Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ lacrosse teams in action Monday. (Souderton photo provided courtesy of Souderton lacrosse.)
SOL National Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 10, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 9
Eight years.
That’s how long it had been since East last defeated West in lacrosse, but the Patriots – who trailed 7-4 at halftime – rallied to earn their first win over the Bucks since April 26, 2011, when they won 14-9.
“This game was crazy from the start,” coach Jordan Sanocki said. “We got the very first draw control of the game, which I think really set the tempo for us. We scored four goals right away and it was 4-1. Then they came back.
“At the half, we talked about – ‘Take a deep breath, we have to regain composure, and we have to take the emotion out of it and just play lacrosse. Play like you know how to play.’ For us, West is a huge rivalry game, and it’s such an emotional game.”
The two teams were deadlocked 8-8 and again 9-9.
“We called a timeout after we tied it and told them, ‘We need one more goal, and I need you guys to push for five more minutes. It will make it all worth it if you guys give 110 percent,’” Sanocki said. “They knew what they had to do. They didn’t rush the ball. They stayed poised, they stayed confident.”
Brigitte Bishop scored a goal with 4:45 remaining. It turned out to be the game-winner as neither team scored the rest of the way.
“We got the goal from Brigitte, and they worked their butts off to get the draw control, so we got the next draw control, and we held them off,” Sanocki said. “West did their absolute best trying to double and get the ball back. We stayed calm under pressure, worked the ball around and ran the clock out. This was huge.”
The Patriots created a logjam atop the conference standings. With one conference game remaining, East, West and North Penn have identical 6-1 records.
“We were playing again for all the would haves and could haves. We really hit a slump in the middle of the season because we lost so many of our strong players that we rely on,” Sanocki said. “We lost Quinn Ferry and Katie Powell, and they’re just now coming back full steam and making up for the time they lost. They’ve been doing phenomenal.
“Quinn won eight draw controls against Casey (Reichwein), and Casey is phenomenal on draw controls. That’s her thing. She’s had a great career record, so we knew going in today it was all about the draw control, and that was going to set the tempo, so we’ve been practicing and playing around with different personnel in there, trying to figure out what would give us the best advantage. Quinn Ferry’s draw controls are the reason we won the game. ”
All told, the Patriots had 13 draw controls to seven for the Bucks.
East goalie Fiona Henderson had 11 saves in a standout effort in goal.
“She had the best game that she’s ever had,” Sanocki said.
Riley Forman’s hat trick led a balanced attack. She also had two draw controls, four ground balls and one caused turnover. Bishop (one draw control, one ground ball) and Ferry (one assist, five ground balls, two caused turnovers) both had two goals. Adding one goal were Kieran Fink (one ground ball), Katie Powell (one assist, two draw controls, one ground ball) and Courtney Mackenzie. Ava Lisle had three ground balls and Katie Volans had one ground ball.
“Right from the start, we were pumped up, we were fired up,” Sanocki said. “We played a full game, start to finish 110 percent. They played both for themselves and for the seniors for their last East-West game. They played so confident, so calm.
“We were really focused on playing together – a we before me mindset because we knew we have so many strong individuals, but we knew together was going to win it for us. That’s what made it the best. I’m so proud of them, and I know they’re proud of themselves. They worked really, really hard to prepare for this game.”
Reichwein led the Bucks with four goals and one assist while Emma Haring had three goals and one assist. Lindsey Horton had two goals. Maddy McGarry and Julia Carey both had an assist.
“Today was a great game,” West coach Rebecca Cartee Haring said. “The East-West rivalry always makes for a good game. East really brought it up a level in the second half and played a great second half.
“West didn’t have its best day, but there were many good moments. Lindsey Horton had a great game. Emma Haring had a strong all around game, including five ground balls and two caused turnovers. Lauren Ring had a solid game with eight saves in goal.”
Central Bucks East (11-6, 6-1 SOL) will travel to Council Rock South for its regular season finale on Wednesday, and Central Bucks West (11-5, 6-1) will host Neshaminy on Wednesday.
Central Bucks West 7-2 9
Central Bucks East 4-6 10
PENNSBURY 21, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 14
The visiting Falcons raced out to a 10-5 halftime lead on their way to the big conference win.
“We could tell from the vibes from the girls when we got there today – they wanted to win, and they were ready to play,” coach Shannon MacPherson said. “They went out and they did it.”
The Titans pulled to within four midway through the second half.
“We called a timeout and told the girls they needed to play to win,” MacPherson said. “They went back out and finished the game strong.
“They all did such a good job tonight. We continue to have multiple girls scoring every game.”
Maggie Golder had 13 draw controls in a contest that saw the Falcons win 27 draws.
“We were winning the draws, and I think that was huge for us tonight,” MacPherson said. “Attack did a really nice job possessing the ball, taking care of the ball, moving it quickly and running the plays.
“Defensively, they worked as a unit. They followed the game plan that we gave them. All in all, it was a great team effort tonight. They came out on fire. They wanted it, and they got the win.”
Maddy Spratt had a hand in 11 goals, scoring six and assisted on five others. Lexie Snyder added four goals. Golder (four assists), Brooke Weaver (two assists) and Sarah Walcott each had three goals. Emelie Curties and Darrien Furiness each had one goal.
Celia Dolan turned away six shots in goal for the Falcons.
“Our goalie came up with some big saves tonight,” MacPherson said. “She’s definitely surpassed any of our expectations this year.
“She’s brand new this year. We needed a goalie, and she stepped up. She was a field player, and I think that’s helpful – she had stick skills.
“Six saves doesn’t sound like a lot, but they were definitely key saves. She’s working hard.”
Pennsbury (5-3, 14-3 overall) – eighth in the latest District 1 3A power rankings – will travel to Villa Joseph Marie for a non-league game on Wednesday for its regular season finale.
“This season went really fast, and I think part of the reason it went fast was because we have such a great group of girls, and we just love working with them every day,” MacPherson said. “It makes it fun to coach them.”
Pennsbury 10-11 21
Central Bucks South 5-9 14
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 16, NESHAMINY 5
The Indians used a balanced scoring attack and stingy defense to earn their first conference win of the season.
Junior Chloe Ondria led the attack with four goals and one assist. Sophomore Grace Vliet added three goals while seniors Emily Booth and Lily Ries each had two goals. Senior Lucy Breithaupt contributed one goal and three assists. Adding a goal and an assist were sophomore Rebecca Ripans and senior Maggie Huebeck. Senior Erin Reavy and freshman Megan McCaffrey each had one goal. Senior Nicole Jackson had one assist.
“I know the score does not reflect it, but the Neshaminy goalie played an amazing game,” coach Ken Breithaupt said. “Council Rock’s offense finally pulled together with some great teamwork and assisted goals. The defense implemented the pre-game plan to shut down Neshaminy's top two scorers and did so by holding them to no goals.”
Council Rock North (2-13, 1-6 SOL) will host North Penn on Wednesday, and Neshaminy (4-11, 0-7) will travel to Central Bucks West.
PENNRIDGE 14, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 7
Jenna Lund scored seven goals in a glittering offensive performance to lead the Rams. Herbst added a pair of goals, and adding one goal each were Morgan Wahlers, Alex Lippmann and Maner. Lippmann and Maner each added an assist. Amsden and Macy Price both scooped up three ground balls.
Goalie Alex Machado had 14 saves in the win.
Pennridge coach Karen Schnurr credited Lund for her draw controls, Avery Meiners for anchoring the defense and Macy Price for caused turnovers.
Pennridge (5-11, 3-4 SOL) will host Central Bucks South Wednesday, and Council Rock South (5-9, 2-5) will host Central Bucks East on Wednesday.
SOL American Conference
ABINGTON 15, UPPER DUBLIN 9
As quickly as Abington, or more specifically Abby Thomas, started Monday's game, the Galloping Ghosts felt they didn't finish the first half strong enough.
They couldn't say the same about their finish to the second half. Over the final 21 minutes of regulation, Abington out-scored the visiting Cardinals 9-1 and ensured they would finish the day with at least a share of the SOL American title.
A few hours later, thanks to Souderton's win over Upper Moreland, the Ghosts had sole possession of their second conference title in the last three seasons (2017, 2019).
"It takes us a while to get going sometimes but these girls have been playing together for so long, it doesn't matter who we're playing or where we're playing, they're going to connect," Abington coach Mary Liz Klepper said. "There's a lot of unselfish play out there."
Early on, it was a one-on-one scoring battle between Thomas and Upper Dublin's Julia Reardon. Thomas scored a hat trick in the game's first five minutes – Abington jumped out to a 3-0 lead – and the Ghosts' first four goals as part of a seven-goal game, but Reardon matched her point for point by scoring four of the Cardinals' first five goals and assisting on the other.
After Thomas put the Ghosts up 4-2, the Cardinals took over. UD closed the half on a 5-1 run – with Becky Browndorf assisting three goals – and took a 7-5 lead into the half.
Reardon's fifth goal of the game, off Browndorf's fourth assist of the game, put Upper Dublin up 8-6 with 21:11 left in the second half. The Cardinals would only get one more goal the rest of the way as Abington's defense tightened up.
"At halftime it set in this was probably the last time we’ll play Upper Dublin and that made it real,” said Ghosts defender Jillian Poppert, who caused two turnovers and collected a ground ball. “So we went out there and showed up and really played to win. We wanted it, we started communicating more and played for each other.”
Poppert and senior defender Anna Joseph each caused a key turnover late in the game and senior goalie Ellie Hughes had a momentum turning save with about 12 minutes left. With the Ghosts up 9-8, Hughes turned away a shot by Jackie Rama at the post that allowed Abington to keep what turned into a 6-0 run going.
Thomas finished with the high count in scoring, but senior Jamira Mashore had a really good case for game MVP. The attacker had a nine-point afternoon, scoring all three of her goals and picking up four of her six assists in the second half.
Mashore scored the tying goal, then assisted Thomas on the go-ahead goal.
“We started flat in the first half but we talked about what we had to do and that the seniors had to show up,” Mashore said. “Their goalie liked to pop out early, so I had to watch out for that. Our cutters just stayed in front, Abby kept her stick open so all I had to do was pass it to her."
Kaley Ehnow, who had a busy day battling Rama in the draw control circle, turned in a strong all-around game. The senior scored three goals, assisted two others, had two ground balls and guarded Browndorf for long stretches defensively.
"It's just finding the energy," Klepper said. "They were scoring off the eight meter or the same kind of play and we know how to defend that. It just took us a little bit to pick up on it."
Upper Dublin (10-6, 5-3 (SOL) has two more road games to finish the regular season – Wednesday at Quakertown and Friday at West Chester East – and will try to finish strong and secure a home district playoff game. The Cardinals are 15th in the latest District 1 3A power rankings.
Abington (14-2, 8-0) – fourth in the power rankings – will visit Wissahickon on Wednesday to finish SOL play and then host Radnor on Friday. It's a tough week to finish the season, but as a team trying to secure a District I first round bye, it's a challenge the Ghosts have embraced.
"This whole week is going to be really tough for us," Klepper said. "These girls want it, they've been playing together forever and now's the time for them to take what they deserve."
Abington 5-10 15
Upper Dublin 7-2 9
SOUDERTON 14, UPPER MORELAND 12
The Indians picked up an important late-season win, and goalie Lauren Scott – who was credited with 11 important saves – reached a remarkable milestone, recording her 500th save.
“The highlight of the night was goalie, Lauren Scott, getting her 500th career save,” coach Nancy Offner said. “It was quite an accomplishment and so very deserved. She is a constant strength on our team and respected by her teammates and opponents alike.”
Riley McGowan led the Indians’ attack with six goals and one assist while Randi Hess and Sophia Sclafani each had three goals. Clark Trowbridge and Lauren Kenah both had one goal. Emma Roush and Sydney Rohrbach each added an assist.
“Wins like this are definitely team wins,” Offner said. “Yes, there are players who stand out in stats but in a game like this, it takes the hard work and determination of every player who gets on the field. I am proud of the perseverance that the girls have shown throughout the season with many games like this one.
“We knew going in Upper Moreland was going to be a tough team and they truly are a talented group. They challenged us to the end.”
The Indians raced out of the gate to a 10-5 halftime lead, and although the Golden Bears held a 7-4 advantage in the second half, they never could erase that early deficit.
“The team has really grown together throughout the year and play well together,” Offner said. “I think where we have improved the most that has helped us late in the season is getting better at draw controls.
“Randi Hess and Lauren Kenah did a great job in there tonight. Riley McGowan once again had a great offensive game.”
Bryanna Gordon led the Golden Bears with six goals, and Emma Meakim had five goals and two assists. She also had two draw controls. Sarah Veneziale added one goal. Moira Olexa had four assists and four draw controls while Cassidy Hirsch had one assist and five draw controls.
“This was a tough game for us tonight,” UM coach Kim Frantz said. “There were a lot of things that just didn’t go our way. Souderton came out ready to play from the first minute and we struggled from the start.
“We were able to pick it up in the second half and fought back hard. We did what we could but fell short tonight.”
The Golden Bears’ coach went on to acknowledge the efforts of several players.
“Bella Guarenghi was able to shut down their main scorer in the second half,” Frantz said. “Cassidy Hirsch came up with some key draw controls in the second half.
“Bryanna and Emma came up big by hitting the back of the net for 11 out of our 12 goals.
“At one point we were down 9-2. We haven’t been behind that much in games this season so to see us battle back and keep working for the win was really great to see – it was great to see how much heart we played with.”
Souderton (9-7, 5-3 SOL) – 17th in the District 1 3A power rankings – will host Cheltenham on Wednesday, and Upper Moreland (12-4, 6-2) will host Hatboro-Horsham on Wednesday.
Upper Moreland 5-7 12
Souderton 10-4 14
WISSAHICKON 17, HATBORO-HORSHAM 14
The Hatters, who celebrated Senior Night, rode that emotion to a 3-0 lead, but the Trojans rallied to knot the score 5-5 and they were just getting started. They went on to open up an 11-8 halftime lead and led 16-9, capping a 16-6 run. The Hatters answered with five straight goals to make it a 16-14 game. The Trojans tallied the final goal and were successful in holding the ball to run out the clock.
Sophia Chiodo Ortiz’s six goals led the Trojans, and Sam Intrieri had four goals. Quinn Gaffey and Emma Baker both added two goals. Kelly Dickson contrbuted a goal and three assists while Abby Degroat added one goal and one assist. Brooke Berry had one goal.
“The Trojans had all seven offensive players score and moved the ball well all night,” coach Rob Intrieri said. “Defensively, Sam Intrieri held one of Hatboro-Horsham’s top scorers without a goal, which was key to the win.”
For the Hatters, Gabrielle Liott led the way with six goals and two assists, and Audrey Leibfreid had a hat trick. Megan Acker added a pair of goals. Both Cam Ryan and Sophia Liott contributed a goal and an assist. Lindsay Coats had one goal. Sophia Liott marked Sam Intrieri in the second half and held her scoreless.
Wissahickon (12-4, 6-2 SOL) will host Abington on Wednesday, and Hatboro-Horsham (9-7, 4-4) will travel to Upper Moreland on Wednesday.
Wissahickon 11-6 17
Hatboro-Horsham 8-6 14
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 14, CHELTENHAM 0
Max Leszczynski scored four goals to lead a balanced attack while Raquel Baskin (two assists), Kennedy Reardon, Brianna Austin and Fiona Gooneratne each added two goals. Callie Kolkka and Lex Petrakis both had one goal.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (5-11, 3-5 SOL) will close out its regular season on Wednesday when the Colonials will host Springfield Township. Cheltenham (0-9, 0-8) will travel to Souderton for its final game.
Cheltenham 0-0 0
Plymouth Whitemarsh 14-0 14
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