the opening quarter, Rieger scored with an assist from Mia Sermarini.
Two minutes into the second quarter, Rieger completed her hat trick, once again scoring with a Stanton assist. Molly Courtney’s goal with a Mia Brooks assist sent the Redskins into halftime with a 4-0 lead.
Just over a minute into the third quarter, Stanton turned a Brooks pass into a goal, and then it was Liv Lobecker scoring with an assist from Cait Colyar.
In the fourth quarter, Brooks scored with a Molly Courtney assist, and Alayna Roscoe’s goal closed out the scoring.
Neshaminy (13-5, 12-4 SOL) is the 17th seed in the latest District 1 3A power rankings. Bensalem (3-14, 1-14) will host Harry S Truman on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Bensalem 0-0-0-0 0
Neshaminy 2-2-2-2 8
SOL Colonial Divison
SOUDERTON 1, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0 (OT)
On paper, not a whole lot was at stake in Tuesday night’s game.
Central Bucks West had secured the SOL Colonial Division crown, and Souderton – after struggling out of the gate – had righted the ship and secured its spot in the postseason.
“I said in the huddle before the game tonight – ‘We have absolutely nothing to lose. Why don’t we just come out with our best effort, high intensity,’” Souderton senior captain Ashley Paturzo said. “Knowing there were almost no expectations on us – we had gotten killed the first game (against West), so it was like, ‘Let’s come to play today, let’s catch them off guard, let’s play our highest intensity hockey that we can.’”
For four quarters, the two teams battled, and neither could get on the scoreboard. Then came an overtime period that came to a dramatic end when – with 6:05 remaining – junior Gianna Radcliffe scored on the rebound of a goalie save, propelling the Indians to the upset win.
The play began innocently enough with Paturzo passing the ball out of the defensive end.
“I made one pass to our right mid, Hannah Cornes, and she made a pass up the field to Tatum Andrews, who took a shot. The goalie had a terrific save, and Gianna Radcliffe was there and just put the ball in,” Paturzo said of the game-winning sequence. “You hear the ball hit the back of the cage. I was sprinting to everyone to give them a hug. It was so surreal. Those are the only words I have really have.”
According to the Indians’ senior captain, the Bucks had the better of play in OT.
“They pretty much had the ball in our defensive 25 for the first four minutes of overtime,” Patruzo said. “Our forwards are very, very fast, and I said, ‘If we get one breakaway, we are going to win this game.’”
That turned out to be prophetic, and perhaps no one appreciated the win more than Paturzo, who was sidelined her entire junior season with a torn ACL.
“I came off the field tonight, and I said, ‘I wish our Senior Night was later because my favorite memory for all of Souderton field hockey was definitely tonight’s win, by far,’” the senior captain said.
Making the win especially sweet for the Indians was that it came after taking a beating at the hands of the Bucks in the initial meeting between the two teams. In that contest, West raced out of the gate to a 6-0 halftime lead on its way to an 8-2 win that dropped the Indians’ record to 0-5-1 after six games.
Instead of marking the beginning of the end, it was the turning point of the season for the Indians, who reeled off eight straight wins.
“Even after the first quarter tonight, I felt good because the last time we played them we were down 3-0 after one quarter,” Souderton coach Sue Casciato said. “In the first half of that game, they ran us off the field, and in the second half, we played them even. Being able to hang with them in the second half just put in our heads – maybe we are better than we think we are. That’s when our season pretty much turned around.
“We haven’t been super consistent – we’ve had some peaks and valleys definitely since then, but at that point, I think we realized we could play with people if we put our minds to it.”
Casciato had a good feeling before her team even took the field on Tuesday.
“We had a really good warmup, and I said to my assistant coach – ‘I feel pretty good,’ and she’s like, ‘Me too,’” the Indians’ coach said. “They knew – we have nothing to lose at this point. It was definitely nice for someone like Ashley after missing a year and we kind of struggled through this year to get a win like this.”
The Bucks – shut out for the first time this season – had a lopsided 17-4 advantage in penalty corners.
“They had 17 corners and only had seven shots total,” Casciato said. “Obviously, Ash (Paturzo) played great. Our defense starts with how good our mids and forwards are attacking the ball
“We’re trying to double and triple team everything. I thought we were pretty successful with that tonight.”
Comprising the Indians’ tenacious corner defense were the team’s flyer, Gianna Radcliffe, Paturzo, Cornes, Julia Blair and goalie Meredith DeMarzio, who posted a shutout in the cage.
Also receiving credit from Casciato was Blair, who was assigned the task of defending dangerous sophomore Aide Ierubino.
“She was pretty much man-marking Ierubino inside the 25,” the Indians’ coach said. “The last time we played them she had three goals.
“I was just proud that four quarters we played solid field hockey and never let down. I was really happy and proud of everyone on our team.”
Souderton (9-7-1, 9-5-1 SOL) will close its regular season with a home game against Pennridge on Thursday. Central Bucks West (16-2, 14-2) – the third seeded in the District 1 3A Tournament – will have an opening round bye in the upcoming tournament.
Central Bucks West 0-0-0-0-0 0
Souderton 0-0-0-0-1 1
(Souderton seniors Meredith DeMarzio, Ashley Paturzo, Rose Hunsicker, Olivia Nogami, Aubrey DeThomas. The Indians celebrated Senior Night on Friday)
NORTH PENN 3, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 2
The visiting Knights found themselves on the short end of a 2-1 halftime score but responded with two unanswered goals in the second half to eke out the win.
“I am really proud of the energy and effort that was brought to CB East,” North Penn coach Shannon McCracken said. “Our kids really wanted to walk away with a win, and the communication on and off the field was excellent.”
Sydney Lafferty (Paige Keller assist put the Patriots on the scoreboard with 48 second remaining in the first quarter. The Knights answered with a goal by Paige Shearer (Ashley Barwis assist) just over a minute into the second quarter to knot the score. Midway through the quarter Sienna Valenti connected on an unassisted goal to send the Patriots into halftime with the 2-1 lead.
“Sydney Lafferty’s goal in the first quarter was a gorgeous tip which is something we’ve really been working on,” East coach Emma Rosenthal said. “In the second quarter, Sienna Valenti scored an unassisted goal in a similar fashion to how she scored last game against Souderton.”
The Knights evened the score with 5:19 remaining in the third quarter when Shearer connected on her second goal of the game, this one with a Caleigh Sperling assist. Grace McGeehan scored with a Melissa Sessler assist on a penalty corner with 1:06 remaining in the third quarter. Neither team scored the rest of the way.
“Everyone was involved and contributed tonight,” McCracken said. “Junior midfielder Laura Albert was all over the field and had a great game, especially when CB East was counterattacking. Goalkeeper Kiley Moister came up with a few key saves when we needed her tonight.
“I am really proud of our regular season, and we are excited for postseason play. This team is truly a special group of kids. They have pushed through adversity at times and worked really hard all season.”
Rosenthal also walked away from Tuesday’s regular season finale feeling positive.
“We’ve seen some great improvements this season that I’m really happy with and excited to carry into playoffs,” the East coach said. “It’s obviously not the result we wanted, but they fought the whole game and put ourselves in a great winning position.”
North Penn (14-3-1, 12-3-1 SOL) is the seventh seed in the latest District 1 3A rankings and will have an opening round bye. Central Bucks East (13-5, 12-4) is 13th in the latest rankings.
North Penn 0-1-2-0 3
Central Bucks East 1-1-0-0 2
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 1, PENNRIDGE 0
Erin Kelly deflected a corner shot by Tessa Walls into the cage with just over two minutes remaining in the opening quarter. That turned out to be the game’s only goal as
the Titans earned the win on Pennridge’s Senior Night.
“It an intense battle in their defensive circle,” South coach Kelli Chioffe said. “(We) had 14 shots on their terrific goalkeeper, Molly Bross, who was able to save 13 of those shots. Congrats to their Seniors.”
Chioffe lauded the efforts of several of her players in the win.
“We suffered an injury just before the halftime whistle, and Carrie Williams stepped in on defense to fill the shoes of senior Peyton Ostroff,” Chioffe said. “Our offense was able to get in the circle today with the help of Kaeli VanDerSluis, Amy Hazell, Tessa Walls, Avery Tyler and Erin Kelly.
“(We got) strong defensive play from Sam Thomas and Ella Haag, who were able to keep control of the middle of the field.”
The Titans held a 10-0 advantage in penalty corners. South goalie Emma Kraft was forced to make just one save in the shutout win.
Central Bucks South (9-8, 9-7 SOL) is 20th in the latest District 1 3A power ranking and will begin play in Monday’s opening round. Pennridge (6-11, 5-10) will travel to Souderton for its regular season finale. The Rams are 24th in the latest power rankings in what will be a 24-team field.
Central Bucks South 1-0-0-0 1
Pennridge 0-0-0-0 0
SOL Liberty Division
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 2, WISSAHICKON 1
The Colonials celebrated Senior Night by upsetting a Trojans’ squad that needed a win to clinch sole possession of the division title, opening up a 2-0 first-half lead and holding on for the win.
The hard-fought win forced Wissahickon to share the crown with Quakertown and gave a young Colonial squad that moved up to 14th in the latest District 1 3A power rankings a boost heading into the postseason.
“This was really big,” PW coach Charise Halteman said. “Obviously, things will change before playoffs, but we already bumped up, and that’s great in terms of seeding and getting a home game.
“Even though we were up at halftime, it still felt like a tight competitive game, and that’s how playoffs go. It was 2-1, we got in dangerous situations, and you have to find a way to maintain your composure, play with possession and find a way to win, and I thought we were able to do that, so that was great.”
Appropriately, it was a senior – Ella McCarthy – putting the Colonials on the scoreboard with a goal five minutes into the second period during corner play. Emily Dobrowolski had the assist.
“We had corner play we were going to use, and Emily – at the top of the circle – read what was in front of her and changed it up a little bit, and Ella was able to get a tip,” Halteman said.
With 2:19 remaining in the first half, Dobrowolski found the cage for a 2-0 lead.
“Emily dribbled into the circle and a step or two into the circle had room and took a shot,” Halteman said. “It’s one of those moments – ‘Way to shoot’ because it ended up tipping off a defender into the goal cage. When you shoot, things can happen, and that was a good example.
“I’ve said this many times this season, but sometimes it’s very hard for us to score. We scored first, and we scored two, and that made a difference, scoring ealier in the game.”
The Colonials took that 2-0 lead into the second half. The Trojans made it a 2-1 game with a goal with 7:31 remaining in regulation.
“They definitely put pressure on us in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter – I would say Wissahickon probably played the third quarter better than we did,” Halteman said. “They had it on their right side – our left
side – for a long time. We had a few defensive corners and some 25-yard hits coming in that we had to defend.
“I don’t know how many shots they got off because we were doing a pretty good job of breaking up the play. Fourth quarter they had some good opportunities, and towards the end of the fourth quarter, we were able to get it back down to our end and stall some time. Wissahickon has some speed – their outside mids gave us a little trouble with their speed tonight.
“I don’t necessarily disagree with it, but the way the officials were calling the five-yard call – we got a couple of cards tonight, including a five-minute yellow in the beginning of the fourth quarter, so we had to fight through that too.”
All five of the Colonials’ seniors – McCarthy, Lindsay Baradziej, Violet Colonna, Julia Sciotto and Sam Skivo – started Tuesday’s game.
“One of the seniors on the forward line, Violet – this is her first year of playing field, and it was cool to give her a start,” Halteman said. “We had two seniors – Sam Skivo and Lindsay Baradziej – in the backfield and Julia Sciotto started in the midfield, and Ella McCarthy was the other senior that started.
“The first few minutes of the game was a little different because our lineup was different than it usually is, so we had to settle in. We ended up scoring the first two goals and went into halftime with a lead, and that was great.”
The PW coach lauded the efforts of several players.
“Hadley Blake, our center defensive mid, played solid – she really shuts down other team’s players, gets really good tackles and does a great job of possessing it out of tackles,” Halteman said. “I thought my center forward, Maddie Carr, just played a really good game. Not that she got any goals or assists, but I thought she was doing a really nice job up there.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (11-6, 11-4 SOL) will close out its regular season at Cheltenham on Wednesday. Wissahickon closed out its regular season with a 13-4-1 record overall (13-2-1 SOL).
Wissahickon 0-0-0-1 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-2-0-0 2
QUAKERTOWN 7, ABINGTON 0
The Panthers picked up a convincing win in their season finale, but their real reason to celebrate didn’t come until a whole lot later in the evening Tuesday when they received word that – as a result of Plymouth Whitemarsh’s 2-1 win over Wissahickon – the Panthers had earned a share of their first title since 1991.
“This just goes to show how competitive and talented this division is,” Quakertown coach MacKenzie Moser said.” There are many coaches amongst these teams with years of experience that demonstrate a high level of skill. I’m honored to play against them. The hard work pays off.”
As for Tuesday’s game, the Panthers controlled play from the outset, opening up a 2-0 lead after one quarter and never looking back.
“(We) really saw the whole field today, switching fields and using alleys to get the ball down the line,” Moser said. “Passing was intentional, and shots were strong.”
Kiera Gallagher put the Panthers on the scoreboard during the first quarter with a strong direct shot. Then it was freshman Cassidy Landis scoring on a strong post shot for a 2-0 lead that stood until halftime.
In the third quarter, Katelyn Landis scored on a reverse shot, and then it was Paige Longacre scoring with a quick tap into the cage for a 4-0 lead heading into the final frame.
Cassidy Landis scored her second goal of the day on another strong post shot, and then it was Sunny Draper scoring with a reverse into the top left corner. Ella Schubert closed out the scoring with a deflection of a hard drive from Cadence Jozefowski.
Quakertown (14-3-1, 13-2-1 SOL) is 11th in the latest District 1 3A rankings and will be in action in Monday’s opening round. Abington (7-10, 6-9) is on the bubble at 25th in what will be a 24-team field and will need help to get into the tournament.
Abington 0-0-0-0 0
Quakertown 2-0-2-3 7
UPPER DUBLIN 5, HATBORO-HORSHAM 0
The visiting Cardinals scored a pair of goals in the second quarter to break a scoreless tie on their way to the shutout win.
Mason Kullmann turned a pass from sibling Ellison Kullmann during corner play into a goal with seven minutes remaining in the first half. A goal by Olivia Burdo (Mason Kullmann assist) sent the Cardinals into halftime with a 2-0 lead.
Three minutes into the third quarter, Ellison Kullmann scored with a Burdo assist during corner play. With 39 seconds remaining in the quarter, Ellison connected on a corner yet again, this time unassisted.
In the fourth quarter, Noella Carlo found the cage with an unassisted goal to close out the scoring.
Upper Dublin (10-6-1, 9-5-1 SOL) will host Upper Moreland in its annual pink game on Thursday. Hatboro-Horsham (2-15, 2-13) will host Abington on Wednesday.
Upper Dublin 0-2-2-1 5
Hatboro-Horsham 0-0-0-0 0
SOL Freedom Division
LOWER MORELAND 3, WILLIAM TENNENT 0
The visiting Lions broke a scoreless tie with a third-quarter goal and added a pair in the fourth quarter to earn the win in their regular season finale.
“(We) had an all-around strong showing with both the offense and defense moving the ball well up and down the field and switching fields,” LM coach Janet Lutter said. “Being unable to get the ball in the net until the third quarter had me a little nervous.
“You never want to see your team with over 40 shots on goal and zero points on the scoreboard.” In the third quarter, Bri Rocha scored with a Jess Pachman assist. Then in the fourth Pachman netted a goal off a corner (Bri Rocha assist). Reagan Hopkins rounded out the scoring off a nice pass from Mia Peng.
“I give a lot of credit to Tennent’s goalie who had 20 saves on the night,” Lutter said.
Lower Moreland (8-9-1, 6-9-1 SOL) is 14th in the latest District 1 2A rankings in what will be a 16-team field. William Tennent closed out its season with a 1-17 record overall (1-15 SOL).
Lower Moreland 0-0-1-2 3
William Tennent 0-0-0-0 0
NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 6, UPPER MORELAND 0
The Lions scored an early goal to go on top 1-0 and took that lead into halftime. They blew the game wide open with four goals in the third quarter.
Sophia Leonardi scored a goal that turned out to be the game-winner in the first quarter, using an Ava Cozza assist.
In the third quarter, Cozza scored an unassisted goal, and then it was Mia Patino connecting with an assist from Nicole Segler. Cozza scored her second goal of the quarter, this one with a Madie Thistlewaite assist, and Cozza completed her hat trick with an assist from Olivia Conte. In the fourth quarter, Thistlewaite closed out the scoring, using a Conte assist.
New Hope-Solebury closed out its regular season with an 11-5-1 record (10-5-1 SOL). The Lions are seeded fourth in what will be a six-team field in the District 1 1A Tournament. Upper Moreland (9-9, 7-9) will travel to Upper Dublin for the Cardinals’ annual Corners for a Cure contest.
(Article submitted by Upper Moreland field hockey)
Upper Moreland played a tough defensive game against a talented New Hope team.
In the first half New Hope was in our circle a lot, and our defense held tight. We only allowed one goal in the first half. Ash Conrad had 10 saves in the first half and the half ended 1 – 0.
“Cambrie Richmond, Kelly Bates, Eowyn Stainback and Izzy Duncan were amazing in our circle getting the ball out time and time again,” UM coach Pam Remmey said.
Then in the second half, Upper Moreland turned it on, and midfielders Cambrie Richmond, Ella Gould and Melissa Torpey played their hearts out all over the field. We were trying to get breakaways and get the ball up to Ava Bailey and Maggie Morrow, but then with everyone up on attack, New Hope ended up getting a few goals.
UM’s starting goalie went out with a concussion about two weeks ago and their sub goalies had to step up. Ash Conrad shined today making 23 saves and three goals allowed.
“We are so proud of how Ash has elevated their performance and matured quickly to become our starting goalie,” Remmey said. “Ash faced a ton of pressure today and was steady in the goal for our team.”
New Hope-Solebury 1-0-4-1 6
Upper Moreland 0-0-0-0 0
SPRINGFIELD TWP 5, CHELTENHAM 0
The Spartans scored three goals in the opening quarter on their way to the shutout win.
Angela Eder (Norah Conlin assist) put the Spartans on the scoreboard six minutes into the game. That 1-0 lead stook until Emma Yoder scored – also with a Conlin assist – with 1:36 remaining in the quarter. That turned out to be more than enough time for Jen Rex, who scored with a Yoder assist with 49 seconds remaining in the half to put the Spartans on top 3-0.
With 3:17 remaining in the second quarter, Rex (Kate Matthews assist) connected on her second goal to send the Spartans into halftime with a 4-0 lead.
Five minutes into the final quarter, Yoder closed out the scoring, once again using a Conlin assist.
Yoder (2 goals, 1 assist) and Conlin (3 assists) led the Spartans.
Springfield Twp (14-3-1, 12-3-1 SOL) is the number one seed in District 1 1A and will have a first round bye. The Spartans will return to action next Thursday (Sept. 26). Cheltenham (1-17, 1-15) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh in its regular season finale Wednesday.
Springfield Twp 3-1-1-0 5
Cheltenham 0-0-0-0 0
Monday, Oct. 16
SOL Liberty/Freedom crossover game
ABINGTON 9, CHELTENHAM 0
The Ghosts celebrated the team’s 11 seniors with a decisive win on Monday.
“Everyone had a hand at helping pull off a win today for the team,” Abington coach Janine Larr said.
Senior midfielder Olivia Dougherty got the ball rolling by scoring her first of two goals at the 10:13 mark in the first quarter. Senior forward, Skylar Beal, followed suit, shortly after, and connected on a shot with 1:42 left in the first. Senior forward, Sharon Griffin, was also able to sneak one in with 35 seconds left in the first quarter to put the Ghosts up 3-0.
Dougherty opened up the second quarter by scoring her second goal of the day and then sophomore forward Janice Coonahan exploded for back-to-back goals at the 5:55 and 4:42 mark, to put Abington up 6-0 at half.
Coonahan opened the third quarter by scoring again, securing her hat trick for the day. Skylar Beal then finished off her Senior Day by assisting on a goal to junior forward Isabelle Franklin and then scoring her second goal of the day off an assist from Sharon Griffin.
“I was thrilled with all of our forwards and offensive players today,” Larr said. “Everyone hustled, worked hard to get the ball down into the circle and kept their sticks down for second shots and to receive passes.
“We knew Cheltenham’s goalie was really good, and we told the girls they would really have to make an effort to get the ball in the net today. Cheltenham’s goalie did a fantastic job and their defense played us well on the nine corners we drew against them.
The Ghosts’ coach lauded the play of her defense in the shutout win.
“Our defense did a great job as well, keeping the ball out of the circle and defending against our three penalty corners,” Larr said. “Our back line and midfielders were stepping to every ball and working hard to get the ball up the field to our forwards to put them in a position to score.
“The team wanted to make today special for our seniors. I was really happy that all of the girls were willing to try different things and play different positions in order to ensure all of the seniors got to play and got a win for their last regular season game at Memorial Field. This is a great group of girls, and it was really nice they could walk off today with a well–deserved win.”
Cheltenham 0-0-0-0 0
Abington 3-3-3-0 9
About the Author
