CONTINENTAL CONFERENCE
North Penn 3, Souderton 1
Maiden co-coach Becky Poole calls the arrival of Ines Farre on the first day of pre-season a ‘pleasant surprise.’The sophomore foreign exchange student from Spain has been a pleasant surprise and then some. Farre is rapidly emerging as a game changer as she becomes acclimated to her new team.
In Tuesday’s win over the Indians, Farre had a hand in all three of the Maidens’ goals, scoring a pair and assisting on the third.
“Her eye-hand coordination is amazing,” Poole said. “It’s phenomenal.
“Sometimes I wonder if she’s better dribbling the ball in the air or on the ground. Tonight she was everywhere with the ball.”
Although there is no high school field hockey in Spain, Farre boasts five years experience playing on the club circuit, and it shows.
After the Indians took a 1-0 lead when Taylor Yoder (Alayna Brown assist) converted her team’s first corner into a goal at the 11:28 mark of the first half, Farre and the Maidens went to work.
On a North Penn corner late in the half, Farre took Amy Coughlin’s insert pass and deftly dodged the Indian flier, finding the cage with a goal that sent the teams into halftime deadlocked 1-1.
“I got the ball, and the girl was too near to me, so I (went) through everyone and hit it,” Farre said.
Early in the second half, the Maidens were awarded a corner after a wild sequence. First, an Indian defender made a goal line stop and that was followed by a goalie save by Morgan Brozena. A third shot deflected off the body of an Indian defender, resulting in the penalty stroke.
In the absence of standout Elizabeth Fedele, who is recuperating from a concussion, Farre took the stroke and fired a no-doubt-about-it shot into the lower left corner of the cage.
“In Spain when we have games, sometimes, we have to take (a penalty stroke), and I always take it,” Farre said.
A textbook goal by Coughlin on the left wing using a perfect pass from Farre closed out the scoring.
The Indians, according to Yoder, lost their momentum after the Maidens got on the scoreboard.
“We just got scattered, and we got really frantic,” she said. “We were rushing things and getting really sloppy.
“They also are a really quick team, so they know how to play on this (fast) turf. They were a step quicker at times, and their passes were really quick. They were very connected.”
So what was the biggest adjustment for Farre when she joined her new team?
“The turf,” she said. “In Spain, I play on different turf with water.”
Farre also acknowledged there’s a difference in the style of play.
“Maybe in Spain we make more passes instead of hitting the ball and running, but it’s quite the same,” she said, going on to note that she’s becoming more comfortable playing in a new setting. ”I’m starting to know how they play – how each player plays, so I know where I have to get the ball. I’m getting used to it.”
The addition of Farre - whose cousin was a foreign exchange student at NP four years ago - will undoubtedly only make the Maidens a more dangerous opponent as the season progresses.
“We knew she had a lot of talent coming into the season, but we weren’t sure if she would mesh with the team, learning a different style of hockey,” Poole said. “Tonight it was her game. She came out, and she dominated for our team.
“Her stick was everywhere it needed to be at every moment it needed to be there. She brought us back into this game.”
While the Maidens improved to 5-0-1 in SOL play (8-0-1 overall), the Indians fell to 4-2 in the league and 6-3 overall. Still, coach Mary Ann Harris had no complaints about her team’s effort.
“I think we kept the momentum pretty much in the first half,” the Indians’ coach said. “We just didn’t have the experience to know how to keep playing at that pace against a team that did know how to play at that pace.
“They hunt in pairs, they back each other up very well, and they also know where each other is on the field, and we didn’t pick that up soon enough to mark it. I was pleased with our effort tonight.”
The Maidens held a 12-6 advantage in shots and an 8-4 edge in corners. Maiden goalie Shannon Keen turned away five shots while Brozena had eight saves.
Central Bucks South 4, Hatboro-Horsham 1
The Titans kept pace with the Maidens, improving to 5-0-1 in SOL play (9-0-1 overall). Jessie Accurso scored a pair of goals for South while Kayla Kenney and Lexi Thompson each added single goals.
Julie McKay (Courtnee Daley) scored the Hatters’ lone goal. Maddie Wagonfeld turned away nine shots in goal for the Hatters.
Central Bucks East 5, Quakertown 0
The Patriots were led by the two-goal effort of Brittany Meyer. Marissa Glatt contributed a goal and two assists while Melissa Remmey and Shannon Devlin each added single goals. Carolyn Remmey and Emily Vasey each contributed an assist for the Patriots.
East will face Souderton on Thursday in a battle for third place in the Continental Conference standings. Both teams boast identical 4-2 records in league play.
Pennridge 2, Central Bucks West 2
The Rams jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Bucks rallied to knot the score. Addy Marshall (Sarah Yerk assist) scored at the 18:26 mark of the first half, and Kelly Herd scored an unassisted goal to put the Rams on top 2-0.
A goal by Danielle Weidman made it a 2-1 game at halftime, and Weidman scored the equalizer with 3:52 remaining in the game to knot the score.
Pennridge goalie Amanda Perricone turned away 15 shots in another strong outing.
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
Pennsbury 1, Council Rock South 0
Allie Brady scored with an assist from Julia Vogel with nine minutes remaining in the first half. The rest of the game belonged to the respective defenses as the Falcons held on for a win that upped their record to 4-2 in league play and keeps them just one game out of first place in the National Conference.
“It was an exciting win,” Falcon coach Jamie Parell said. “The girls are really upbeat right now, especially because we have another big game tomorrow at Tennent.
“It’s definitely a positive win for us, especially because the league has been so crazy and up and down lately. It makes it exciting, it makes it fun, but also reiterates to the girls that every game is important, and anybody can win. There’s no team that can be taken lightly, and we need to show up to play. We’re excited with the ‘W.’”
Tuesday’s game, according to Parell, was relatively even.
“It just went back and forth the whole game,” the Falcons’ coach said. “We went out with one goal, and that seemed to be enough.
“There were a couple of close ones at the end with South, and we had some really good pressure as well, but we couldn’t seem to get the ball in the cage. Thank goodness one goal was enough.”
Parell lauded the strong play of right defensive back Tenaj Moody in the win.
“She was just really aggressive and never gave up,” Parell said. “Even if she did get beat with the ball, she quickly recovered on defense to keep their girl from getting a shot on goal. She was really aggressive today, and it paid off.”
Council Rock North 7, Bensalem 0
Alex Kuzma connected for the hat trick and also contributed an assist to lead the Indians. Becky Ely scored a pair of goals, and Melissa Rowland added a single goal for the Indians, who improved to 5-1 and maintained a share of the conference’s top spot.
Neshaminy 6, Harry S. Truman 0
The Redskins improved to 5-1 after Tuesday’s decisive win over the Tigers and continued to own a share of the conference’s top spot.
Brittany Sheenan and Rachel Rottaveel both contributed a pair of goals and an assist to lead the Redskins. Brittany Calvert added a goal and two assists while Emily Hegner also contributed a single goal. Kaylee Logan and Char Reese handed out assists to close out the scoring.
Neshaminy held a 16-5 advantage in shots. Both teams had four corners.
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Wissahickon 3, Upper Dublin 0
The defending champion Trojans established themselves as the team to beat in the American Conference after Tuesday’s no-doubt-about-it win over a Flying Cardinal squad that also entered the game undefeated in league play.
“We didn’t know how to gauge how good they were because we were playing the same teams and coming up with similar scores,” Trojan coach Lucy Gil said. “We knew we had to play them really, really tough, and we did.
“One of the things we said we were going to do was try to get to the ball first – every 50-50 ball, we were going to get to it, and they really did. They moved to the ball really well.”
The game showcased the immense talents of Lauren Becker. The Trojans’ junior midfielder scored all three of her team’s goals. Her first came on a penalty stroke with 17:28 remaining in the first half. Zoe Kale assisted on the second, and the third featured an assist from Emily Gallagher as the Trojans opened up a 3-0 halftime lead and never looked back.
“I think Lauren Becker played especially amazing,” Gil said. “She just took control of the field, which is what she should be doing.
“She made some amazing passes to the forwards and also to the side midfielders. She got past defenders like one-two-three and then made a really nice pass. She’s like the focal point of the game. As soon as she got the ball, you could hear them say, ‘Double team.’ Lauren was able with her speed to just move around them.
“We have said in the past that the really, really good players can move as quickly with the ball as most people can move without the ball, and Lauren does that. Lauren can go at really high speeds while controlling the ball, and that’s what separates the really skilled players away from the rest.”
Gil also acknowledged the solid play of Becker’s teammates in the midfield – Colleen Guaglianone and Jackie Hibbs.
“Both of them played really, really well,” the Trojans’ coach said. “Jackie Hibbs is only a sophomore, and she plays with such maturity and depth. She’s going to be really amazing when she gets a little older.”
Jacquelin Coupe anchored the Trojans’ defense at center back.
“She was really good at shutting their offense down,” Gil said. “The truth of the matter is they didn’t cross the 50 very often in the first half, and Coupe was really instrumental in keeping them out. I thought she played really well.”
The Trojans held an 11-4 advantage in shots on goal and an 8-3 edge in corners. Flying Cardinal goalie Dana Russell was credited with seven saves while Trojan goalie Rina Lobell was not forced to make a stop in the shutout.
While the Flying Cardinals fell to 5-1 in league play (7-3 overall), the Trojans improved to 5-0 in the league (7-2 overall).
Upper Moreland 3, Cheltenham 1
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