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LOWER GWYNEDD – They may be small, but don’t be fooled.
Central Bucks South’s forward line is tough, and its players are talented, and in Wednesday’s District One Class AAA semifinal game against Great Valley, the Titans - sparked by their speedy forwards – ran circles around the Patriots, scoring almost at will on their way to a 6-0 rout of the previously undefeated Ches-Mont champions.
“It’s amazing,” Titan coach Christina Ford said. “Words cannot describe getting back to the (district) championship game. “I’m very pleased, I’m extremely happy - not just because of the victory or 6-0 but because we played together as a team and played a solid game. You’re happy when your team is playing well, and we came out on top, playing well and playing together.”
Playing well hardly covered it in this game. The Titans were so dominant, so in command that not even a muscular young man in a skirt – Zach Davis – could slow them down.
“Honestly, I think part of it was confidence, and we didn’t let the fact distract us that apparently they had an awesome guy on this team,” senior Sarah Hughes said. “Coach reminded us there were other girls on the team that were good, so we didn’t just focus on him.
“We played our regular game, working together.”
And that ‘regular game’ allowed the Titans to make easy business of the overmatched Patriots. The win vaulted the third-seeded Titans into the district championship game for the second time in as many years.
“That’s so important to us,” junior Colleen Kempf said. “We did it last year, and it’s really important to have a repeat, especially being a team no one thought was going to do as good after losing last year’s seniors.
“We didn’t want the most important part of our season to be winning our conference, so it’s great to keep advancing, and hopefully, we can win districts.”
Maddy Harding – the ultimate finisher for the Titans – had three goals and a pair of assists in what is becoming a routinely outstanding offensive performance, and providing the perfect complement to the junior midfielder was a forward line comprised of any combination of Kempf, Kayla Kenney, Franny Ryan, Jesse Accurso and Casey Haegele.
“They’re all extremely fast players, extremely fast,” Ford said. “Not only are they fast, but they are double threats because they have good stick skills.
“They know how to eliminate their defender and will take them one-on-one. They’re just a huge threat on offense, and they work hard to get the ball. They’re not just waiting for it. They’re using their speed to create some attack.”The magic began early for the Titans, who got on the scoreboard at the 20:32 mark of the opening half when Kenney deflected a pass from Harding into the cage.
“When someone like Maddy hits it in, we know that’s where we have to be and have our stick down,” Kenney said.
Late in the half, the Titans were golden on their fourth corner when Harding turned a Hughes pass into a goal.
Three minutes later, the Titans were awarded a penalty stroke, and Harding was money, almost effortlessly firing the ball just beyond the outstretched arms of goalie Christina Heston to sent the Titans into halftime with a commanding 3-0 lead.
The Titans upped their lead to 4-0 after a passing sequence from Kenney to Kempf and back to Kenney for the score.
“That’s my favorite thing to do,” Kempf said of setting up her teammates. “I love to make runs.
“It’s not about the scoring for me because if I can help someone else get a goal, it’s just as good for me. I don’t know what it is – from my side of the field, it’s just easy to cross it over. I just cross it to the seven and (the ball) tips someone’s stick.”
Kempf – a 5-1 dynamo on the right side - might not be a big scorer for the Titans, but she sets the table from her teammates.
“She makes things happen,” Ford said. “She’s why Maddy and Kayla have the goals they have.
“Her speed, her passing – she passed the ball to herself one time today. She’s very smart, and she knows her position extremely well. She’s vital.”
It was a 5-0 game after Kenney – who was on the right post – deflected a Harding pass into the cage.
“We try to really quickly get a stick down and get a tip in because that (the post) is a really important place to be when you’re playing in the circle,” Kenney said. “It’s hard to remember to go there because you’re playing so fast, but you need to concentrate on that.”
Harding (Hughes assist) put the finishing touches on a stellar outing when her laser shot ricocheted off the goalie’s pads and into the cage.
It was that kind of day for Harding and a Titans’ offense that was running on all cylinders.
“We’ve learned to connect,” Kempf said. “We have our style of play. We talk to each other out there, and a key thing to us is really getting pumped and excited before the game.
“Once you’re tired at the beginning, you kind of have a lazy game playing. You have to get energetic. When we’re all friendly and joking around, we can keep our communication going on the field and work to our benefit.”
Any other secrets to their success?
“I think it’s speed and we connect,” said Haegele. “We have great chemistry.”
Haegele – who at 5-4 is one of the taller members of the forward line – was assigned the task of marking Zach Davis all over the field.
“I had to stay on him the whole time,” she said. “It was fun to be on him actually because I never played a guy before. It was different.”Davis didn’t stand a prayer against Haegele and a speedy Titan squad, and even in the game’s latter moments as he tried desperately to generate something, anything for his team, he was thwarted at every turn by the speedy and skilled Titans.
“It was fun,” Kenney said. “We were all a little nervous at first playing against a guy. That was a first for me at least.
“We came out with a lot of momentum and showed him he wasn’t going to intimidate us at all.”
As a result, the Titans find themselves once again playing for a district title after losing five key players from last year’s squad to graduation.
“I’m a very lucky coach to have the players who have the desire and dedication to work to get back there, and they did,” Ford said. “They really hands-down deserve to be in the district championship game.”
Hughes acknowledged that a return trip to the district title game might not have been on many people’s radar when the season began.
“We all wanted to be there, but we didn’t know how this year was going to turn out,” the senior captain said. “No one expected us to get this far.
“It’s just amazing, and 6-0 against a team that has 18 wins – that’s ridiculous. We dominated.”
The Titans will face Owen J. Roberts in Saturday’s title game at Wissahickon at 5:30 p.m. The Wildcats handed the Trojans their first loss of the season in a 2-0 win in the other semifinal.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 6, GREAT VALLEY
Great Valley 0 0-0
Central Bucks South 3 3-6
Goals/Assists: CB South – Maddy Harding 3-2, Kayla Kenney 2-0, Colleen Kempf 1-1, Sarah Hughes 0-2.
Shots: GV-2, CBS-15
Corners: GV-2, CBS-10
Saves: Christina Heston (GV) 9, Liz Lewallen (CBS) 2.
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