Check the recaps for SOL field hockey teams in action Friday. Neshaminy/CR South photos courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos. CLICK HERE.
SOL National Conference
NESHAMINY 4, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 1
The Redskins are tired of finishing second.
Three years removed from their last conference crown, the Redskins finished second to Pennsbury last year and second to Council Rock South the year before.
On Friday, Neshaminy established itself as the team to beat after knocking off the Indians in a battle of the conference’s lone unbeaten squads.
“This was big for us,” coach Jamie Pinto said. “I don’t know if the girls really pay attention to the standings. As coaches, we’re always looking, and I’m sure they know what’s going on.
“We’ve been close every year in the league, coming in second. We just want to work hard, and that’s what we’re going to do, no matter who we’re playing. Whoever it is, we’re coming out and trying to win.”
The Redskins got on the scoreboard at the 21:16 mark of the opening half when Sophia Perillo scored with a Peyton Ritchey assist. Ritchey scored her first of three goals midway through the half, using a Jamie Pennington assist, but with 7:47 remaining in the half, the Indians cut that lead in half with a goal from Sarah Everett (Sarah Scott assist).
With time expired in the half, the Redskins scored a goal that might well have been the backbreaker when Ritchey scored on a corner, again using a Pennington assist.
Ritchey completed her hat trick with an unassisted goal with only 33 seconds remaining in regulation.
“What we’ve been working on in practice – we’ve been working on really cutting to the ball, stepping in front of the defense, and that’s how we came out,” Pinto said. “We told the girls at halftime – we came out strong, and we had an 8-10 minute lapse in the middle of the first half, and we ended the first half strong by scoring on a corner with no time left. We continued that momentum into the second half.
“We had our chances – they had a couple of defensive saves when we had our shots on goal, but we just didn’t finish in the second half. Something we’ve been working on is playing the whole game until the whistle blows. To score on a corner with no time left on the clock in the first half and to score with 33 seconds left, we were really trying to work the whole game.”
The win was the fourth in a row for the streaking ‘Skins after dropping their first two non-league games of the season to Central Bucks East and Owen J Roberts.
“Our two non-league games were against two very good teams, and we went overtime with East, and Owen J was kind of a crazy game because there was a weather delay and we sat for a half hour,” Pinto said. “I think what we learned from those games is we can hang.
“I don’t know what other teams expect of us, but we expect that we’re going to be in every game that we play, and we’re going to work hard no matter who we’re playing, where we’re playing, what the weather’s like – that’s our team. The girls work hard, and we practice hard, and now we’re playing hard too.”
Pinto acknowledged the strong play of several players.
“Peyton Ritchey came out really strong, carrying the ball down the field and finishing beautiful goals,” the Redskins’ coach said. “Jamie Pennington and Sophie Schardt led the midfield and defense – Jamie has great stick work and sees the field well, and Sophie is fast, smart and plays strong defense.”
Neshaminy (4-2, 4-0 SOL) will travel to William Tennent on Monday, and Council Rock North (4-1, 3-1) will host Ridley in a non-league game Saturday at 10 a.m.
Neshaminy 3-1 4
Council Rock North 1-0 1
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 5, BENSALEM 1
Katelyn Cocco had a hand in four goals to lead the Golden Hawks, scoring a pair and assisting on two others. Kerry Kaufman added two goals and an assist.
It was Cocco (Kaufman assist) putting the Golden Hawks on the board five minutes into the game, and just over a minute later, Cocco returned the favor, assisting on a Kaufman goal.
A goal by Bensalem’s Emily L’Heureux less than a minute later cut the Golden Hawks’ lead in half, but the Hawks closed out the half strong, scoring a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes.
First it was Kaufman once again turning a Cocco pass into a goal, and then it was Cocco scoring an unassisted goal to send the Golden Hawks into halftime with a 4-1 lead. Cailey Hiscox (Cocco assist) closed out the scoring with a goal midway through the second half.
The Golden Hawks held a 24-5 advantage in shots. Rock South goalie Mollie Clark turned away four shots in the win, and Bensalem’s Emily McGivern was credited with 19 saves.
Council Rock South (2-3, 2-1 SOL) will be on the road at Spring-Ford for a non-league contest on Saturday at 10 a.m., and Bensalem (0-5, 0-4) will host Harry S Truman on Monday.
Council Rock South 4-1 5
Bensalem 1-0 1
PENNSBURY 1, WILLIAM TENNENT 0 (OT)
Anna Sharp scored an unassisted goal three minutes into overtime, propelling the Falcons to the dramatic win.
Pennsbury (2-2, 2-1 SOL) had little time to celebrate. The Falcons return to action Saturday when they travel to Plymouth Whitemarsh for a non-league contest at 10 a.m.
William Tennent 0-0-0 0
Pennsbury 0-0-1 1
SOL Continental Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1, SOUDERTON 0
In a classic battle of unbeaten squads, it was the Patriots eking out the hard-fought win.
“It was definitely a very good game,” East coach Meghann Spratt said. “It was probably our biggest challenge of the season far, which I kind of assumed it would be, so coming out on top was huge.
“Their speed and they try to find those through balls – if you’re not ready for that and if you don’t have speedy backs, they’re going to burn you, and I think that’s what they’ve been doing to a lot of teams. They have four forwards, and they’re always going very offensive.”
This one quite literally wasn’t over until the final horn sounded as the Indians drew a pair of corners in the final minute – the second with time expired.
East flyer Phia Mannino – who scored the game winner early in the game – put her body on the line to make sure that her team’s one-goal lead stood, taking a shot on the leg on the first and stonewalling the second shot, which ricocheted out of harm’s way.
Ten minutes into the contest, Mannino scored the game’s only goal on a rebound off the goalie’s pads. Both teams had their opportunities, but the respective defenses stood tall.
East goalie Emily Bullard was credited with eight saves in her third shutout of the young season.
"Their goalie is good," Souderton coach Sue Casciato said. "We gave up a goal early, and it was pretty even the rest of the way.
"I said to my girls, 'We're literally playing the mirror image of ourselves. We both have skill players, we both have a lot of speed. I guess it will come down to who wants it more or who can manage to get a goal.'"
It was the Patriots who managed to get a goal, and as a result, they are alone atop the conference standings.
“It was definitely a team effort as, of course, it always has to be,” Spratt said. “I thought my captain, Kyleigh Talomie, had a really great game in the midfield. She worked really hard and generated a lot of offense in our transition game, which was great.
“Phia Mannino had a really good game as well as (goalie) Em Bullard. Those three really stepped up their game today and came ready to play.”
The win was the second tough road victory of the week for the Patriots, who defeated North Penn 6-4 on Wednesday.
“Coming home with two wins under our belts was a huge positive in our schedule,” Spratt said. “It just shows tons of character and their resilience and their high level of play.
“My assistant coach and I were saying – we still have a lot of room for improvement. It’s fun to know that we’re a strong team, and we can still improve, but we are plugging along and coming away with wins.”
Central Bucks East (6-0, 4-0 SOL) will travel to Quakertown on Monday night for a 7 p.m. contest. Souderton (4-1, 3-1) will host Pennridge on Monday at 5 p.m.
Central Bucks East 1-0 1
Souderton 0-0 0
NORTH PENN 9, QUAKERTOWN 0
Erin O’Donnell connected for a hat trick, one of six players to contribute scoring for a Knight squad that picked up its first conference win.
“It was a great team effort,” coach Shannon McCracken said.
Jillian Lampitoc put the Knights on the scoreboard at the 23:33 mark of the opening half, and then it was Kristin Varilla (Eleni Kountroubis assist) finding the cage to give the Knights a 2-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the game.
O’Donnell scored an unassisted goal, and Kountroubis closed out the half with back-to-back goals, the first with a Lampitoc assist and the second with an assist from Varilla.
Just over five minutes into the second half, Emily Crawford scored an unassisted goal, and Varilla’s second goal of the game – this one with a Crawford assist – put the Knights on top 7-0. O’Donnell scored a pair of late goals to close out the scoring, the second with a Sierra Gee assist.
North Penn held an advantage in shots (30-0) and corners (14-0). Quakertown goalie Alexis Landis was credited with 15 saves.
“Quakertown’s goalie was excellent tonight,” McCracken said.
North Penn (2-3, 1-2 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks West Monday for a 7 p.m. game, and Quakertown (2-4, 0-3) will host Central Bucks East on Monday.
Quakertown 0-0 0
North Penn 5-4 9
SOL American Conference
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 2, ABINGTON 0
On a day that featured a showdown in each of the three conferences, it was the Colonials continuing their dominance in conference play with a win over a Ghost squad that brought an identical 3-0 conference mark into the game.
“The majority of the game was definitely played in the midfield, although we had a lot of offensive opportunities,” PW coach Charise Halteman said. “We got into their circle a lot. I did feel that some of our team struggled to adjust to the surface – it’s faster.
“It definitely moved a lot faster which benefitted Sam Spera and Kennedy Reardon, my seniors. They played great today, but I think in terms of forwards controlling really hard-paced balls and being able to knock them into the cage – we weren’t quite able to do that. I would have liked to have seen a little bit more shots on goal for us, and I think we could have scored more goals, but we’ll take the win.”
Kaleigh Missimer (Reardon assist) scored a goal that turned out to be the game-winner at the 6:54 mark of the first half, sending the Colonials into halftime with a 1-0 lead. Midway through the second half, Kayla Link scored off a rebound during corner play.
“It was nice to have a halftime talk where we’re up 1-0, but it’s a close game, and they just needed one to get back into it, so to work on our kids staying focused and defending that one-goal lead, that’s certainly important for later in the season. It was a good test. We didn’t do a lot of subbing, so it was a good fitness test for our starters, and they played well.”
The Colonials drew 15 corners to just two for the Ghosts.
“PW, overall, dominated the play, but I definitely think Abington has aggressive players,” Halteman said. “They put a lot of pressure on the ball, so they do force some turnovers and things like that.
“And with the speed of the turf, some free hits often went out of bounds for both teams, so some of those things kept the game from really being in either offensive end.”
The Colonials’ coach credited the strong play of midfielders Reardon and Spera and defenders Meghan DiGiacomo and Livia Truong.
Abington goalie Ellie Hughes was credited with nine saves while PW’s Sarah Trask earned her fifth shutout of the season in as many games, recording two saves.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (5-0, 4-0 SOL) will host Pennsbury in a non-league game Saturday at 10 a.m., and Abington (3-2, 3-1) will travel to Wissahickon on Monday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1-1 2
Abington 0-0 0
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 4, HATBORO-HORSHAM 0
Springfield Township capped a successful week by notching its third win in as many games, earning a shutout win on the heels of victories over Dock Mennonite Academy and Wissahickon.
The Spartans, who took a commanding 3-0 lead into halftime, received single goals from Anya Kochanowicz, Ella Marino, Maddie Yoder and Kate Wojeck.
Spartan goalie Rebecca Berglund was credited with two saves in the shutout win. Annie Ryan was credited with a defensive save.
The Spartans held an advantage in shots (8-2) and corners (6-1).
Springfield Township (4-2, 2-2 SOL) will travel to Upper Moreland on Monday, and Hatboro-Horsham (0-4, 0-3) will be on the road at Cheltenham Monday.
Springfield Township 3-1 4
Hatboro-Horsham 0-0 0
Non-league
HARRY S TRUMAN 3, NORTHEAST 0
The Tigers celebrated their first win of the young season Friday, blanking Northeast in a non-league contest.
“Truman is excited to celebrate their first win and looking forward to conference play on Monday against Bensalem – continuing with the momentum,” coach Dipi Bhaya said. “I was very happy to see the girls working hard and seeing the success of putting the ball in the cage today and seeing them starting to come together as a team.”
Freshman Paige Gonzalez scored with an assist from Jaleezia Gibson at the 12:45 mark of the first half. The goal turned out to be the game-winner. With just over a minute remaining in the half, Haley Marshall found the cage with an insurance goal – again using a Gibson assist.
Senior Olivia Kerns scored midway through the second half for the 3-0 final, using an assist from senior Lexi Devlin.
Truman’s dominance in the game was underscored by its 15-1 advantage in corners. Northeast’s goalie was credited with 12 saves in a busy afternoon.
Harry S Truman (1-3, 0-3 SOL) will travel to Bensalem on Monday.
Northeast 0-0 0
Harry S Truman 2-1 3
ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 5, UPPER MORELAND 1
ANC opened up a 2-0 lead before Phoebe Longstreth scored with an assist from Bryanna Grodon, making it a one-goal game with 11:31 remaining in the first half. ANC added two more goals before halftime – both by Emma Reveter to complete her hat trick, and the visitors took a 4-1 lead into halftime. ANC’s Carolyn Haderson added a single goal in the second half for the 5-1 final.
UM goalie Isabella Guarenghi was credited with nine saves.
Upper Moreland (2-3, 1-1 SOL) will host Springfield Township on Monday.
Academy of the New Church 4-1 5
Upper Moreland 1-0 1
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