Check out the recaps for SOL field hockey teams in Friday’s openers. CR North/Abington photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos. CB East/Oley Valley photo courtesy of Deborah Horan.
UPPER DUBLIN 2, DOCK MENNONITE ACADEMY 1
After one look at her team’s schedule that included back-to-back scrimmages the two days before opening the season at Dock, UD coach Heather Boyer seriously considered cancelling the second scrimmage to ensure her team would have fresh legs.
The veteran coach opted to play the schedule as it stood, and she has no regrets as the Cardinals rallied from an early 1-0 hole to earn the opening day win.
“We scrimmaged Radnor on Wednesday, and we took a couple of lumps there,” Boyer said. “It was kind of an eye-opening experience, and we had a conversation about what we needed to work on and what we needed to improve on to get better.
“To their credit, we scrimmaged again yesterday against Lansdale Catholic, made some adjustments, and they made some marked improvements in 24 hours in the right direction. I was just hoping we could put together for the game today, and they really did. We had a lot of new kids step up and do some really good stuff today.”
The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead when Elle Bergey found the cage at the 18:23 mark of the first half, but with just under two minutes remaining until halftime, Julia Reardon turned an Allie Rock pass during corner play into the equalizer.
Maisie Hanson (Lydia Casey assist) scored a goal that turned out to be the game-winner with 17:01 remaining. That score stood the rest of the way.
Boyer lauded the play of her inexperienced defensive backfield.
“Four of the five girls I had played back there were brand new to varsity and/or to the position they were playing,” the UD coach said of Annabell Coplan, Sarah Brightcliffe, Erin Eby and Grace Brennan. “When you’re playing 2-1 with five minutes left on the clock and the opposing team is playing with a little more intensity because they’re trying to tie the game, it’s easy to panic in the backfield.
“They played with great poise and confidence. It was really fun to watch. They did a really good job back there. For all of them it was their first varsity start on defense, and they weren’t all out there at the same time, but they did a great job. That was a big step in the right direction.”
Center back Mikayla DeMichele – the lone returner in the backfield – brought veteran leadership to the defense.
“Mikayla DeMichele really anchored the defense back there,” Boyer said. “Dock had a corner shot on goal, and she stopped it with her stick and carried it out.”
The Cardinals’ coach credited her players for their team-first play.
“We rotated positions, so that we could constantly have fresh legs,” Boyer said. “Grace Brennan was one of them, Avery Lennon did that in the midfield for us, and Julia Reardon did that for us on the forward line.
“The spark they all produced when they came in was really important. Julia scored our first goal off a really nice corner play from Allie Rock. We’ve been talking about the team aspect. People are very quick to ask – do you start? I said, ‘I don’t care who starts. That’s not the important part. The people who play the middle and close the game are just as important. If someone asks – just tell them you play varsity, you’re a contributor of a team. All of those roles are important.’ They embraced that and did a really good job today, which ultimately helped us stay strong throughout the game and helped us win.”
UD goalie Rhianna Gonzales turned away seven shots in the win. Dock goalie Casey Haneer also had seven saves.
Upper Dublin (1-0) will open SOL play on Wednesday when it hosts Hatboro-Horsham.
Upper Dublin 1-1 2
Dock Mennonite 1-0 1
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 6, WILLIAM TENNENT 0
Alyssa Endrick connected for a hat trick in her varsity debut to lead the Titans to the convincing win in Friday’s opener. Anna Shirley added a pair of goals for the Titans, who led 3-0 at the intermission.
“Both teams played a hard fought game,” South coach Pat Toner said. “Tennent’s goalkeeper, Sophia Trozzi, did a nice job of fighting back a barrage of CB South shots.
“CB South distributed the ball well and scored several nice goals.”
Trozzi was credited with 32 saves in a strong outing, keeping the game close in a contest that saw the Titans hold a 38-3 advantage in shots.
The Titans received a goal and an assist from Erin Smith while Anna Gillard and Sophia Wasyliw both had an assist.
“Anna Gillard play very well and made a defensive save to preserve the shutout,” Toner said.
Jillian Heilig was credited with two saves in the shutout.
Central Bucks South (1-0) will travel to Council Rock South for a non-league game on Tuesday, and William Tennent (0-1) will travel to Bensalem for its SOL opener on Friday.
Central Bucks South 3-3 6
William Tennent 0-0 0
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 5, ABINGTON 1
The Indians raced out of the gate to a 3-0 lead and had just too much firepower for the visiting Ghosts. Rebecca Ripans led the Indians with a hat trick and Sarah Scott added two goals and an assist.
“We came out on fire, and a lot of times we come out very flat,” Rock North coach Heather Whalin said. “We’ve been working on coming out ready to play the game.
“Unfortunately, we came out for a good 15 minutes and then relaxed. We missed so many open shots. They had some good players, and when they got the ball on offense, they had a nice goal on a corner.”
Sarah Everett was credited with a pair of assists, and Lindsey O’Brien had one helper for the Indians.
The Ghosts scored their lone goal early in the second half when Madison Jenkins scored during corner play with an assist from Ava Dakson. The Indians scored a pair of goals in the closing minutes for the 5-1 final.
“During the game, we switched to three different structures for our play,” Whalin said. “We ended up playing a 3-4-3 and scored with 2:30 left and then with 1:16 left because we made that change.”
The Indians’ coach lauded the offensive performances of Ripans and Scott and also had high praise for her rookies.
“We have a young team – we have a lot of sophomores playing, and my sophomore crew really did it today,” Whalin said. “I was so proud of them.
“I was a little worried – I put a young sophomore at left back – Bella Carpentier, and she had a fantastic game. Her twin sister, Ali, came off the bench to fill a role after someone got hurt, and she did a phenomenal job also. I was proud of them along with another sophomore – Riley Clarke.
“I was so impressed with our sophomores. It really gives hope for the future. It’s the first game they’ve ever played varsity, and they stepped up in a huge way. It really made a couple of the veteran players take notice that we have a deeper team than we usually do. We’re usually on the cusp with 12, and now I have a bench, which is nice.”
Council Rock North (1-0) will travel to Pennsbury for Wednesday’s SOL opener, and Abington (0-1) will be on the road at Springfield Township Wednesday.
Abington 0-1 1
Council Rock North 3-2 5
PENNRIDGE 9, BENSALEM 0
Payton Muth scored on the rebound of a goalie save to open the scoring for the Rams. It marked the beginning of a productive day for both Muth – who led the Rams with a hat trick – as well as her teammates.
“It was a great team win to start our season,” Pennridge coach Becky Spahr said. “We received lots of contributions from all over the field.
“Our game today was a really nice combination of excitement from our new varsity players and confidence and composure from our experienced players.”
Following Muth’s goal, Macy Price scored with an assist from Shannon Griffin, and then it was Abby Ludlow (Hayley Borneman assist) finding the cage. Emily Amsden was the fourth Ram to score, turning a Borneman pass into a goal that sent the Rams into halftime with a 4-0 lead.
Price (Amsden assist) scored to open the second half, and then it was Muth connecting on back-to-back goals – the first with a Price assist and the second with an Amsden assist. Maddie Bross (Amsden assist) put her name in the scoring column, and Brynn Wenger turned a rebound of a goalie save into a goal to close it out for the Rams.
Pennridge (1-0) will travel to Lansdale Catholic for a non-league game Tuesday, and Bensalem (0-1) will open SOL play at Neshaminy on Wednesday.
Bensalem 0-0 0
Pennridge 4-5 9
SOUDERTON 6, PENNSBURY 0
Seniors Anna Gwiazinski and Courtney Kenah proved to be a lethal combination in Friday’s opener. Kenah had a hand in five goals, scoring twice and assisting on three others while Gwiazinski connected for a hat trick and assisted on one goal.
Gwiazinski scored just over five minutes into the game with a Kenah assist, and the duo connected again six minutes later. Kenah turned a Riley Knize pass into a goal, and Gwiazinski completed her hat trick late in the half, once again using a Kenah assist.
In the second half, Gwiazinski returned the favor, assisting on Kenah’s second goal of the game. Knize’s unassisted goal with eight minutes remaining closed out the scoring.
The visiting Indians held a 17-5 advantage in shots.
Souderton (1-0) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham for a non-league game Tuesday, and Pennsbury (0-1) will host Council Rock North for its SOL opener Wednesday.
Souderton 4-2 6
Pennsbury 0-0 0
LOWER MORELAND 4, UPPER MORELAND 3
The visiting Golden Bears found themselves staring at a 3-0 hole midway through the second half but closed out the game strong, scoring three unanswered goals to knot the score with 8:02 remaining in regulation when Isabeel Leiter scored an unassisted goal.
Early on, the Golden Bears – who trailed 1-0 at halftime – had no answer for Lower Moreland’s Tarren Mayer, who scored the first half’s only goal and opened the second half with back-to-back goals in a three-minute span.
Down but not out, the Golden Bears rallied. Bryanna Gordon turned a Moira Olexa pass into a goal with 13:28 remaining, and Gordon’s second goal – this one unassisted – at the 8:34 mark pulled the Golden Bears to within one. Thirty-two seconds later Leiter scored the equalizer, but Kimy Graham (Linda Tang assist) found the cage with the go-ahead goal with 56.6 seconds remaining. Time ran out before the Golden Bears could answer.
UM goalie Isabella Guaranghi was credited with eight saves.
Upper Moreland (0-1) will host Harry S Truman in a non-league game on Tuesday.
Upper Moreland 0-3 3
Lower Moreland 1-3 4
OLEY VALLEY 2, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 0
The visiting Patriots had plenty of offensive opportunities but never could find the cage, falling to the perennial District 3 power in Friday’s non-league opener.
“I was very happy with our field play,” coach Meghann Spratt said. “We dominated but struggled putting it in the cage. We had 11 corners but couldn’t finish.”
The Patriots’ coach went on to laud the very strong field play of Liz Philipp, Emma Donnelly, Phia Mannino and Kenzie Lever.
“We’re looking forward to SOL play this week with our sister schools,” Spratt said.
Central Bucks East (0-1) will travel to Neshaminy for a non-league game on Tuesday before hosting Central Bucks West on Wednesday and travelling to Central Bucks South on Saturday.
Central Bucks East 0-0 0
Oley Valley 2-0 2
METHACTON 2, NORTH PENN 0
The visiting Knights battled the Warriors to a scoreless halftime tie, but Alexa Kratz scored at the 27:12 mark of the second half. It turned out to be all the offense the Warriors would need, but Bayla Power (Rachel Alderfer assist) connected on an insurance goal with just under six minutes remaining for the 2-0 final.
“After a scoreless first half, Methacton’s offense gained momentum in the second half,” North Penn coach Shannon McCracken said. “Despite the efforts of goalie Mallory Stowell and backs Megan Albert and Linsey Gilbert – who both had strong games, the Knights couldn’t hold them off.”
The Knights suffered a setback when they lost all-SOL defensive back Madison Waldspurger in the first half to an injury.
“That caused some adjustments on the field,” McCracken said. “Reserve player Emily Liu had a good game after stepping in the backfield.”
Stowell was credited with eight saves in goal for the Knights. The Warriors held an advantage in shots (10-5) and penalty corners (7-4).
North Penn (0-1) will travel to Souderton for its SOL opener on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
North Penn 0-0 0
Methacton 0-2 2
OWEN J ROBERTS 2, NESHAMINY 0
The visiting Wildcats scored a pair of first half goals and went on to win by a 2-0 score.
“(Playing) OJR in our first game is a good way to start our season,” coach Jamie Pinto said. “They are a talented, strong team, and today it showed us areas that we need to improve on.”
The Redskins’ coach lauded the play of numerous players in Friday’s opener.
“Seniors Jamie Pennington, Peyton Ritchey and Brooke Cordisco led the offense, setting the tone for our team,” Pinto said. “Defensively, Asia Barnard and Dylan Beegal stepped up.
“As a team, we will continue to work hard at practice, learn from today’s loss and improve throughout the season.”
Last year, the Redskins fell to OJR by a 2-1 score in their season opener and went on to capture the SOL National title.
Neshaminy (0-1) will host Central Bucks East in a non-league game on Tuesday.
Owen J Roberts 2-0 2
Neshaminy 0-0 0
SOUTHERN LEHIGH 3, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0
The Bucks never could find the cage in Friday's opener, but they had their opportunities.
"We maintained possession for most of the first half but couldn't generate much offense in the circle," coach Ginny Moore said. "(Southern Lehigh) sent lots of solid through balls down the center of the field, and players stepped up to the ball quickly. There was good hustle from both teams."
Southern Lehigh opened up a 2-0 halftime lead and never looked back.
West goalkeeper Brooke Golbeski recorded five saves, and Sara Lelii was credited with a defensive save.
Central Bucks West (0-1) will travel to Central Bucks East for Wednesday's SOL opener.
Southern Lehigh 2-1 3
Central Bucks West 0-0 0
POTTSGROVE 2, QUAKERTOWN 0
NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 2, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0
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