Four SOL girls’ lacrosse teams were winners in the District One Tournament on Tuesday. To view photos of the CB West/Wissahickon game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
#20 HATBORO-HORSHAM 14, #13 METHACTON 13
Duncan Swezey – although unaccustomed to slow starts – took it in stride when his young squad opened the season with a 1-5 record.
“It’s all about timing,” the Hatters’ coach said after his team had stunned the 13th-seeded Warriors. “It’s all about the end of the year.
“As a coach, I’ve always said, ‘It’s not about the beginning of the season. It’s about the end of the season.’ Now we’re here, and you look at the path of how we got here.
“You look at our early losses – when we were 1-5, I said, ‘Gang, you’re the best 1-5 team that exists in this region.’”
The Hatters opened their season with losses to powerhouses Episcopal Academy and Garnet Valley. They also fell to North Penn, Abington and Central Bucks West.
“It goes back to the (mantra) – this is not a sprint,” said Swezey. “We knew we just needed a bid (to districts) at the end of the year, and low and behold, as the season goes on, they learned. “
One of the keys to Tuesday’s win, according to Swezey was the Hatters’ response when the Warriors were down a player late in the opening half.
“It was like, ‘Hey gang, we have set plays, we have roles. Know what your roles are,’ and this is something we would not have known at the beginning of the year,” the Hatters’ coach said. “They knew what their roles were, and we did a great job of executing.
“We scored three goals in the next three-and-half minutes. At one point, they were actually two down. We actually executed and did what we had to do.”
The Hatters, who fell behind 4-1 early, trailed by just one at the intermission, 7-6.
“At that point in time, we weren’t playing what we would consider our best game by any stretch of the imagination,” Swezey said. “I said, ‘Don’t make excuses for what’s happening. Just adjust what you need to do.’
“At halftime, we basically said, ‘Gang, winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is.’ Our draw controls were awful (in the first half), and I said, ‘If we get 50 percent of the draw controls, we’re going to win this game. It’s that simple.’”
The Hatters heeded their coach’s advice and opened up a two-goal lead.
“We went into a stall for about four or five minutes, and now they had to come play us,” Swezey said. “We started to dictate a little bit of the momentum of the game.”
Syd Rausa had a huge game offensively to lead the Hatters, finishing with seven goals, one assist, four draw controls, one ground ball and one caused turnover.
“I looked back, and I didn’t know Rausa had scored seven goals,” Swezey said. “I had no idea who was scoring what.
“We were getting mismatches, and we also started getting draw controls in the second half. We stalled the ball twice and took off a good amount of time, which took them out of their game and gave us the upper hand.”
Also making important contributions for the Hatters were Carly Daley (two goals, two assists), Casey Swezey (two goals, one assist, three draw controls, one ground ball, two caused turnovers, one interception) and Gwyn Acker (two goals, four draw controls. Morgan Crostorosa (one goal), Jenna Cutilli (one assist, three ground balls), Kaitlyn Wallace (one assist, one ground ball, three draw controls), Keeley Henry (three ground balls, two caused turnovers) and Gabby Acker (two ground balls, one caused turnover) also stepped up.
Goalie Maria Sims was credited with four saves.
“We are not the same team we were at the beginning of the year by any stretch of the imagination,” Swezey said. “Each kid has developed their role, the younger players have developed confidence.
“They’re allowed to make their own decisions – they don’t have to rely on someone else telling them what to do, and I think it makes a difference.”
The Hatters will face fourth-seeded Great Valley in a second round game Thursday.
Hatboro-Horsham 7-7—14
Methacton 7-6—13
#19 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 14, #14 WISSAHICKON 12
The Bucks suffered a setback in the opening seconds of Tuesday’s opening round game when Finley Ueland left the game with a shoulder injury. The sophomore standout did not return.
“I think that kind of frazzled the girls for a little bit,” coach Tara Schmucker said.
The Trojans seized the moment, opening up a 5-1 lead midway through the opening half.
“We came out flat footed again like we did the first time we saw them,” Schmucker said of an 11-7 loss to the Trojans on April 18. “We just didn’t seem to be running through everything. We were kind of assuming we were getting balls, and we weren’t.
“After our second goal, we started to find each other a little bit more. The turnovers started to decrease.”
It was Paige Savarad finding Taylor Mason for a goal that trimmed the Trojans’ lead to 5-2. After the Trojans went on top 6-2, the Bucks reeled off four straight goals to knot the score, but the Trojans answered and took a 7-6 lead into halftime.
In the opening half, the Bucks also received a lift off the bench from goalie Lauren Devlin.
“She stepped up nicely for us, so that helped,” Schmucker said. “Bryn Boylan and Jacq Fitzgerald did a great job on the draw for us today, and I think that really helped change momentum.
“It was a combination of defensively stopping them, Lauren (Devlin) had some nice saves, and the attack was just finding each other. Elle Ueland had two nice goals – she had the third and the fifth, which really helped in getting the momentum going.”
The Bucks went on to outscore the Trojans 8-5 in the second half.
Fitzgerald had a big game for the Bucks, contributing three goals, one assist, five draw controls, two ground balls and one caused turnover. Boylan also came up huge, leading the Bucks with four goals to go along with six draw controls, seven ground balls, two assists and four goals.
“Jacq had a really consistent game all over the field,” Schmucker said. “She played good, solid defense. She is just a solid, physical player, and she really came out to win tonight.
“Bryn Boylan had another exceptional game. Her acceleration through the ball is spectacular, and her poise is hard to believe given she is only a sophomore. She did a really good job of controlling the ball.”
Meghan Tillger added three goals and one assist while Elle Ueland had two goals and an assist. Savard had a goal and an assist while Mason had one goal and Maddie Maio, one assist. Devlin finished with seven saves and Molly Naylor had three.
“Defensively, I think the whole group – when they started executing what I was asking for, they did a good job of holding them out for a while,” Schmucker said. “Lauren Devlin had some crucial saves for us.”
For the Trojans, Carolyn Wilde led the way with four goals and one assist. Emily Vervlied had three goals and two assists, and Lauren Irvine had a pair of goals. Adding single goals were Shannon Stagliano, Marie Dickson and Amanda Mitchell.
The Bucks – who defeated Wissahickon 13-8 in last year’s opening round as well – will travel to Harriton for a second round contest.
Central Bucks West 6-8—14
Wissahickon 7-5—12
#12 SOUDERTON 18, #21 KENNETT 12
Kelly Kelly missed the final games of the regular season after giving birth to her first son. She was back on the sidelines for Tuesday’s district opener against Kennett.
“There was no way I was missing the playoff game, so I had my two-week-old with me,” the Indians’ coach said.
The Indians made their coach’s return to the sidelines memorable, earning the convincing win and erasing memories of last year’s first round exit at the hands of Haverford.
“We were a 12th seed last year, and seeing another solid 21 seed this year – we were really, really focused on getting to that second round,” Kelly said. “As a Souderton program, we haven’t been to the second round in six years.
“This was a big win for us. We wanted to prove to everyone that we’re not a team that just gets to the playoffs and then we don’t know how to win. Something we were trying to prove this year was that we know how to win in the playoffs.”
Natalie Bulgier and Amber Lambeth both had monster games for the Indians – both had a hand in seven goals with Bulgier scoring seven and Lambeth finding the net five times and also handing out a pair of assists. Krista Schneider added a hat trick.
“Natalie had a phenomenal game,” Kelly said. “She was coming in from the defensive end and making her presence known on attack.
“Krista Schneider had a really nice midfield transition game, bringing it down into the attack, setting it up and making sure the attack had some composure. Krista was definitely a leader in that regard.
“Amber Lambeth was the person who picked up the speed and intensity with the team. She was moving through the defense and drawing a lot of girls to open up other players within our attack.”
Despite a slow start, the Indians held a commanding 9-5 lead at the intermission, and they never took their foot off the gas pedal, controlling play for the better part of the contest.
“We started out a little bit slow for us,” Kelly said. “We called a timeout and brought the girls in together.
“We discussed going back to our speed and focusing on our speed because we weren’t using it to our advantage. After that timeout, the girls really picked up their intensity and picked up their movement – not only moving their feet on defense but also helping each other out on attack and moving with a purpose.”
Adding single goals for the Indians were Kyra Shank, Olivia Toler and Carlie Doughty.
The Indians’ dominance is underscored by the fact that they won 22-of-33 draw controls. They also had six caused turnovers and two interceptions. Anchoring the defense was senior goalie Kelly Williams, who turned away nine shots.
Thanks to Downingtown West’s upset of fifth-seeded Owen J Roberts, the Indians will have a home game in the second round. They will host the 28th-seeded Whippets on Thursday.
Kennett 5-7—12
Souderton 9-9—18
#17 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 18, #16 ABINGTON 8
The Titans earned their spot in history when they won the program’s first ever district game, and they did it in style, outscoring the Ghosts 13-2 in a brilliant second half to turn a 6-5 halftime deficit into the convincing win.
“I expected it to be a really close game,” junior captain Courtney Dietzel said. “Abington played great.
“We just came out with so much energy (in the second half). Once we get a goal, we just want another one.”
The catalysts for the Titans’ dominance were the team’s two junior captains – Dietzel and Sarah Poli. While perfection in sports is rare and almost impossible to attain, the Titans – thanks to the dazzling performances of Poli and Dietzel – came pretty close in the second half.
And what was the secret?
“I don’t even know,” said Poli with a laugh.
“It was just the energy, and it started with the draw,” Dietzel said.
“Courtney was winning it every single time,” Poli added. “Each time we got it, we just went down and scored. The momentum kept us going.”
Poli finished with nine goals – connecting on 9-of-10 shots. She also had a pair of assists. Dietzel added four goals and an assist, but it was her eight draw controls that set the tone for the Titans’ second half dominance. She also had three caused turnovers.
“They’re not just fantastic players, but they’re wonderful leaders on and off the field, they truly are,” South coach Janique Craig said.
The fun started early in the second half for the Titans when Dietzel won the opening draw, and 14 seconds later, Poli found the net. It marked the beginning of an unforgettable 13-0 run that featured seven goals by Poli, three by Dietzel, two from Krysta Reading and a single goal from Kelly Senour.
“We saw each other a lot, and everyone just meshed really well,” Poli said. “Our transition was great today.
“Our transition has killed us in other games, but today it was really on.”
“In the second half, we wanted to be a lot more patient than in the first,” Dietzel said. “Instead of taking 1v1s all the time, we wanted to see cutters, and I think that’s where all the goals came from in the second half.
“Just seeing the open girl – they were pressuring a lot, so we just needed to move the ball quick.”
Craig pointed to her team’s ability to control the ball and their willingness to show patience on offense as key.
“We were taking 1v1s, but if they didn’t have a clear shot, they were running through, they were being smart and they were taking the good shot,” Craig said. “That was the difference from the first half to the second half – the draw control and seeing the good shots. And our defense came up with some caused turnovers.”
Also for the Titans, Reading and Kasey Dietzel both added two goals and an assist, and Senour had a single goal.
South goalie Erin Putnam faced 15 shots, turning away seven of them.
The Ghosts – who created some highlight reel plays of their own in the first half – were led by the four-goal effort of Casey McCallister. It was McGee finding McCallister to cap a beautiful passing sequence at the 18:15 mark of the opening half. McCallister’s goal put the Ghosts on top 5-3, prompting Craig to call a quick timeout. The Titans came back to knot the score on back-to-back goals by Courtney Dietzel (Kasey Dietzel assist) and Poli. A free position goal by McCallister sent the Ghosts into halftime with a 6-5 lead, but a 13-1 Titan tear was already underway.
McGee finished with two goals and two assists while Jeannie Van Buren and Rachel Morris both had single goals.
The future is decidedly bright for both young squads, and coach Mary Kate Lomady, who has turned the program around in two short years, believes her team learned a valuable lesson Tuesday.
“What they need to take from today is they’ve got to fight harder,” the Ghosts’ second-year coach said. “They can’t roll over and die like they did today.
“A lot of our wins came easy this season, and I think that hurt us. We need to beef up our schedule next year.”
Central Bucks South will travel to Conestoga for a second round game against the top-seeded Pioneers on Thursday.
Central Bucks South 5-13–18
Abington 6-2—8
#1 CONESTOGA 18, #32 PENNSBURY 3
The Pioneers looked the part of the district’s top seed, opening up a 10-0 halftime lead on their way to the big win.
For the Falcons, Missy Frankil scored a pair of goals, and Sarah Benzinger added a single goal.
Pennsbury 0-3—3
Conestoga 10-8—18
#7 GARNET VALLEY 16, #25 NORTH PENN 5
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