To view action photos of the Bensalem/Truman and Neshaminy/Pennsbury games, visit the Photo Gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
Continental Conference
SOUDERTON 1, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0
There was nothing especially pretty about Monday’s showdown between the Continental Conference’s top squads. A grass field that had seen its share of rain in recent weeks guaranteed that, but no one on Souderton’s sidelines was complaining after the Indians picked up the big win.
“It’s a little rough because it’s not as smooth,” Souderton tri-captain Alayna Brown said of playing on grass. “It’s a lot slower, bumps are everywhere, but you just have to stay low and stay strong. We couldn’t have little flimsy passes.”
Both teams are accustomed to turf, and both had to adjust their games to accommodate the much slower surface.
“That’s grass field hockey,” Titan coach Jeff Harding said. “Everything we tried to do up to this point we told them was down the toilet. Mary Ann’s team was playing it long, get it and hammer it, and we were trying to do the same thing as well.
“We’ve been training indoors –we’re trying to teach kids to play the right way. There’s an adjustment, but you just have to battle through this type of game. It’s an ugly game, and you have to find a way to get the ‘W.’ We’re okay. The kids are really developing.”
Monday’s game was played on the Titans’ home field, but talk to the players, and it’s clear they didn’t see themselves holding a home field advantage.
“I would say grass is definitely not our strongest (surface) to play on,” senior Kayla Kenney said. “But you’re going to have to play on it sometimes. We just know what we have to do when we play on grass – don’t hold onto the ball too long, and then when we get on turf, we totally change the way we play.
“We work the ball a lot faster. Going back and forth is difficult, but every team has to do it, so we just have to stick with it and try our best.”
The loss was the first of the season for the young Titans, who fell to 7-1-1 in league play while the Indians improved to 8-1 in conference action.
“This means so much,” Brown said. “Our whole season depended on this game.”
The Indians played as if their season depended on it, battling a tough Titan squad to a scoreless halftime tie. The big play in the first half came when Souderton goalie Morgan Brozena robbed Kenney of a goal with a diving save of a laser shot on the left post and then following that with a glove save of the rebound.
“We dive as a last resort,” Brozena said. “I didn’t feel like I could move quickly on the grass, so I just dove.
“I saw she was still there and had her stick down so she could receive it. I started getting up, and then I saw her get the ball, so I just dove again and was able to get it.”
The dramatic sequence came midway through the half on the Titans’ second corner. South drew four corners in the first half while the Indians had five.
Senior Rachel Valentine scored the game’s lone goal 29 seconds into the second half (Abbey Gabriel assist).
“It was cleared off the goalie, and Abbey pushed it back in,” Valentine said. “It was rolling slowly, and I just pushed it the rest of the way in. I was so excited.
“That just gave our team an extra boost of energy, and we kept up the intensity the rest of the half.”
According to Brown, the Indians knew it was imperative to score early.
“We just knew this was it,” the Indians’ senior forward said. “We had 30 minutes left to go, and we needed to score because that was the only way we could win this game.”
Souderton’s Tabitha Almond – a forward converted to defensive back this season – came up with the defensive gem of the game on another South corner, this one 12 minutes into the second half. Once again Kenney received the insert pass at the top of the circle and sent a ball toward the right post where Shannon Dougherty was waiting.
Somehow – in a reflex play even she couldn’t explain – Almond got her reverse stick on the ball and deflected it out of harm’s way as it just eluded a diving Dougherty.
“It just happens – it’s reaction,” Almond said. “It happened so quick, and I just got my stick there. I was shocked that I even stopped that.”
“It was frustrating, but we just had to regroup after that,” Kenney said. “Everyone was giving it their all. Shannon practically dove for the ball at the top, and I can’t be upset with that because she’s giving 110 percent.
“It was definitely difficult knowing we were down a goal, but we gave it our all until the end.”
The Indians saw a pair of shots go just wide of the cage, and Titan goalie Gina Brego came up with a huge stop of a powerful shot by Taylor Yoder on a Souderton corner with under 10 minutes to play.
Neither team threatened the rest of the way as the Indians held on for the win.
“We wanted this game so bad because we lost to them before,” Almond said of a 3-1 loss to the Titans early in the year. “We wanted to come back strong. This means so much.
“We worked so hard to get this far, and now we just need to stay strong the rest of the season.”
Souderton coach Mary Ann Harris was pleased with her team’s showing.
“It was a complete team effort,” she said. “If the defense was having trouble, the forwards were coming back and helping.
“We held them off when they were attacking. They have some really good players, and they play really good defense also. It was a very close game.”
The Titans were playing without Mackenzie Harding (injury), and Dougherty was playing with a broken thumb.
“We’ve been battling,” Harding said. “This last week and a half has been tough, but you ask other kids to step up, and I think the kids have done a good job.”
Compiling a 9-1-1 record with a squad that lost 12 seniors from last year’s squad to graduation would qualify as better than good by most standards.
The key to the team’s strong showing?
“I think definitely our coaching is the main thing,” said Kenney. “We went from having no coach to having a great coaching staff, and they never let up on us.
“You can just see from the preseason until now – everyone has gotten so much better. You see the improvement, and it’s awesome to see that. It’s great to see we’re right there fighting for it because after losing 12 people and the coach, we thought we were going to be down in the dumps for the entire season. Seeing that we’re right there with everyone fighting for it is great.”
NORTH PENN 1, PENNRIDGE 0
Carly Pickford – using an assist from teammate Bobby Dougherty - connected for her second goal of the season with 9:48 remaining in regulation. That goal proved to be the game winner as the Maidens, who took 17 shots on goal, held on for the 1-0 win. Maiden goalie Shannon Keen was forced to make just two saves in the shutout.
The Maidens are 6-3 in the league (7-3 overall) while the Rams are 2-7 in the league (5-7 overall).
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, QUAKERTOWN 1
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST at HATBORO-HORSHAM (Postponed until Tuesday, Oct. 4)
American Conference
WISSAHICKON 3, NORRISTOWN 1
A gutsy Norristown squad – sparked by the glittering 18-save effort of goalie Eliana Gilette - kept things very interesting when they faced the conference’s top squad, battling the Trojans to a 1-1 halftime. Gina Pellechio put the Eagles on the scoreboard first, scoring with an assist from Sammy Kidd at the 10:30 mark of the first half. Junior Jackie Hibbs responded with an unassisted goal to knot the score 1-1 with 2:43 remaining in the half. Taylor Myers (Emily Gallagher assist) connected for the game winner with 10:10 remaining in regulation, and Melanie Fry (Hibbs assist) added an insurance goal four minutes later.
“It was a nice game from Wissahickon on a very muddy field,” said Norristown coach Stacie Staufenberg, whose jayvee earned a 1-0 win.
While the Trojans improved to 7-0 in league play (9-1 overall), the Eagles fell to 4-3 in the league (4-4 overall).
UPPER DUBLIN 6, UPPER MERION 1
The Flying Cardinals sprinted to a 4-0 halftime lead on their way to the big win. Sam Boyd opened the scoring with back-to-back goals, the first with an assist from Emily Hitchings and the second with a Marie Wheatley assist. Kelly Cross scored her first of two goals at the 13:18 mark to put the Cardinals on top 3-0, and that lead grew to 4-0 when Alycia Hildebrand (Hitchings assist) connected.
In the second half, Colleen Rothfus and Cross scored unassisted goals before the Vikings got on the scoreboard with a goal from Mia DiBella (Dominique Gambone assist).
For the game, the Flying Cardinals held a 22-5 advantage in shots and a 5-1 edge in corners. Upper Merion goalie Ally Frymoyer turned away 22 shots while Upper Dublin’s Dana Russell was not forced to make a save in a half of action and Julia McKernan turned away four shots in the second half. The Flying Cardinals improved to 7-1 in SOL play (9-2 overall) while the Vikings fell to 1-6 in the league (2-7 overall).
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH at UPPER MORELAND (Postponed until Tuesday, Oct. 4, at PW)
National Conference
PENNSBURY 1, NESHAMINY 1 (OT)
Paige Bayer (Allie Brady assist) connected for a goal to send Pennsbury into halftime with a 1-0 lead, but the Redskins – sparked by a goal from Jill Dougherty (Brittany Sheenan assist) – rallied to knot the score in the second half. To read PhillyBurbs.com field hockey beat writer Karen Sangillo’s complete game story, click on the following link: http://www.phillyburbs.com/sports/high_school/courier/falcons-redskins-battle-to-tie/article_2ee5183d-1868-5328-968d-a323cd28b1d2.html
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 7, ABINGTON 0
Alex Kuzma exploded for five goals and also contributed an assist to lead the Indians to the convincing win. Gabby Tofig and Michelle Hand both added a goal and an assist while Hannah Plappert contributed two assists and Madison Gouza, one assist.
The Indians improved to 7-0 in league play (8-1-1 overall) while the Ghosts fell to 1-6-1 in the league (3-7-1 overall).
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 1, WILLIAM TENNENT 0
Sophomore Mollie Sheehy scored in the first four minutes of the game, using an assist from freshman Katie Bagdon. That goal turned out to be the game winner as neither team scored the rest of the way.
The win avenged a 3-2 loss to Tennent earlier this season that saw the Panthers erase a 2-0 deficit by scoring three goals in the final 10 minutes.
“This time the girls came out really hard, and they played really well,” coach Lisa Belz said. “We’re kind of fighting back – we have three losses in the league, and we’re trying to show up better against the teams we lost to the last time, so this was a big win for us.”
Belz acknowledged the effort of center back Alexis Carroll in the win.
“She had a phenomenal game,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “She made a lot of cuts and went through a bunch of times and had really nice corners also.”
The Golden Hawks were minus a starter on defense because of illness. Picking up the slack were junior sweeper Melissa Finor and the team’s side backs – sophomore Kristin Donohue as well as Amanda Besselman and Mary Melnick, who split time at one back position.
“We had to move people around, and I think our defense really stepped it up,” Belz said. “Melissa is doing a really nice job – she’s very composed. We’re very young, so I was pleased with how they played.”
Monday night’s game was Rock South’s ‘Play for the Cure’ contest. The team raised approximately $350 that will be donated to the Susan B. Komen Foundation.
With the win, the Golden Hawks upped their record to 6-3 in league play (7-3 overall) while the Panthers are 4-2-1 in the league (5-2-1 overall).
BENSALEM 2, HARRY S. TRUMAN 1
The visiting Tigers used a goal by Christine Hoon (Nikki Herber assist) late in the first half to go into the intermission with a 1-0 lead. The Owls responded by scoring a pair of second half goals. Haley Geller scored the equalizer at the 17:47 mark, and it was Kelly Nolan (AJ Ewing assist) connecting for the game winner with 10:53 remaining in regulation.
Bensalem held a 16-5 advantage on shots on goal. Owl goalie Stephanie Unger was credited with four saves while Truman’s goalie turned away 14 shots.
While the Tigers remain winless in league play (0-8, 3-8 overall), the Owls improved to 2-6.
- Log in to post comments
