Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ lacrosse teams in action Friday. PW/Pennsbury photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f683838916 (Morgan’s Message photos provided by UMHS Lacrosse)
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 9, PENNSBURY 7
Led by a tenacious defensive effort, the Colonials notched an impressive road win over the Falcons.
“They’ve been working so hard, and they really deserve it,” PW coach Ellen Reilly said. “I just think their hard work is paying off. I think hopefully this will give them some confidence. My kids were ready today.”
The Colonials came out strong, opening up a 4-2 lead after one quarter.
“It was mainly off of my kids keeping possession of the ball and working our offense and putting the ball in the net,” Reilly said. “If and when they got the ball off the draw, my defense came up with turnovers, and my goalie (Addi Stein) had a good game.”
The Colonials took a 6-3 lead into halftime and extended that to 8-3 before holding off a late Falcon rally.
“Every time we got the ball, we pretty much tried to just run long offense to take time off the clock,” Reilly said. “We made a few mistakes – we panicked a little bit, but when they got the ball, they did the exact same thing – they turned it over a couple of times, and they only scored once in the fourth quarter, so it ended 9-7.”
Meghan Wendler’s hat trick led a balanced PW scoring attack. Maite Jayo and Bri Reynolds both contributed two goals and one assist, and Sophia Gartland also had a pair of goals.
PW goalie Addi Stein recorded nine saves on 17 shots.
“It took all of my kids because off the draw – their one girl, #6, was winning them,” Reilly said of University of Richmond-bound Grace Holmes. “But I had Maite Jayo and her sister Kai (Maite) and Bri Reynolds on the circle, and they just fought their butts off to get possession.
“They played exceptional today, playing very aggressive and wanting every ball off the draw. Even if we didn’t win the draw, they were playing some
pretty good aggressive defense and put pressure on Pennsbury.”
Making life difficult for the Falcons’ attack was a unit that included Colonial midfielders Bri Reynolds, Maite and Kai Jayo and defenders Katie Lukens, Kaylin Smyth, Gianna Clark and Keira Whelan in front of Stein in goal.
“My kids as a team played really well together,” Reilly said. “My defense played well as a unit, which enabled our offense to have opportunities that they took advantage of.
“I’m happy for them because we have a tough game on Tuesday against Rustin, but if the kids play like they did today, we should be okay.”
For the Falcons, Sasha Dobos led the way with four goals while Mia Popovich had two goals and two assists as well as three draw controls. Holmes had one goal, two assists and six draw controls.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-2, 0-2 SOL) will begin a four-game week at Cheltenham on Monday and then will host West Chester Rustin in a non-league game on Tuesday. Pennsbury (4-3, 2-0) will host Souderton on Monday (7 p.m.) in the stadium.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 4-2-3-0 9
Pennsbury 2-1-3-1 7
UPPER MORELAND 14, WISSAHICKON 12
There was no denying the magnitude of Friday’s conference showdown.
Both teams entered Friday’s contest with just one loss – none in SOL action. But making the night even more significant was the fact that both teams joined forces for Morgan’s Message mental health awareness game.
“The biggest win tonight was two teams coming together to bring awareness for mental health through Morgan’s Message,” UM coach Kim Frantz said. “It was a really great night tonight to help bring awareness and fight against the stigmas that follow mental health, especially in athletes. We are so glad Wissahickon Girls Lacrosse, Upper Moreland Girls Lacrosse, and the class of 2025 at Upper Moreland were able to come together to
make this night truly special.”
Wissahickon coach Chuck Wurzbach expressed his appreciation to Frantz for asking the Trojans to participate.
“It was a great opportunity to talk to our players this week about mental health and to relay to them that they know that there is help within this community-coaches, teammates and our school,” the Trojans’ coach said. “No one needs to suffer in silence.”
The Game
The game itself certainly lived up to its billing as a battle of conference heavyweights.
Annalise Messina turned in yet another dominating performance and had a hand in nine of UM’s 14 goals. Her nine-point game included five goals and four assists. She also had four caused turnovers and 10 draw controls.
“Annalise Messina was excellent today,” Wurzbach said. “She does a lot for that team and is so difficult to stop. I think she is one of the best players in the Philadelphia area.”
The Golden Bears led by just a 4-3 score after one quarter but had the better of play in the second quarter, outscoring their visitors 4-1 to go into halftime with an 8-4 lead.
“The first quarter was a very back and forth game,” Frantz said. “It was tied 3-3 and then Messina scored in the last 13 seconds.”
The Golden Bears rode the momentum of the second quarter in the third quarter when they outscored the Trojans 5-2 to go on top 13-5 at the end of three quarters.
“The third quarter was definitely our best quarter,” Frantz said. “A lot of our success in the third quarter was due to our defense causing a lot of turnovers to gain possession of the ball.”
The Trojans didn’t go down quietly, rallying to pull to within two in the closing minutes, but they would get no closer.
“Wissahickon never gave up and had a lot of momentum in the fourth quarter,” Frantz said. “Luckily, time was on our side at the end to keep our two-goal lead. It really was a great high school lacrosse game with a lot of action. 
“Our defense came in key again in this game, along with great connections from midfield to attack in transition. Avery Adamski’s composure, instinct, and leadership is really helping our freshmen on defense to contribute hugely on the field.
“Our two freshmen on defense, Madeline Cox and Leah King, had amazing games today. While Leah dominated on defense with cutters, Madeline was amazing getting loose balls and transitioning the ball. Cambrie Richmond leads by example on defense and helps keep our defense together as a unit.”
Addi Hurley also did her part in goal, recording 12 saves in a winning effort for the Bears.
Also coming up big for the Golden Bears were twins Molly and Olivia Meakim. Both had five-point games – Molly had four goals and one assist, and Olivia contributed two goals and three assists. Adding one goal each for the Bears were Maggie Morrow, Keira Hess and Avery Adamski. Willow Taylor had one assist and three draw controls.
For the Trojans, Alexa McCabe’s six-point game led the way and included four goals and two assists. Sam Farno added a hat trick and five draw controls. Lila Marciniak and Emma Greenberg both had two goals, one assist and three draw controls. Sophia Stehlik contributed one goal, one assist, one draw control and one ground ball. Nora Ryan had two assists and four draw controls, and Elle Stein had two caused turnovers and two ground balls.
Tatum Ruhren recorded three saves in goal for the Trojans.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Wurzbach said. “We started out well, but in the second and third quarters, we just had too many unforced errors, and when we had chances, their goalie made some great saves. Even though we were down by seven at the end of the third quarter, we knew that we could come back if we just worked together a little bit better. Just came up a little short.”
Upper Moreland (8-1, 3-0 SOL) will host Cheltenham on Thursday, and Wissahickon (7-2, 3-1) will host Upper Dublin on Thursday.
Wissahickon 3-1-2-6 12
Upper Moreland 4-4-5-1 14
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 18, HATBORO-HORSHAM 6
Ten players contributed toward a big offensive performance by the Patriots, who rolled to the non-league win Friday.
“It was another great team effort by my team,” East coach Maggie Stella said. “Our midfielders, on the draw, were scrappy and boxing out. Every player was all over the 50/50 ground balls, and it shows with the number of players we had getting ground balls.”
The Patriots also scored goals in bunches. Paige Dougherty led a balanced attack with five goals. Paige Keller and Emma Weisel each had a four-point game with three goals and one assist. Cece Hayes also contributed a hat trick. Natalie Berndt had two goals while McKenna Lynch and Alexis To both had one. Adding one assist each were Avery Stephenson, Amanda Ries and Brooke Breen.
Also, Hayes and Keller both had two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Dougherty had two caused turnovers, Lynch and Megan Fahey each had two ground balls while Weisel and Nicolette Satterfield both had one ground ball and one caused turnover. Adding one ground ball each were Berndt, Ries and Breen. Stephenson had one caused turnover.
“Megan Fahey was timing her cuts perfectly off the draw and was an asset when moving the attack,” Stella said. “Emma Weisel was on fire today, moving the ball, driving to net, and redefending to the 30-yard line.
“Alexis To scored her first varsity goal off a nice feed from Emma. Our defense was quick to crash and worked on closing some of the gaps. Kayla Matlack and Bella DeHaven shined on their slides today and crashed hard on driving attackers. As always, Abby was our rock in the back, directing our defense from the net. I am so proud to end the week with a W.”
Abby D’Amico was credited with three saves in the win.
Central Bucks East (4-3, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Bensalem on Tuesday.
QUAKERTOWN 12, SOUDERTON 11
Talk about dramatic finishes – this was it.
With less than 10 seconds remaining in the first overtime, Keira Shaw scored a goal that propelled the Panthers to the win in Friday’s non-league thriller. The win was the second of the season for the Panthers, who defeated the Indians on their home field.
“The girls have been putting in such hard work all season, and they came together and played the best I have seen yet,” Quakertown coach Taylor O’Brien said. “The energy before the game was spreading through each other, and I think that was the deciding factor in the end.
“They wanted to win that game so bad, and it showed. We had less than 30 seconds left in OT, and we came up with the ball. I knew we needed to get at least a shot on goal if not score a goal, and Keira did just that. Every girl on our team plays a pivotal role in each game, and the puzzle pieces are finally starting to come together.”
Casey Rosenberger scored six goals in a stellar outing for the Panthers, and Sunny Draper added a hat trick.
In addition to Shaw, Ciara Mory and Cass Landis each had one goal.
Maddie Taylor led the Panthers with five draw controls.
Cass Lamont was credited with seven saves in goal in a winning effort.
The Panthers, who took a two-goal lead into halftime, were outscored 4-2 in the second half as the Indians rallied to knot the score, setting the stage for overtime.
Quakertown (2-5, 0-1 SOL) will host New Hope-Solebury on Monday, and Souderton (4-4, 0-3) will travel to Pennsbury for a 7 p.m. game in the stadium.
Souderton 7-4-0 11
Quakertown 9-2-1 12
LOWER MORELAND 9, NESHAMINY 8 (OT)
The visiting Lions took a 6-3 lead into the final quarter only to see the Redskins rally to knot the score, forcing overtime where the Lions won it in dramatic fashion.
Meg Halpern’s 25-save effort was the difference maker in the game.
Also for the Lions, Mia Rosala and Roya Rosala controlled play in the center of the field with both players finishing with six draw controls. Mia Rosala also had two goals and an assist while Olivia Buczacki and Kenna Rozanski each had two goals. Roya Rosala added one goal.
Lower Moreland (5-3, 0-3 SOL) will travel to Springfield Twp on Monday, and Neshaminy (0-6) will host Central Bucks South on Monday.
Lower Moreland 1-3-2-2-1 9
Neshaminy 1-0-2-5-0 8
GARNET VALLEY 12, SPRINGFIELD TWP 7
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