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SHILLINGTON – The final post-game meeting of an extraordinary season had come to an end for the Central Bucks South field hockey team.As the players began to slowly gather their equipment, Kate Schneider remained seated on the track with her back against the fence. The Titans’ senior co-captain stared into space until she could fight back the tears no longer and began to sob.
Schneider wasn’t alone.
South’s sidelines were a sea of emotion as players embraced and bid their tearful farewells, trying to come to grips with the sudden and heartbreaking end to their season as a result of the Titans’ 2-1 overtime loss to Hershey in Tuesday’s PIAA Class AAA semifinal game at Governor Mifflin High School.
“It left us speechless,” Schneider said of Leslie Smith’s bone-jarring shot that ricocheted high off the left post for the game winner at the 12:37 mark of the first OT. “As soon as that goal went in, I was like, ‘This is it. This is the end of our season. This is the last time we will ever be together.’”
And in that simple statement, the Titans’ senior captain had captured what set this team apart. Yes, the Titans were missing out on an opportunity to play for a state title, but what mattered most to this group was that a special season had ended.
“That’s why I’m crying,” Schneider said. “I’m not disappointed in this team at all. You can’t be disappointed in this team – this team always gives 100 percent.
“Everyone’s hearts were in it. I’m just sad because we’re never coming back again. We’re seniors, and for us, it’s just heartbreaking to know it’s our last time we’ll all play together.”
Co-captain Sarah Hughes echoed that sentiment.
“They’ve given us the best senior year we could ask for,” she said of her teammates. “We all love each other, and we’re going to miss each other a lot.
“It was just a great team – our coaches, everything. It was the best year we could have asked for, honestly. Everyone was always positive, the coaches were always positive.”“Everybody always believed in each other,” Schneider said. “Our coaches, our teammates, our fans, our parents – we all believed in each other, and I’d say we came up with a good season.”
Good, in this case, was an understatement for a South squad that captured the SOL Continental Conference title as well as the District One Class AAA crown. A Final Four finish in the state put an exclamation point on a season that – even the players admit – exceeded their expectations when the pre-season began back in August.
“There’s a part of us that knew we could do this, but once again, no one thought we could,” Hughes. “We got here. We proved it.”
A trip to the state title game was within the Titans’ grasp until that fateful moment when – in play shortly after a corner was inexplicably called against South –Smith unleashed a backhanded rocket. With no one in her path, the Michigan-bound senior had free rein, and she seized the moment.
“It was in slow motion,” junior Maddy Harding said. “I don’t even know why that corner was called. It was just bad.”
“It just happened so fast,” Hughes said. “We had the ball up in our end, and the girl took it down, shot and scored. There’s nothing to say about it.”
It marked the second time in as many years that Hershey sent the Titans packing in the state semifinals, but this one felt a whole lot different than last year’s 4-1 loss.
On Tuesday night, the Titans battled the Trojans toe-to-toe, and for the better part of 60 minutes, the Titans held the lead.
After controlling play for the better part of the opening half, the Titans got on the scoreboard on their third corner when Hughes redirected a corner shot by Casey Haegele into the cage at the 5:38 mark.The Trojans didn’t so much as manage a shot in the first half but made their first shot count when – in the midst of some fast and furious action - sophomore Rachel Claroni scored from the top of the circle at the 12:59 mark of the second half.
Suddenly, everything changed.
The Trojans seemed to have the upper hand, and although the Titans kept them off the scoreboard and allowed them to take just two more shots, the Trojans had momentum.
“After they scored the goal to tie it up, they got a boost of energy from that,” South coach Christina Ford said. “I thought we were able to defend well, but we just weren’t able to capitalize on opportunities to get the ball in the circle in the second half.”
In the opening moments of overtime, the Titans – who had not taken a shot since the opening half - saw an opportunity to create an offensive opportunity slip away when Hershey defensive back Alyssa Voelmle stopped dead a pass to a breaking Titan in the circle and sent it down field.One minute later, Smith scored, and the Titans’ dream of playing for a state title had slipped away. In truth, that was the last thing on the players’ minds after Tuesday’s heartbreaking loss.
“There aren’t words to describe it,” Harding said, making no attempt to hold back her tears. “It wasn’t like any other (season) we had. It was different.
“Nobody fought. There was no drama, no nothing. It was perfect, a perfect season. We all loved each other and played for each other, and that’s why this hurts so bad.”
The Titans closed out a remarkable season with a 19-4-1 record.
“It has to come to an end sometime,” Ford said. “Being state champions would have been a great way to end it, but it’s disappointing that we’re not going to practice or play another game together this season.
“It’s hard to end your season like this, but they’ll look back and see how amazing this season was.”
Schneider acknowledged that the season had been memorable but not just because of the team’s accomplishments.
“It was such an honor to be part of this team,” she said. “To be a co-captain, it’s just an honor. It was just a great group of girls.
“We’re taking so many great memories. We really are, but it’s heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking to know that we’re not going to practice tomorrow, and we’re not going through everything we usually do and talking about this and that – talk about gossip, joking around, quoting movies the way we always do.”
And that is what made the ending so difficult to swallow for a special Titan squad that exceeded everyone’s expectations except perhaps their own.
HERSHEY 2, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 1 (OT)
Hershey 0 1 1-2
Central Bucks South 1 0 0-1
Goals/Assists: Hershey – Rachel Claroni 1-0, Leslie Smith 1-0. CB South – Sarah Hughes 1-0, Casey Haegele 0-1.
Shots: H-4, CBS-4.
Corners: H-7, CBS-4.
Saves: Sonya Torres (H) 3, Liz Lewallen (CBS) 2.
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