Check out the results for SOL field hockey teams in action Thursday.
PENNRIDGE 3, SOUDERTON 2
As the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard clock in Thursday night’s contest between the neighboring rivals, the Pennridge student section began chanting, “I believe that we just won, I believe that we just won.” Hardly a regular occurrence at field hockey games.
“We sent out a mass tweet, and everyone got their friends to come,” senior Kellie Drugotch said. “It’s the best crowd we’ve had in a couple of years.
“If not for the fans, I don’t know if we would have pulled off the win. It wouldn’t have inspired us to play that hard.”
As it was, the inspired Lady Rams used a Drugotch goal (Meghan Griffin assist) midway through the second half to pull out the come-from-behind win – the first this season in conference play for the Lady Rams.
“This is huge,” Pennridge coach Becky Spahr said. “We needed the confidence. I think that’s the biggest thing.
“I think they’ve been holding back because they’ve been unsure of themselves. Tonight they forgot about all of that, had fun and just played, and that’s what we needed. Souderton is a good team. They have improved so much.”
This was a battle from the outset, and it was the Indians getting on the scoreboard first when Erin Saybolt connected on the rebound of a goalie save at the 18:38 mark. The Rams responded with an almost immediate corner and scored three minutes later when freshman Sydney Boreman found the cage.
That 1-1 tie stood until Jessie Gabriel set up the go-ahead goal, dribbling down the right alley and sending a pass across goal that was redirected into the cage by teammate Liz O’Hara. The Indians took that 2-1 lead into halftime.
The Lady Rams came out of the intermission and drew a corner 40 seconds into the second half. On their second corner just moments later, the Rams cashed in, capping a nifty passing sequence from Victoria Arnold to Griffin to Caitlyn Amsden with Amsden redirecting the ball into the cage to knot the score at the 28:24 mark.
“Caitlyn Amsden and Sydney Boreman are freshmen, and they played phenomenal tonight,” Spahr said of her freshmen duo who accounted for two of the Rams’ goals.
It was the Rams’ perfect corner execution, according to Griffin, that may have been the difference in the game.
“That corner probably set the tone for the rest of the game,” she said. “We needed that goal. Once we were tied we kept the momentum consistently.”
Armed with that momentum, the Lady Rams kept the pressure on, and it was Drugotch connecting for a goal that turned out to be the game winner with 15:31 remaining.
The Indians battled, drawing a pair of late corners, but they came up empty as the Rams refused to lose.
“This was huge for us,” Drugotch said. “Not only did we need this for our conference (standings), but we needed it for ourselves, for our confidence as a team and to know we can do this the rest of the season.”
For the Indians, the loss came 24 hours after they staged a valiant comeback but came up short in a 6-4 loss to Central Bucks West.
“I don’t think that this was anywhere near the Souderton field hockey that we know how to play,” Souderton coach Lauren Whiteside said. “I think we were just playing frantic, trying to come back and be that team that has had comebacks.
“I think we need to hang our hat on other things than being the comeback team. There’s a lot of work that needs to be happening. We need to put together 60 minutes. Ten minutes here and 10 minutes there doesn’t win you games in this league, and that’s what we need to do better.”
Pennridge (2-3, 1-3 SOL) will travel to North Penn on Monday while Souderton (2-3, 1-3) will host Central Bucks South on Monday.
Souderton 2-0 2
Pennridge 1-2 3
HATBORO-HORSHAM 4, QUAKERTOWN 3 (OT)
The Hatters found themselves staring at a 3-1 halftime deficit but rallied to knot the score late in regulation and then won it in overtime when Syd Rausa connected for the game winner at the 10:37 mark.
“Syd brought the ball up on the left side and had a beautiful backward sweep shot on a perfect angle to score,” coach Laura Swezey said. “It was an excellent game by both teams.”
Liz Theurer (Rausa assist) scored the Hatters’ lone goal in the opening half. Senior Becky Gerhart had a hand on all three of Quakertown’s goals in the half, scoring one and assisting on a pair of Taylor Scheetz goals.
The Hatters staged a dramatic comeback in the closing minutes of the second half. Kelsey Hopkins (Gabby Acker assist) scored with 6:50 remaining in regulation to make it a 3-2 game, and with just 34 seconds remaining, Hopkins found Victoria Mullen for the equalizer.
“The tie came during a scrum in front of the Quakertown goalie,” said Swezey.
Both teams were down a player at the start of overtime as the result of yellow cards, and Quakertown suffered a huge setback when a second player was given a yellow card. The Hatters capitalized when Rausa connected for the game winner.
Swezey lauded the defensive performances of Kait Wallace, Brenna Reilley, Ally Lavery, Keeley Henry and (goalie) Liz Wilburn.
“They did an excellent job of defending off the consistent threat of Quakertown’s hard shots on goal,” the Hatters’ coach said. “Kayla Reighn did an excellent job marking one of Quakertown’s key players.”
Wilburn was credited with 12 saves while Quakertown’s Rylee Lawler had 10 saves.
Hatboro-Horsham (3-3, 2-2 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks West on Monday while Quakertown (3-3, 1-3) will travel to Central Bucks East.
Hatboro-Horsham 1-2-1 4
Quakertown 3-0-0 3
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 2, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 1
In a classic battle between the neighboring rivals, it was the Patriots eking out a win to keep their perfect record intact.
“Both teams fought hard, and it was a well-played game,” East coach Michelle Finegan said.
All three goals were scored in the first half with sophomore Mackenzie Boyle making the first varsity goal a memorable one, connecting for East’s second goal with six minutes remaining in the half to put the Patriots on top 2-1. Riley Donnelly contributed the assist.
Earlier, it was the Titans getting on the scoreboard first when Ally McDonald (Steph Litzenberger assist) connected just three minutes into the game. Fourteen minutes later, Donnelly scored the equalizer, setting the stage for Boyle’s game winner.
Both teams had eight penalty corners while the Patriots held a 13-10 advantage in shots.
Central Bucks East (6-0, 4-0 SOL) will host Quakertown on Monday while Central Bucks South (2-3, 2-2) will travel to Souderton.
Central Bucks East 2-0 2
Central Bucks South 1-0 1
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 8, HARRY S TRUMAN 0
Jennica Jonovich scored four goals and assisted on another to lead the Indians to the big win. It was Jonovich (Rachel Pomerantz assist) scoring just over three minutes into the game to put the Indians on the board, and a goal by Julianne Mangano sent the Indians into halftime with a 2-0 lead.
In the second half, the Indians received three goals from Jonovich – the third with a Devon Mela assist – as well as a single by Mela.
Council Rock North (4-1, 3-0) will travel to Neshaminy Friday for a key conference showdown. Truman (0-4, 0-3) will be on the road at Pennsbury.
Council Rock North 2-6 8
Harry S Truman 0-0 0
About the Author
