Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ soccer teams in action Thursday. (Abington/Hatboro-Horsham photos courtesy of Jessica Cassel/HH soccer. Pennridge/Souderton photos courtesy of Abbe Kiwak).
SOL Freedom
William Tennent 2, Upper Moreland 0
The Panthers’ defense has certainly shined early this season.
In three games, Tennent has posted three shutout wins, a mark made even more impressive that they came against some very talented attacking units. After quelling Springfield Twp’s offense on Tuesday, the Panthers had to jump back in against an Upper Moreland group that’s been pretty resilient around goal out of the gate.
“We knew going into this game that UM had speed up top in Kyra Favors and Brooke Lobban,” William Tennent coach Elise Jara said. “Our backline played them well with excellent defending from junior Abi Meehan and senior Theresa Ditri.”
Ditri has been an anchor in the back for the Panthers so far, but she’s also not had to do it all herself. Any shutout is a collective effort and that was the sort of group showing Tennent’s defensive unit applied Thursday.
“Contributing defensively was junior Madelon Senior and senior Jessica Villada. They were able to match Upper Moreland’s speed and keep them to the outside and away from a dangerous position,” Jara said. “Also playing a strong game was senior keeper Emily Ehresmann who was quick off her line to take away any breakthrough chances.”
The work put in by the Panthers defensively certainly had an effect on a Golden Bears squad that had bagged seven goals in its first two outings.
“We weren’t able to get into any sort of a flow today,” UM coach Lisa Benvenuto said. “We had moments where we were able to work in our system and move the ball through it to generate an attack, but not consistently, and we could not find the back of the net. Tennent was able to create more chances today and capitalize on those opportunities.”
William Tennent split its two goals within a roughly 15-minute span of game time bracketing the intermission. Heading into the final few minutes before the half, the Panthers were able to strike a good combination going forward that rewarded the defense’s work to that point.
“We went into halftime up 1-0 with a goal by senior Brielle Langford on a well placed ball over the top by freshman Sami Roby,” Jara said. “Outside midfielders sophomore Sofia Jakimoski and senior Maddie Hughes kept the width of the field which allowed us time and space in the middle to progress up the field.”
One goal is nice, two goals is better. With the way Upper Moreland goalkeeper Gracie Costello has been playing this year, adding six more saves in another strong outing Thursday, getting that second one would be vital for the Panthers.
About eight minutes into the second half, the offense came through and gave the defense some leeway if they needed it.
“We knew we needed that second goal to give us some breathing room and it came in the second half from junior Paige Marek on an assist from Maddie Hughes,” Jara said. “This was one of our best team efforts and a big win for us early in the season.”
Upper Moreland (2-1, 1-1 SOL) visits Springfield Twp at 3:30 on Wednesday. Tennent (3-0, 2-0) visits Cheltenham at 3:30 on Wednesday.
WILLIAM TENNENT 1 1 – 2
UPPER MORELAND 0 0 – 0
Goals: WT – Brielle Langford, Paige Marek
Springfield Twp 2, New Hope-Solebury 1 (OT)
Marissa Conover’s first game leading Springfield Twp’s girls’ soccer team didn’t end well.
A rough second half in a loss to William Tennent showed the first-year soccer coach, who is also the Spartans’ girls’ lacrosse coach, something she wanted to fix right away. Conover knew she had the athletes to be successful this fall, she needed to make sure they knew it too.
“Mindset is huge and after Tuesday, we went a lot into mindset work and believing in each other,” Conover said. “It’s not easy to have a couple goals scored on you, but there’s a moment and a decision of ‘are you going to give up or are we going to keep fighting?’ I think Tuesday, we saw their heads kind of hang so that was a huge thing we needed to work on.”
Even with their standout scorer Kaleigh Evans sidelined for the night with an injury, the Spartans believed on Thursday.
After a scoreless first half, Springfield managed to find the first goal on a well-constructed buildup ending with a terrific finish from their other accomplished scorer in Alana Decker. Fullbacks Murphy McGranaghan and Maddie McDevitt continually tested New Hope-Solebury down the flanks, the pressure eventually paying off.
Dan Malora, who coached the Spartans since 2019 but stepped down prior to the season after the arrival of a newborn baby, attended Thursday to support his former players. He described Decker’s go-ahead goal.
“Maddie McDevitt played a beautiful cross from outside of the 18 to the PK spot where Alana Decker elevated over the crowd and placed the ball perfectly in the upper left corner,” Malora said.
New Hope-Solebury continued to battle and the Lions’ persistence was rewarded with a free kick in the final 10 minutes. The initial hit was turned away by Springfield keeper Grace Dailey, but New Hope-Solebury crashed into the box and cashed in the rebound to equalize.
As the game went into extra time, Conover was careful to pay attention to how her players reacted to having the goal scored on them.
“I saw a lot of positive momentum and change in them,” Conover said. “We talked again about mindset and not letting them have control or possession.”
The Spartans found their fire again and came out aggressive in the extra period, putting pressure on the Lions until they were able to break through on another quality goal.
“We had a shot outside of the 18, it was a really deep shot and just a beautiful shot from one of our defenders Zhanna Ivanick, right over the goalie and into the back of the net,” Conover said. “We rushed the field, it was emotional and just a really cool moment.”
Conover said it’s been hard to single out any specific players as the whole team has been putting in good effort all fall. She did point to Shannon Silvius and Sophie Williamson as two players who have come on strong and added that Dailey has been impressing since preseason.
The Spartans claimed a share of the SOL American lacrosse title last spring and Conover is hoping to help push the soccer program further this fall. In 2021, Malora led Springfield to a District I 2A title but last year in Class 3A, they missed out on the postseason by one spot despite having a better record.
As the SOL’s smallest school and playing more than half their schedule against Class 4A programs, the team’s talent hasn’t always reflected in its record. What the Spartans new coach saw however, was a group primed to change that.
“The entire foundation of our team has been on varsity for a few years and it’s a really solid foundation that I’ve come into, which I really appreciate,” Conover said. “Springfield soccer, we have great athletes. We have a lot of talent, a solid foundation, solid training but we play against these big teams and a lot of times, historically, we lose.
“We’re looking to move the culture of the program even more positively and get more wins.”
Springfield Twp (1-1, 1-1 SOL) is home against Upper Moreland at 3:30 on Wednesday. New Hope-Solebury (1-1, 1-1) heads to Lower Moreland for a 6:30 start on Wednesday.
SPRINGFIELD TWP 0 1 1 – 2
NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 0 1 0 – 1
Goals: ST – Alana Decker, Zhanna Ivanick.
Cheltenham @ Lower Moreland – postponed.
The Panthers and Lions’ game Thursday was postponed to a later date this season.
Lower Moreland visits Dock Mennonite at 4 pm Friday. Cheltenham is on the road at Mastery Charter on Friday at 3:45.
SOL Colonial
Central Bucks South 1, Central Bucks East 0
The Titans had plenty of experience in one-goal fixtures a year ago, playing nine of them, but a mixed bag of results going just 2-7 in them.
After a robust offensive effort in Tuesday’s opener, the Titans found themselves in their first one-goal game of 2023 in Thursday’s tilt with CB East. Fittingly, three of South’s four games against its Central Bucks rivals in East and West last year were decided by one goal including a 1-0 Patriots win on the same day a year ago.
“It’s actually something we’ve talked about with our team,” second-year South coach Gabbie Nolan said. “The lesson we hope they took from that is that sometimes it only takes one to win a game and some goals are about ‘want to’ rather than skill.”
There was plenty of “want to” from South on Thursday and while it’s hard to measure effort in a statistic, the Titans’ coach felt the way her team played helped make up for a not-always crisp performance.
“It wasn’t our best tactical performance, but they gave 110% effort on every play,” Nolan said. “This team doesn’t take a play off and relies on their work ethic.”
A little extra hustle ended up putting CB South in position to break the scoring column open.
“Our goal was scored because of a run by Brooke Commins that gave us a throw-in in our attacking third,” Nolan said. “It lead to a cross from Lily Black and a finish by Riley Karpinski.”
From there, the Titans defensive unit took care of the rest. Brooke Hall, Alana Peev, Haley Helsel and Bella Smouse were firm in front of goal and if they were beaten, they had a wall waiting behind them.
“Our keeper Brooke Rosica was a huge game changer for us. She played a phenomenal game,” Nolan said. “We’ve put an emphasis on communication from our back line and they’ve been doing a really good job on the field.”
East (1-2, 0-2 SOL) hosts Pennridge under the lights at 7 pm on Wednesday. CB South (2-0, 2-0) hosts CB West at 5:30 on Wednesday.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 1 0 – 1
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 0 0 – 0
Goals; CBS – Riley Karpinski
Central Bucks West 2, North Penn 0
Two days after her team’s dramatic comeback win over its biggest rival, Bucks coach Bree Benedict wanted to see how it responded.
Thanks to a veteran senior, the response was strong and CB West picked up its second win in as many matches.
“I was really proud of their preparation for this game,” Benedict said. “We were able to get back up for it, brought a lot of energy and the right effort to the game.”
Kate Weyer, a senior captain in the midfield, is about as solid a player as there is at the high school level. She’ll play at VCU next year, but on Thursday, it was her foot that put the Bucks in position to claim three points in the table.
Weyer buried both goals to handle the scoring.
In the first half, it was West’s Rian Detweiler doing the work in the box to draw a foul and penalty kick. Weyer stepped to the spot and put it away for the winner.
After halftime, she gave herself and her team some insurance.
“Kate had a great hustle play and sent it through to Reegan Moran forcing a rebound from the goalkeeper that Kate slotted home from deep outside the box,” Benedict said.
That was enough for the Bucks defense.
“Our backline was really organized tonight. Ava Brunner, Anna McGrath, and Kira Winn really played well as outside backs,” Benedict said. “Alexis Castro had a great game winning 50/50 balls.”
West (2-0, 2-0 SOL) travels to CB South at 5:30 on Wednesday. North Penn (0-3, 0-2) hosts Souderton at 7pm on Wednesday.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 1 1 – 2
NORTH PENN 0 0 – 0
Goals; CBW – Kate Weyer 2
Pennridge 8, Souderton 0
The goals just keep coming for the Rams.
Thursday, it was senior Tori Angelo making up for lost time getting in on the scoring spree in front of goal. The speedster forward hadn’t scored prior to Thursday’s opening tap but by the time things were over, the Seton Hall recruit had upped her total for four goals.
“The joke with her was that she was being passed by one of our center backs in goalscorers for the season, so she went out and got it all done in one day,” Rams coach Audrey Anderson said.
Pennridge has outscored its opponents 17-1 so far but it’s not the volume of goals that Anderson is most pleased with. Instead, it’s the fact that the Rams have had nine different players find the back of the net so far and that the goals are coming in different ways.
Both center backs, Hannah Primwhere and Anna Croyle, scored on Thursday and Pennridge has cashed in on quite a few set piece opportunities. The Rams packed three matches into a four-day span to start the season and the fact they came out with the same gusto in each one did not escape their coach.
“They’re just super-focused. The expectation is for us to be playing in that last game of the season and we have super-high standards for ourselves so to go out this early and finish at this high level, it gives us a good place to build from,” Anderson said. “They’re feeling good, it’s nine scorers in three games, so we’ll take that.”
Liv Grenda continued her strong start, adding a goal and two assists to bring her totals to four goals and three helpers for the week. Caitlyn Peace capped the scoring for Pennridge while the Rams got assists from Riley Williams, Gabriella Howley and Jessie Moylan as well.
About the only thing that may slow the Rams down is the long weekend. Pennridge doesn’t play again until Wednesday of next week and while the players have earned a break, Anderson cautioned their first practice back will have to be of the same intensity they’ve shown in their start.
“It has to be focused and on the ball because we start right back with a trip to East,” Anderson said.
Anderson pointed to Moylan, who started to come on strong as a reserve late last season, as a player who has started to mesh well in the midfield. With Casey Malone still ramping up her minutes at fullback, Anderson also noted Gabby Hermann as another player who has done well in an expanded role so far.
“It feels like a lot of different people are stepping up into roles they haven’t played before on this team and doing well with them,” Anderson said.
Pennridge (3-0, 2-0 SOL) travels to CB East for a 7pm night start on Wednesday. Souderton (0-2, 0-2) travels to North Penn for a 7pm start on Wednesday.
PENNRIDGE 5 3 – 8
SOUDERTON 0 0 – 0
Goals: P – Tori Angelo 4, Anna Croyle, Hannah Primwhere, Caitlyn Peace, Liv Grenda
SOL Patriot
Council Rock North 3, Bensalem 1
The Indians were fully prepared to face a confident opponent on Thursday.
“It was a very competitive game today. Bob (Crawford) does a good job with Bensalem’s group,” CR North coach Gavin Flanagan said. “We knew coming in after they won on Tuesday that they would be ready and I think our girls did a good job early in the game of competing and staying aggressive.”
While she’s just a junior, North forward Mia Cairone is one of the top players in the state. The Penn State recruit was key in helping CR North get a breakthrough to match the early energy Bensalem pressed with.
“Mia Cairone was able to score early and that helped set the tone,” Flangan said. “Both teams continued to trade possession before a long pass from Sara Tyler released Mia again to score.”
Getting two goals from Cairone was key, as the Owls continued to play strong and looked to spark a rally like the one they used in Tuesday’s win over Council Rock South.
“Bensalem fought back and Mairin Coghlan made a great save on a breakaway before they scored on a cross and finish,” Flanagan said. “Our girls did well to stay composed and we were able to add a third goal through Lexi Fischer who beat her defender and fired one across goal.”
While all four goals came in the opening 40 minutes, it did not mean the second half was devoid of chances or theatrics. Coghlan was called into action again and the CR North keeper was on her game.
“Both teams traded chances in the second half, Bensalem hit the crossbar and Mairin had to make two more really good saves to keep our lead,” Flanagan said.
Marking their third win in three games over a four-day span was an impressive mark to open the season.
“Overall we were pleased to get the win, it was a team effort today,” Flanagan said. “Outside of Mia’s goals and Mairin’s saves, we thought Amber Yuan did well in the second half, while Sara Tyler remains important for us in the middle of the field.”
CR North (3-0, 2-0 SOL) vists rival CR South at 3:30 on Wednesday. Bensalem (1-1, 1-1) visits Pennsbury on Wednesday at 4:30.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 3 0 – 3
BENSALEM 1 0 – 1
Goals; CRN – Mia Cairone 2, Lexi Fischer
Council Rock South 2, Neshaminy 1
When the Golden Hawks have faced Neshaminy in recent years, it’s been as much about the game between the ears as the one between the touchlines.
Coming off a loss to Bensalem on Tuesday, a game where the Hawks felt they’d hurt themselves too many times, they’d have to put things together in their heads to get something out of it on the pitch. Not that Neshaminy ever makes it easy, but CR South’s approach proved to be the right one.
“I think our biggest change today was mentally. The last four times we played Neshaminy we had leads, and only managed to win one out of those four,” CR South coach Nick Heim said. “As a group we were disappointed with Tuesday and felt we made mental mistakes that cost us. We challenged the group to rebound today.”
What made the result more impressive was the fact the Hawks had to rally to earn it. Heim lauded Neshaminy’s physical play, toughness and dynamic pieces and noted the Redskins have players that need to be accounted for.
Still, they’re going to get chances and Neshaminy buried one off a CR South miscue for a 1-0 lead at halftime.
“We made some adjustments at halftime and the girls executed changes perfectly,” Heim said. “Look, you’re never going to not give up chances against a team like Neshaminy, but I thought we had the better run of things in the second half.”
The Hawks put some things together going forward in the second half. Cam Blatz would be a catalyst on both of CR South’s eventual scoring opportunities.
“Cam Blatz drew a set piece and Juliette Salvi played a great ball that Teagan Shay got on the end of to tie it up. We headed to overtime and Cam stayed dangerous for us,” Heim said. “Their goalie made a great play on her and instead of it getting to her, Cam came back the next play and picked off a pass from a back to the goalie and slotted it home from about 25 out to win it.”
It was CR South’s second overtime game in the SOL Patriot this week, just another sign of the roundabout grind all the conference’s teams have to go up against when they face each other.
In South’s case, it was hard to find one or two performances that stood above any of the rest.
“Really impressed with how they bounced back. And it goes beyond just the girls that logged serious minutes. It was the entire roster,” Heim said. “They had a different vibe to them today, warm up was better, and they were much more vocal on the bench.”
Long games usually mean a protracted war of wills in the middle of the pitch, and both sides’ midfielders were in the thick of it.
“Our midfielders Kathryn O’Kane, Lily Bross, and Teagan Shay battled it out with some of Neshaminy‘s talented players, notably Abby Collins who I thought was terrific for them,” Heim said.
After falling behind in the first half, the Golden Hawks locked things up on the back end and held their ground the rest of the way.
“Our goalie Ella Mayberry controlled the back end of things fantastically. A lot of kids did their job well including Fiona Reckner, Maggie Kane, Carly McCory, and Jenna Waterman in the back,” Heim said. “I thought Juliette Salvi was terrific for us. Our rotation of wings, Gianna Kirlin, Macy Laidlaw, and Brianna Howard, were dangerous as well.”
CR South (2-1, 1-1 SOL) hosts rival CR North on Wednesday at 3:30. Neshaminy (1-1,1-1) visits Harry S Truman at 3:30 on Wednesday.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0 1 1 – 2
NESHAMINY 1 0 0 – 1
Goals; CRS – Cam Blatz, Teagan Shay
Pennsbury 5, Harry S Truman 0
The Falcons’ opening slate of games was by no means easy, but first year coach Jenna Peters saw her team making progress.
Thursday, Pennsbury brought Peters her first win as a coach, the former standout part of plenty in her playing days, thanks to a well-rounded team effort.
“After our Neshaminy game, we made adjustments and stressed the importance of team play and ball connection to the girls,” Peters said. “They effectively switched the field, created and capitalized on opportunities.”
Ashlyn McEwing unlocked the door in front of goal when slipped a through ball to Josey Smith, with Smith bagging the first of her two goals for the day to open the scoring. Clare Caldaro kept it going with an assist on Corinne Russo’s goal and the Falcons were flying.
Brynn Kozlowski and Jenna Thompson would also find the back side of the net prior to Smith rounding out the brace with her second goal of the game. Stephanie Baker and Bella McGlinchey didn’t score, but Peters noted they were pivotal in connecting the ball between the attacking players to generate chances.
Haley Schlieben and Madison Ferroni split the clean sheet in goal for Pennsbury.
“Though there are areas to improve, today marked a strong starting point,” Peters said.
Pennsbury (1-3, 1-1 SOL) hosts Bensalem at 4:30 on Wednesday. Truman (0-2, 0-2) hosts Neshaminy at 3:30 on Wednesday.
PENNSBURY – 5
HARRY S TRUMAN – 1
Goals: P – Josey Smith 2, Corinne Russo, Brynn Kozlowski, Jenna Thompson
SOL Liberty
Abington 1, Hatboro-Horsham 0
Abington coach Rick Tompkins had been waiting for his team to just settle in.
After what looked like a solid preseason, the Ghosts got a wake-up call in their season-opening loss to CB East. On Tuesday, they put up a flurry of shots but all it got them was a goal short in a loss to Plymouth Whitemarsh to open SOL play.
Facing a Hatters team it has battled pretty tightly in the pass, Abington finally settled in and executed tactically to pick up its first win.
“I think they were frustrated after PW, we got a lot of shots and couldn’t put them in and PW only got a couple shots, but they put them in,” Tompkins said. “We knew Hatboro was going to be good, they came in with a good mindset today and we got a result.”
Abington was one of the most productive offensive teams in the SOL but losing the likes of Maura Day (Kutztown), Carley Slavin (West Chester) and Lily Gray – a trio of “monsters” as their coach noted – meant some retooling would take place. Senior twins Harper and Piper McGinley are back up top, and they’ll get theirs at some point, but it’s been a slow start with just two goals in three games so far.
Thursday, all the Ghosts needed was one. Thanks to Maddie Egan, a senior midfielder pledged to Dickinson, they got it.
With about 12 minutes to play, a Ghosts throw-in led to a back pass that Egan teed up with her first touch and curled into the far corner.
“She’s been the best player on the team. She takes care of the ball, makes good decisions, scored a great goal today and she’s very, very steady,” Tompkins said. “Last year, we had such a logjam, there literally weren’t enough minutes to go around but they got valuable experience.
“Maddie’s playing the defensive center mid almost entire and she starts our offense. She’ll do well at Dickinson, it’s a good program and she has a good skill set, so I’m excited for her.”
Abington presents a unique challenge as well with the Ghosts playing their home matches on a grass field.
“Playing at Abington is always a huge adjustment for us because we are not used to playing on grass. It’s a totally different game for us,” Hatters coach Kelsey Daley said. “We started out strong but our passes were always coming up a yard short and it was a much slower game then what we are used to.”
Adding to the Hatters’ troubles was two key starters out and a couple other players shuffling around the formation to help offset their absence.
“We held our own to play a strong match. Alyssa Tooley came up huge with a couple great saves for us,” Daley said. “It’s always a good showing from both teams when we play each other and we are excited for the next matchup on our field vs them already.”
Defensively, Abington had all eyes on Hatboro-Horsham senior Emma Levin. The Towson-bound senior is the catalyst for her team, so the Ghosts wanted to make sure she didn’t get loose and tasked Kara Slavin to that undertaking.
“Kara played a monster game,” Tompkins said. “She got frustrated with me in our PW game because I had her out for a while but I told her ‘you have a hard assignment on Thursday and you won’t be getting any rest because (Levin) never comes off the field.
“She just missed a goal that would have iced it, she went through three or four people but hit it right to the keeper.”
Backing up Slavin was a Ghosts backline that has recovered from the opening day shelling and brought plenty of communication to the field.
“We rotated five girls, we have Sara Kaeser and Madison Oldham both started for us last year and Jocelyn Pollock, who came off the bench, back,” Tompkins said. “Olivia Capps and today, really for the first time, we got Peyton Farabaugh who is lighting fast, in. We kept them fresh and they helped Kara in the couple times she’d get caught out of position.”
The Hatters (1-2, 1-1 SOL) will visit Central Bucks East at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Abington (1-3, 1-2) visits Upper Dublin on Wednesday.
ABINGTON 0 1 – 1
HATBORO-HORSHAM 0 0 – 0
Goals: A – Maddie Egan
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1, Quakertown 1
The Panthers have put in a lot of minutes this week, going into overtime twice in their two night games at home.
While Tuesday’s contest ended in a loss, they were able to claw out a draw with a PW team that came into the season confident and looking for big things.
“Two overtime games this week has shown that we have determination and spirit,” Quakertown coach Jon Gingrich said. “I liked that our defense is playing strong, smart soccer and keeping us in games.”
The Panthers got a goal from Rachel McMonagle, who finished on the end of a cross by Ciara Mory, to pick up their lone tally of the night.
PW matched that with a goal from sophomore Keira Whelan. While the Colonials picked up a point in the conference table, it wasn’t a result they were overly thrilled with.
“The difference between the past two years and this year is that no one was happy tonight with the draw,” PW coach TJ DeLucia said. “We’re excited to get back to work next week after a few well-deserved days off.”
Both sides had quite a few standout performers.
“Maddie McGuckien dominated the game in central midfield. Senior Abby Boegner broke loose tonight, creating multiple offensive opportunities in transition,” DeLucia said. “Sophomore midfielder Olivia Budin continues to impress and give us energy and physicality.”
For Quakertown, the defensive unit has been pretty resolute so far and continued to play strong against a Colonials side that wants to impose its presence on the pitch.
“Our defensive backfield of junior Madison Taylor, senior Alexa Shaw, senior Carlee Roesner and sophomore Jewel Renshaw have all played exceptionally well,” Gingrich said. “Holding midfielder Faith Greenday has also played extremely well for us. She is solid on the ball and has controlled our central midfield.”
Quakertown (0-1-1, 0-1-1 SOL) travels to Wissahickon on Wednesday. PW (2-0-1, 2-0-1) hosts Hatboro-Horsham on Wednesday.
QUAKERTOWN – 1
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH – 1
Goals: Q – Rachel McMonagle; PW – Keira Whalen
Upper Dublin 1, Wissahickon 1
Befitting their extremely close proximity, Wissahickon and Upper Dublin tend to often play pretty close contests against each other.
With both teams in a bit of a state of change in terms of identity and personality this fall, their first of two meetings played out pretty even. Neither side was at full strength, it may have been the cleanest game but it was competitive throughout.
For Wissahickon, getting both its first goal and its first result of the season was a positive outcome.
“The matchup was decent, we were both missing some players,” Wiss coach Chris McDaniels said. “
McDaniels felt like his team had played well in a 1-0 loss to Strath Haven to open the season and despite a few mistakes that burned them against Hatboro-Horsham, liked where the Trojans stood.
“Realizing what we lost, we’ve come out and worked really hard,” McDaniels said. “We don’t have a Kylie Friedman or Margaret Wilde coming out and scoring two goals every game. Now, we’re going to have to grind out one goal games.”
Both sides were down an important returning player. The Cardinals didn’t have Erin Seabrook while Wiss was without Lucy Greenstein, so it was up to their teammates to give a little extra throughout the match.
UD coach John Topper credited his team for responding, especially the players who had to extend themselves in terms of playing time.
“We were a bit short-handed due to injury so some of our girls had to play out of their natural positions or play with no rest,” Topper said. “Meghan McGinly controlled the tempo of the game and was a dominant ball winner in the midfield, and Abby O’Meara and Olivia Broome were stellar in the back, both putting in 90-plus minute shifts. Jordyn Levine came up big and parried a top corner shot over the bar.”
Wiss found its goal off a quick strike concocted between Emily Kim and freshman Lila Marciniak, setting up a counter for a 1-0 lead.
“I would say it was probably a little bit fortunate for us, they’d had the run of play for about 10 minutes and we put together a really nice counterattack,” McDaniels said. “We connected about four passes and our ninth grader managed to put one in the back of the net.”
Coming into the fall, McDaniels main area of concern was on the back end. With stalwart center back Margo Kasenchar graduating and playing at Ithaca and dynamic fullback Sage Stelzer now at Pitt, the Trojans had to rebuild their defense.
Getting keeper Olivia Lore back from a season-ending injury last year was a plus and so far, McDaniels has been impressed with the play of two new full-time defenders.
“Margo was such a good player and a sponge that for the last two years, I wasn’t worried about the defense because it was like ‘Margo knows what I want’ and she did it. Now, we’re looking at not one player on the back line being back,” McDaniels said. “We took Ellie Stein, she’s an 11th grader who played last year and did a nice job, she’s very smart and a really good lacrosse player and have morphed her into a center back.”
With Stein, who McDaniels cited as having a good knack for positioning, holding up the middle, he was able to find an emerging player to handle the right back spot as well in sophomore Lanie Werynski.
“She played varsity last year but didn’t get a ton of time and has come out this year with a different sort of energy about her,” McDaniels said. “She’s winning balls out of the air, winning tackles and finding players in advanced positions. She’s been really, really good.”
The next time UD and Wissahickon meet, both teams will be a bit further along in their natural progression but on Thursday, they were once again not too far apart.
“Today was a good result, I can’t complain,” McDaniels said. “Both teams had chances, both teams could have won the game but I think 1-1 was probably a fair result.”
Anna DiMartile, off an assist by Maeve Hogan, scored for the second time this week to give UD a point in the standings.
Upper Dublin (1-0-1, 1-0-1 SOL) hosts Abington on Wednesday. Wissahickon (0-2-1, 0-1-1) hosts Quakertown on Wednesday.
WISSAHICKON 1 0 0 0 – 1
UPPER DUBLIN – 0 1 0 0 – 1
Goals: W – Lila Marciniak; UD – Anna DiMartile
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