SOL Girls’ Lacrosse District Preview (5-17-18)

Five SOL girls’ lacrosse teams will be in action in Thursday’s second round of the District One 3A & 2A Tournament. Check out the capsules.

#20 METHACTON at #4 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST (Thursday, 7:15 p.m.)
Central Bucks West

15-3 overall
7-1 SOL National Conference co-champions with CB East
Led by seniors Finley Ueland, Dani Dundas and Maddie Maio, who have all surpassed the 100-goal milestone. Finley, a USC recruit, leads the attack with 68 goals and 35 assists (103 points). Old Dominion recruit Dani Dundas has 55 goals and 18 assists and Maio, who has a primary defensive role, has 50 goals and nine assists.
Junior Casey Reichwein has more than 300 draw controls and is also a force on defense.
Regular season wins over Class 3A #6 Plymouth Whitemarsh (11-5), #10 Central Bucks East (16-5), #11 Downingtown West (16-12), #16 Abington (10-6), #19 Pennsbury (15-8), #21 North Penn (11-7) and #22 Strath Haven (15-6) as well as Class 2A #11 Upper Moreland (16-9).

How they got here: Opening round bye.

Coach Tara Schmucker says: “As always, our goal is to take one game at a time and play West lacrosse. We ended our regular season with a great team win, demonstrating lots of chemistry and smart decisions, so we will work hard to keep that momentum going.”

Methacton

11-8 overall
9-4 Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division third place
Led by University of California at Davis recruit Julie Byrne. The senior midfielder/defender has a team-high 57 ground balls to go along with 45 draw controls, 25 goals and 14 assists.
Attack led by sophomores Sydney Tornetta (50g, 21a, 79dc, 52gb) and Mia Sheldon (33g, 12a, 56 gb, 44dc).
Swept season series with #24 Spring-Ford (11-7, 7-6)
Split season series with #8 Boyertown (6-9, 12-11) and #12 Perkiomen Valley (6-7, 8-6)

How they got here: Methacton defeated #13 Upper Dublin 12-6 in the opening round.

#1-11 DOWNINGTOWN WEST at #1-6 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH (Thursday, 5:30 p.m.)
Plymouth Whitemarsh

14-4 overall
9-0 SOL American Conference champions
Colonials’ attack led by Ali Diamond (48g, 48a), Victoria Betterly (44g, 23a), Sophia Kolkka (34g, 29a) and Lexi Petrakis (31g, 5a)
Regular season wins over Class 3A #7 Downingtown East (9-7), #13 Upper Dublin (14-4), #16 Abington (11-4), #17 Souderton (13-7), #20 Methacton (13-5) and #21 North Penn (13-5) as well as Class 2A #11 Upper Moreland (12-1) and #14 Springfield Township (16-6).

How they got here: Opening round bye

Coach Ellen Reilly says: “People think it’s a good thing to have a bye, but sometimes it isn’t because we haven’t played in a while. At this point, you are who you are. You earned the bye, so hopefully, we’ll hold our seed and do what we have to do.”

Downingtown West

13-5 overall
Led by junior midfielders Emily Feeney (Quinnipiac), Peyton Mottice (University of Cincinnati) and Corinne Bednarik (Drexel)
Regular season wins over Class 3A #16 Abington (14-4) and #14 West Chester Henderson (15-9) as well as Class 2A #7 Interboro (18-3) and #9 Bishop Shanahan (9-6).
How they got here: In an opening round game, Downingtown West defeated #22 Strath Haven 8-7.

#1-10 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST at #1-7 DOWNINGTOWN EAST (Thursday, 5:30 p.m.)
Central Bucks East

14-5 overall
7-1 SOL National Conference co-champions with Central Bucks West
Sophomore Riley Forman surpassed the 100-goal mark and leads the Patriots with 61 goals and 17 assists.
Junior Brigitte Bishop (56 g, 8 a), sophomore Quinn Ferry (31g, 22 a), senior Erin McGovern (16 g, 31 a) and sophomore Katie Powell (32 g, 7 a) also are major contributors on attack.
Freshman goalie Fiona Henderson anchors the defense in goal
Regular season wins over #15 Central Bucks South (14-8), #16 Abington (7-6), #19 Pennsbury (16-6) and #21 North Penn (13-8) and Class 2A #8 Jenkintown (20-5).

How they got here: Central Bucks East defeated #23 West Chester Rustin 6-3. Freshman goalie Fiona Henderson recorded 17 saves to lead a stellar defensive effort.

Coach David Schlesinger says: “(We have to) keep on doing what we’re doing. We’re on a seven-game winning streak. There’s no reason to re-invent the wheel. We’re playing very well. We just keep trying to redefine what we’re doing. We work a lot on defensive principles and also moving the ball quickly. As we progress in districts, ball movement and good solid defense are going to be the keys to us advancing.”

Downingtown East

14-4 overall
Led by junior midfielders Livi Lawton (University of North Carolina) and Emily Wurzel (University of Cincinnati)
Regular season wins over Class 3A #4 Central Bucks West (13-8), #11 Downingtown West (10-6), #14 West Chester Henderson (11-10), #15 Central Bucks South (15-6), #20 Methacton (13-7) and #23 West Chester Rustin (7-6) as well as Class 2A #9 Bishop Shanahan (16-10).

How they got here: Opening round bye

#1-16 ABINGTON at #1-1 GARNET VALLEY (Thursday, 7 p.m.)
Abington

13-6 overall
8-1 SOL American Conference second place
Balanced attack led by Jamira Mashore (18g, 33a), Kaley Ehnow (34g, 15a), Lauren Van Buren (28g, 7a), Abby Thomas (26g, 5a) and Natalie McNamara (26g, 5a)
Defeated #17 Souderton in April 16 regular season meeting (12-6)
Regular season wins over #13 Upper Dublin (14-11), and #21 North Penn (13-9) as well as Class AA #11 Upper Moreland (11-4) and #14 Springfield Township (15-4).

How they got here: Abington defeated #17 Souderton 7-5 in an opening round game.

Garnet Valley

16-2 overall
Division I recruits include senior midfielder/attack Riley Delaney (St. Joseph’s), senior attack/midfielder Kamryn McNeal (Towson), senior defender Linda Zamrowski (Rutgers) and junior defender Grace Brennan (American)
Regular season wins over Class 3A #3 Unionville (7-6), #5 Harriton (8-7), #7 Downingtown East (19-6), #9 Owen J Roberts (11-10), #18 Conestoga (9-8), #22 Strath Haven (13-9) as well as Class 2A #2 Radnor (14-4)

How they got here: Opening round bye

CLASS 2A
#1-11 UPPER MORELAND at #1-3 PENNCREST
Upper Moreland

12-7 overall
4-5 SOL American Conference
Regular season wins over Class 3A #10 Central Bucks East (9-6) and Class 2A #8 Jenkintown (13-7) and #14 Springfield Township (10-8)
Won six straight to open season and four in a row to close season.

How they got here: Upper Moreland defeated #10 New-Hope Solebury 12-11.

Penncrest

16-3 overall
8-3 Central League tied for fourth place
Ranked 10^th in the PhillyLacrosse.com rankings.
Attack is led by Drexel recruit Grace Harding, a first team All-Central League selection. Bryant recruit Logan O’Donnell anchors the defense.
Regular season wins over Class 3A #1 Garnet Valley (11-10), #14 West Chester Henderson, #17 Souderton (16-4), #18 Conestoga (13-11) and #22 Strath Haven (8-5) as well as Class 2A #10 Phoenixville (13-6).
How they got here: In an opening round game, Penncrest defeated #14 Springfield Township 16-13.