Continental Conference
Souderton 19, Central Bucks East 9
Kirstin Russell and her Indian teammates were all smiles after Tuesday’s win over the Patriots that capped their team’s Senior Night celebration.
“This was definitely a confidence booster,” Russell said. “With a game like this, we realize how well we can pass and how well we can play because I think that’s been our big issue – our passes are on or our passes are off the whole game.
“That dictates our whole game. When we have games like this, it’s really good to see we can make those passes.”
Senior Danielle Notvest led the Indians with six goals and one assist. Haley Kershaw added three goals and one assist, and Liz Mower and Carley Kendall both contributed two goals and two assists. Russell had a pair of goals while Melinda Wojt, Caitlin Shinners and Madison Trout each added single goals. Alyssa Ziegler had an assist.
“They come into this type of game a lot more relaxed, and they play the way they know how to play,” coach Nicole Bauer said.
Tuesday’s win came on the heels of back-to-back losses to Council Rock North (18-12) and Hatboro-Horsham (22-11) when things didn’t go nearly as well for the Indians.
In Monday’s loss to Rock North, Souderton sprinted to an early 4-0 lead only to watch the game slip away.
“It was 4-1, and they called a timeout,” Bauer said. “Our girls were on cloud nine, and they stayed on cloud nine and didn’t go back on the field, and they scored eight unanswered goals.
“It was the same thing against North Penn. We come out and know we can beat a team like that. It’s just every single person on this team putting together two halves.”Russell pointed to the team’s practices the day before games as an indicator of the Indians’ performances.
“It really just depends on if we’re focused at practice or if we’re not,” she said. “Whatever the reason for our on and off practices, I’m really not sure, but that usually leads to our on and off games.
“Definitely, we’re always strong against the weaker teams, but we had a good strong game against Hatboro (the first time around) and a good strong game against North Penn (the second time around).”
Russell admits the Indians had to do some serious soul searching after their lopsided loss to the Hatters last week.
“We weren’t focused at all,” the senior captain said. “We weren’t making good passes, and we weren’t working together as a team.
“We were trying to take them on one-on-one, and that just wasn’t working. We had a very long talk as a team after that just going over everything, and we decided to let it all go. We need to play our game and not really over-think anything.”
For the Patriots on Monday, Kelly Lapp, Carrie Gillen, Carolyn Remmey, Jamie Burns, Sam Axenroth and Allison Soenksen each had one goal. Remmey and Burns both also contributed one assist. Madi Steuber had nine saves.
"Souderton had great speed in the midfield with #17 (Danielle Notvest), #6 (Kirstin Russell) and #5 (Liz Mower) and impressive double teams on defense," East coach Megan Macauley said.
The Indians closed out the regular season with an 8-4 record in league play and a 13-5 mark overall with the district tournament looming on the horizon next week.
“We’re definitely excited for that,” Russell said. “We just need to focus on going into the post-season and playing more as a team like we did the first half of the season.
“I actually think the first half of our season was stronger than our second half, and we need to get back to that, playing as a team and making good midfield passes, which is what we did tonight.”
“This is a game I’m glad we’re coming off of instead of coming off Council Rock North and then going into districts,” Bauer said. “This is more of a high.
“We’re going to face a tough team, and we have to mentally prepare ourselves this week.”
North Penn 23, Pennridge 4The Maidens completed a perfect SOL season in impressive fashion, opening up a 16-3 halftime lead on their way to the lopsided win.
Senior Garrie Grenfell led the Maidens with six goals and one assist. Teammates Rachel Shaw and Kaitlin Suzuki (one assist) both added four goals. Macie Hauck contributed three goals and three assists, and Brenda McDermott had two goals and four assists. Tara Rogers scored a pair of goals, and Steph Knauer and Aubrie Stouffer (one assist) both added single goals.
Sophomore goalie Jenna Stover was forced to make just four saves for the Maidens, who held a 38-9 advantage in shots.
The Maidens are 17-1 on the season.
Central Bucks South 18, Villa Joseph Marie 10
The Titans closed out their regular season with a big non-league win over the Jems.
Taylor Michener led a balanced attack with four goals and one assist. Mackenzie Harding, Kayla Kenney and Maddie DiBrino each added three goals and one assist. Kelly Hamilton had a hand in seven goals, scoring two and assisting on five others. Casey Haegele and Kristen Lawlor both added one goal and one assist. Alisa Morelli, Devon Dietzal and Brynn Dietzal each contributed an assist.
The Titans closed out the regular season with a 10-8 record.
American Conference
Plymouth Whitemarsh 13, Norristown 4
The Colonials sprinted to an 11-1 halftime lead on their way to the big win.
Meg McCullough led PW with the hat trick while Michelle Sturm and Kayla Wisnewski both added a pair of goals. Dani Rosenberger, Molly Getzfread, Charlotte Cornog, Hannah Heritage, Gab Fazio and Jordyn Dunacusky each contributed one goal.
The win was the third in the last four games for the Colonials, and while the wins have been a team effort, several players have sparked PW’s late-season surge, according to coach Ellen Reilly.
“Molly Getzfread really hustles,” the PW coach said. “She fights for everything, and she’s all over the field. She really takes it to heart, and she cares about what’s going on.
“To me, she’s a little too fast for her own good, but to have someone like her on the field going after every ground ball and having the speed to be able to stop the other team’s fastest player on a breakaway – she’s been doing a really good job.”
PW goalie Jordyn Dunacusky has also come up big.
“She really has come far this season, and she’s been doing some really good things,” Reilly said. “I have some younger kids that are working hard. My center, Kayla Wisnewski, is really learning how to do the draw and get possession off the draw, and that’s key.”
For the Eagles, Beverly Pate scored a pair of goals, and Amelia Schroeder and Charmaze Banks both added single goals.
Tuesday’s win came on the heels of an important 9-7 win over Upper Merion 24 hours earlier. It was the Colonials’ second win in less than a week over their neighboring rival.
“I was worried about Upper Merion because they had been playing really well,” Reilly said. “Between us, Cheltenham and Upper Merion – one of those teams is going to be the third place team in our league, so you have to win.
“Upper Merion has given us a tough game the last couple of years.”
Last Thursday, the Colonials celebrated Senior Night with a 10-9 win over Upper Merion. PW trailed 6-4 at halftime but knotted the score 8-8 and again 9-9 before earning the OT win.
“I finally saw my kids give 100 percent, all-out hustle and playing together,” Reilly said. “We were down 6-1 at the beginning, and my kids slowly fought back.
“We won a lot of the draws, and they took possession, and we came back.”
In last Thursday’s win, PW’s Wisnewski won the opening draw in OT but saw her shot turned away. The Vikings, who gained possession, lost the ball, and Getzfread was there to retrieve it, setting up the game winner.
“She just out-hustled the girl and got possession of the ball and passed it down the field,” Reilly said. “One of my lower attackers scored. It was the first time I saw them that excited.
“We had been struggling and struggling, and for them to come out and play well and earn the win the way that they did was satisfying to them.”
While the Colonials improved to 6-5 in league play (6-8 overall), the Vikings fell to 5-6 (10-6 overall).
Upper Merion 20, Upper Moreland 4
Liz Botto, Jackie Schauble and Casey Gtiffith each scored four goals to lead the Vikings. Mel Ryan scored two goals. Contributing one goal for the Vikings were Powell Davis, Dominique Gambone, Amanda McAteer, Natalie McGrath, Brittany Sautner and Tammy Slaughter.
For the Golden Bears, Kathryn Brunner and Amanda Nowell both contributed two goals. Alexa Schuck and Sarah Reice each added one assist.
Viking goalie Allison Frymoyer had four saves while Upper Moreland’s Emma Joyce was credited with 11 saves.
With the win, the Vikings improved to 5-6 in league play (10-6 overall) while the Golden Bears fell to 1-11 in the league (1-14 overall).
National Conference
Abington 12, Pennsbury 11 (OT)
The Falcons came oh-so-close to pulling off the major upset but, instead, were forced to absorb the disappointing OT loss.
Meredith Cox scored five goals to lead the Ghosts while Carli Fitzgerald added the hat trick. Elisa McCall scored a pair of goals, and Allison Rooney and Hanna Sjoholm both added single goals.
For the Falcons, Taylor Hickman scored a team-high five goals. Kelsy Gumbert added three goals and three assists, and Jackie Sweeney, Joy Hopkins and Alyssa Matthews each scored one goal. Liz Cowley contributed three assists.
Pennsbury goalie Liana Eyre was credited with 12 saves while Abington’s Emily Towey had 10 saves.
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