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DOYLESTOWN – ‘Exhausted, sufficiently exhausted.’
That’s the way Maddy Harding described how she was feeling after 75 grueling minutes of field hockey on Wednesday night, and it’s a safe bet those three words summed up the feelings of players and coaches on both sides after Central Bucks South and North Penn battled to a 0-0 tie in an SOL showdown that lived up to its billing and then some.
“I think we’re both equally really good teams, and we play good hockey,” Harding said. “We just butt heads all the time, and it could go either way.”More often than not, apparently, it doesn’t go either way when these two hockey powers meet.
Last year, the two teams faced each other twice. Both games went into overtime, and the Titans won both by identical 2-1 scores.
One year later, determining a winner became even more difficult. Overtime, it seems, isn’t enough, and for the second time in as many outings, the two teams battled to a 0-0 tie in a classic battle between a pair of teams that figure to be top seeds in the upcoming district tournament.
“I feel like this is almost what our season is for – this and the postseason,” Titan senior Colleen Kempf said. “This is our real competition. This is where the excitement comes from. This is the game.”
The tie had implications for both squads.
While the tie all but took the Maidens out of the hunt for a conference title, it almost guaranteed that the Titans – who hold a one-game lead over the Maidens – will capture at least a share of the Continental Conference crown.
“It’s a sigh of relief,” Titan senior Colleen Kempf said. “We always want to win, but it’s a sigh of relief.
“Four of us have been on this team for four years, and to be conference champions in at least three of them is a huge deal. That’s what we work for all year.”
“Everybody in this league, everybody in every league wants to be able to say that you did that,” Harding added. “To be able to have that for a couple of years says a lot.”
Mention the fact that the Titans settled for a tie despite holding a 21-1 advantage in corners, and both Kempf and Harding groaned.
“I don’t even think there are words,” Kempf said.
Interestingly, the game wasn’t nearly as lopsided as that number might suggest. In fact, both teams had their chances to get on the board, and it was a tribute to the defenses from both sides that a pair of high-powered squads never found the net.“We just need to capitalize on our opportunities,” Harding said. “We shut down on ‘D.’ There were little cracks here and there, but we made it through some gaps in their circle too, so it was pretty even.”
“It’s just a matter of finishing,” Kempf said.
“Who’s lucky day is it?” Harding said.
It wasn’t the Maidens’ lucky day, but they were hardly hanging their heads after playing with the defending conference and district champions for 75 minutes.
“I think we’re a lot better than last year,” Maiden senior Macie Hauck said. “We improve every day. We practiced really hard this week for this game.
“It is very good competition every time we play CB South. We did well, just not good enough.”
While goalie Shannon Keen had a big day in goal, turning away 10 shots in a solid outing, Hauck turned in a monster game in the circle as well. Twice on corner shots, the senior defensive back made stops on the goal line, and on several other occasions, she got her stick on the ball before it reached Keen, who was impenetrable.
“Macie Hauck had an awesome game,” Maiden coach Carrie Jankowski said. “She has incredible hand-eye coordination. She’s just an incredible athlete and a hard worker. She never takes a day off.”
No one from either side could afford to take any time off in a contest that once again featured end-to-end action.
The Maidens applied some early pressure, collecting a pair of shots that South goalie Lydia Keener turned away. They also drew a corner just over two minutes into the game. It was their first and last corner of the game.
The Titans, meanwhile, drew eight first-half corners, five in the final five minutes of the half. They came up empty as flier Nikki Hill disrupted some and the Maidens’ defense stonewalled others.
“She’s really aggressive, that’s for sure,” Hauck said of Hill. “I don’t think we expected to have that many corners taken against us, but our defensive unit did very well, including our goalie, Shannon.“The key is just working together and keeping calm.”
In the opening minutes of the second half, the Maidens once again mounted some offensive pressure. An Amy Coughlin shot was turned away by Keener, and it was too close for comfort for South coach Christina Ford, who called a quick timeout.
The Titans responded by forcing a corner. All told, they had seven corners in the half, including a pair in the final minute, but they could not capitalize, setting the stage for overtime.
“All across the board, you have to be really proud of them stepping up their defense,” Jankowski said.
Three minutes into the 15-minute OT period, Elizabeth Fedele sent a perfect pass across a wide open cage. There was a collective groan from the Maidens’ sidelines as the pass went untouched.
Moments later, with South’s Kayla Kenney breaking downfield, Fedele came up with a big defensive play, and Jankowski’s decision to play her star midfielder – who was sidelined two weeks after suffering a concussion in the last South game – on defense in OT paid immediate dividends.
“The last two weeks she wasn’t allowed to do anything,” the Maidens’ coach said. “She’s only been back a week, and she did a nice job.”
With three minutes remaining, it looked as though the Maidens might have the break they were looking for as Coughlin was charging hard on a lead pass toward goal, but Keener met Coughlin at the top of the circle, kicking the ball out of harm’s way with a slide tackle.
Moments later, Coughlin missed just wide right on a shot across goal.
“In overtime, it was back and forth,” Jankowski said. “Hockey is a game of bounces, and it didn’t bounce our way.”
The Maidens fought off four corners after time expired, and once again, 75 minutes could not determine a winner.
“Both teams came out wanting to win this game and not end in a tie,” Titan coach Christina Ford said. “I don’t think anyone was satisfied with that this time around.
“Both teams battled. With 21 corners – we had so many opportunities, and I have to give credit to North Penn’s defense and goalie. They played tremendous. Corner after corner, they stayed strong in there, and we were not able to finish the ball. To win a game, you’ve got to put it in the goal.”
While Ford credited the play of North Penn’s defense, Jankowski tipped her hat to Kempf, who spent the night sprinting down the right alley with the ball and igniting the Titans’ offense.
“How incredible is Colleen Kempf?” the Maidens’ coach asked. “Jan Ikeda is extraordinarily fast – she is a fast defender. She’s one of the fastest kids on my team, and I think I have a fast team.
“Wings are usually fast, but they don’t look fast against Jan. Colleen just looked like lightening. They got so many fast breaks from just nailing the ball in her direction. Credit Jan for stopping her as many times as she stopped her because heaven knows that must have been a tough job tonight, but (Kempf) played really well tonight.”
While the Maidens are 7-1-2 in league play (10-1-2 overall), the Titans are 9-0-2 in the league (13-0-2 overall).
“We really focused on our goals this season,” Ford said. “We’re working one game at a time. This team doesn’t falter. We didn’t come out with a ‘W,’ but they played their hearts out.
“All the seniors – everyone who played – just did a tremendous job. I’m very proud of them. This was their night, and I’m pleased.”
NOTES: The Titans celebrated Senior Night, recognizing the 12 seniors on their roster prior to the game. Ten of those seniors were in the starting lineup….the Titans suffered a scare late in OT when Harding went down. It turned out to be a leg cramp, forcing Harding to watch the final 2:13 from the sidelines.
NORTH PENN 0, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0
Central Bucks South 0 0 0-0
North Penn 0 0 0-0
Shots: NP-12, CBS-20
Corners: NP-1, CBS-21
Saves: Lydia Keener (CBW) 5, Shannon Keen (NP) 10
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