Bensalem 2, Pennsbury 1
Looking for a feel good story?
Look no further than Bensalem’s win over Pennsbury. The win was a historic one – the last time the Owls defeated the Falcons was in 2004, but much bigger than that was the fact that the Owls won despite having just 12 players dressed for the game.
“That’s the whole team,” coach Amanda Tu said. “We had two goalies, and our one goalie had to go on the field. She hasn’t been on the field since the second day of preseason.
“The coaches and I have been telling the girls – it doesn’t matter about numbers. If they keep working hard and stay dedicated and committed, they will be able to beat anybody in this league or at least compete with them, and they definitely proved it. They’re excited, and I’m excited, but we were a little worried with such a small number of girls.”
The Owls had 16 players the first day of preseason but some of the freshmen elected to not come back after the first week.
“The girls have been working so hard,” Tu said. “Last week we were telling the girls that to try and find people who are decent at running or walking even. They can stand on the field for us because we’re nervous that if someone gets hurt – there goes our whole season.”
Junior Haley Geller scored both goals for the Falcons – the first with 24 seconds remaining in the opening half with a Taylor Couper assist and the second with two minutes remaining off an Amanda Morton assist that broke the 1-1 tie.
Geller actually started the game playing defense, but Tu elected to move her to the midfield. It turned out to be a stroke of genius.
“This puts confidence in the girls,” Tu said of the big win.
Pennsbury’s lone goal was scored by Paige Bayer.
Tu credited the efforts of Alexia Ewing, Danielle Dea and A.J. Ewing. Goalie Stephanie Unger turned away 15 shots in a solid outing.
“She has never played goalie before in her life, and we turned her into one,” Tu said. “She played awesome.”
The Owls held a 16-13 edge in shots.
Quakertown 1, Hatboro-Horsham 0
Courtney Heverle scored five minutes into the second half, turning a pass from teammate Ashley Guentz into the game winner. It was the only goal the Panthers would need to earn the big win in Tuesday’s league opener.
“This is huge because we haven’t beaten Hatboro in 11 years – that’s number one,” coach Peach Draper said. “Number two – to get a win in our first league game is so exciting for the girls. It helps build their confidence and gets them excited for the season.
“They have been looking forward to the first league game since last year. We upset CB South, and ever since then, we wanted to build on that this preseason. We were really excited.”
Draper lauded the standout effort of defensive back Stephanie Zischang.
“She had an incredible second half,” the Panthers’ coach said. “Her stick skills were amazing, her drives were amazing, and she was stopping everything and not letting them penetrate into the circle.
“We have a sophomore goalkeeper, and she had a really good game, but Stephanie was unstoppable. Everyone played well. Our sweeper, Stephanie Thompson, played fantastic, and our senior captain Ashley Guentz, assisted on our only goal.
“Coming into the season, the girls played their hearts out. They went to summer camp. They were in a winter league, and they were in a summer league. They were just itching to get better. We lost three starters to soccer, and that was tough on them, but it’s just exciting to start off the league with a victory.”
The Panthers will face Central Bucks West on Thursday and then face a killer lineup of Souderton, North Penn and Central Bucks South next week.
Neshaminy 2, Abington 0
Brittany Sheenan (Caitlin Carrezola assist) and Brittany Calvert (Emily Hegner assist) each scored a goal for the Redskins, who notched a win in their league opener.
“It was so nice to get the win today,” coach Sara Camilli said. “We lost to Central Bucks South 5-1 and then lost to Souderton 2-0 but played much better against Souderton, but in both games, we just got beat.
“We’re such a young team with so little varsity experience, and it was really hard the last two weeks of practice.”
After generating minimal offense in their first two games, the Redskins’ offense came to life on Tuesday.
“Against CB South and Souderton, we barely took any shots,” Camilli said. “I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls. They work really, really hard.
“They need to fine tune their finesse and skills. It was nice to walk off the field after a win today. It was a nice win for us.”
Camilli acknowledged the solid showing of several players.
“Emily Hegner played so well,” the Redskins’ coach said. “Our sweeper Annie Kapero also played well.”
The Redskins used a pair of goalies in the shutout – Sara Mitchell and Casey Dintinger, who also turned in solid outings.
Council Rock North 1, William Tennent 0
Carley Everett scored the game’s only goal at the 17:17 mark of the second half to propel the Indians to the win.
“We dominated the entire second half,” Rock North coach Heather Whalin said. “We just couldn’t put a goal in. We were down in their end most of the time – we hit the post twice.
“Our corners were not great, so that hurt us. Their fly is so fast, and we could not really get our corners off which definitely hurt us.”
Whalin lauded the standout efforts of several players
“Becky Ely was all over the field literally – she could play anywhere and do great,” the Indians’ coach said. “Michelle Hand had a wonderful game.”
Central Bucks South 2, Pennridge 1
Pennridge went winless in SOL play last season, and if no one was paying attention while the Rams rolled to a 3-0 mark in the preseason, they’re undoubtedly sitting up and taking notice after Pennridge gave defending conference and district champion CB South a run for its money before falling 2-1 in Tuesday’s league opener.
The Rams, it turns out, weren’t happy just playing the Titans tough.
“It’s still disappointing when you get so close and just can’t pull it out,” coach Nikki Thren said. “But it was a good start.
“We played well in the non-league games, and that definitely gave us confidence going into the league games.”
The Rams stunned the Titans when Jenna Anderson (Sarah Yerk assist) scored at the 22:37 mark of the first half.
“We came out with a spark,” Thren said. “We came out with a we-have-nothing-to lose (attitude), and the girls did it. They played very well.
“They supported each other on the field, and they had good connections, and we took it to them.”
The Titans won the game during a remarkable 23-second stretch early in the second half that saw senior Casey Haegele score a pair of goals. Her first came at 25:38, and she followed that with a goal at 25:15.
“They went down and scored that first goal, and I think it put us on our heels,” Thren said. “They got possession of the ball and came right back down and caught us again on our heels and unorganized.”
Pennridge goalie Amanda Perricone was credited with 15 saves in a solid outing. Thren also credited the effort of Anderson.
“Also, Brooke Labs doesn’t usually start for us, but she did today and played really well,” Thren said. “Everybody was supporting everybody else. They definitely came to play today.”
Souderton 6, Central Bucks West 1
Souderton sprinted to a 5-0 lead before the Bucks got on the scoreboard with a goal from Dani Weidman.
Scoring goals for the Indians were Courtney Bradshaw (Alex Atiyeh assist), Alayna Brown (Atiyeh assist), Taylor Yoder (Brown assist), Brown (Yoder assist), Rachel Valentine (Natalie Guerreiro assist) and Alyssa Ziegler (Mollie Purrell assist).
“We did well on our corners,” Souderton coach Mary Ann Harris said. “We scored right away, but after that, it was kind of slow. We called a timeout and played much better after that.”
The Indians took a 1-0 lead on Bradshaw’s goal at the 28:54 mark of the opening half but didn’t score again until Brown connected with 10 minutes remaining in the half. The Indians scored four goals in the final minutes of the first half.
Wissahickon 2, Plymouth Whitemarsh 0
The Trojans rebounded from their tough overtime loss to Central Bucks South on Monday to down PW in a battle of neighboring rivals. The two teams battled to a 0-0 halftime tie before Jackie Hibbs (Gretchen Guaglianone assist) put the Trojans on the scoreboard. Later in the half, Hibbs returned the favor, setting up a Guaglianone for an insurance goal.
Trojan goalie Vanessa Fry turned away two shots in the shutout while PW’s Becky Stiteler was credited with eight saves.
Upper Dublin 9, Cheltenham 1
Emily Hitchings and Kelly Cross both connected for the hat trick. Cross also had a pair of assists for the Flying Cardinals, who jumped out to a 7-1 halftime lead.
Marie Wheatley added a pair of goals while Nikki Gustafson also scored for the Flying Cardinals. Megan Rock was credited with an assist.
Upper Dublin had 23 shots on goal to just two for Cheltenham. The Flying Cardinals held a 7-3 edge in corners.
Norristown 1, Upper Merion 0
Sammi Kidd scored the game's only goal as the Eagles' notched their first win of the season. Goalie Ellie Gilette recorded six saves in the shutout.
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