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LOWER GWYNEDD – Late in the second half of Thursday’s Suburban One League contest between Wissahickon and Upper Dublin, Trojan Aubrey Bossert was stripped of the ball as she headed downfield.Undeterred, the junior midfielder immediately stole the ball back, and moments later, the Trojans scored their fourth and final goal in a 4-1 win over the Flying Cardinals.
In reality, the play wasn’t a significant part of the game. After all, the outcome had been all but decided by that point, but the play effectively captured the kind of relentless effort that is a trademark of Bossert and her Trojan teammates.
“We play as a team,” Bossert said. “We try to communicate, and we want to make sure everyone knows where each other is on the field. We’re there when someone needs us.”
It is precisely why the Trojans are 10-0 in SOL play (13-0 overall).
In Thursday’s game, the Trojans were opportunistic on offense and doggedly determined on defense. The Flying Cardinals did not collect a shot or corner in a second half the Trojans owned. It was a far cry from the initial meeting between the two teams that saw the Trojans open up a 2-1 halftime lead and then hang on for the one-goal win in a game the Flying Cardinals dominated in the second half.
This time around, the Trojans once again held a 2-1 halftime lead, but they owned the second half.
“We went out a lot stronger in the second half because we knew up one goal – that’s not a lot, and they can easily get back into the game,” Wissahickon defensive back Colleen Lynch said. “The last game we played against them, the second half was all them basically, so we knew they would come out strong.”
Lynch spearheaded a standout defensive effort by the Trojans.
“Our whole defense as a unit moves up together, and our whole team pushes up,” Lynch said. “Once we get the ball, everyone is on offense, and when they get the ball, everyone is on defense. It’s a team effort.”
While it may have been a team effort by the Trojans, more often than not, it was Lynch emerging from the pack with the ball and jumpstarting her team’s offense with a strong pass up field.
“Colleen Lynch has just been totally outstanding at center back,” Trojan coach Lucy Gil said. “Nothing gets by her. She has amazing reach - you think it’s gotten past her, and all of a sudden she reaches her stick in and gets it. She’s so steady. I just rely on her.”
While the Trojans were rock solid defensively for the better part of 60 minutes, the Flying Cardinals had some lapses. One came just over 11 minutes into the opening half when Adelle Lever drove the ball into the circl, and Aubrey Bossert – wide open on the left post – was there to slam it home, giving the Trojans an early 1-0 lead.
“You just keep your eyes on the ball and try your best to get it in,” said Bossert of a play that isn’t nearly as easy as she made it look.Bossert and Lever were – in many ways - an unlikely combination. While Lever is the SOL’s top gun with 13 goals, Bossert is a defensive back who found herself playing in the midfield today.
“Adelle is just brimming with field hockey talent,” Gil said. “Aubrey has all the talent in the world, and she is relentless. Both she and her sister (Ashley) are non-stop. If you strip the ball away from them, they’re going to get it back. They’re just determined, they go after it, and they’re not going to give up.”
For the Flying Cardinals, the Trojans’ first goal followed an all-too-familiar script.
“We have a problem staying on our marks, staying on our girls,” Upper Dublin co-captain Laura Hitchings said. “For me, I tend to go to the ball. At practice, we have been working on marking a lot. It’s been helping, but we have to step up.
“On two of their goals, their girls were wide open.”
Wissahickon’s 1-0 lead held up for all of nine minutes when – on a rare Trojan defensive breakdown – Upper Dublin freshman Emily Hitchings (Amy McCaffrey assist) scored at the 11:07 mark, but the Trojans got that goal back when they hit paydirt on their third corner of the half.
The play began with Lever taking a shot from the top of the circle that ricocheted off the right post to opportunistic freshman Gretchen Guaglionone, who scored to send Wissahickon into the intermission with a 2-1 lead.
“We had a few miscommunications on defense,” Upper Dublin coach Heather Boyer said. “Our weakness this year has been marking, and we work on it every practice. It’s getting better, but better teams will exploit that weakness if you allow them to.”
It took the Trojans no time at all to serve notice that the second half of Thursday’s rematch belonged to them as they got on the scoreboard at the 28:54 mark when Jacquelin Coup turned a pass from Aubrey Bossert into a goal.
“We knew we needed to come out strong because after the last game we knew they wanted to come back and beat us,” Bossert said. “I think we did that.”
The Trojans put the finishing touches on the decisive win when senior Natalie Draham (Guaglionone assist) score at the 9:18 mark for the 4-1 final. The Flying Cardinals never threatened in the second half.
“I think we were so focused on defense and marking because we have been working on that, and we weren’t really pushing up on offense,” Laura Hitchings said. “When the ball got up there, no one was there to put it in the goal.
“The momentum switched in the second half, and we couldn’t get it up on offense. It’s frustrating, but we’re working on it.”
As a result of the loss, the Trojans fall to 5-4 in league play .
WISSAHICKON 4, UPPER DUBLIN 1
Upper Dublin 1 0-1
Wissahickon 2 2-4
Goals/Assists: Upper Dublin – Emily Hitchings 1-0, Amy McCaffrey 0-1; Wissahickon – Aubrey Bossert 1-1, Gretchen Guyglionone 1-1, Jacquelin Coupe 1-0, Natalie Draham 1-0, Adelle Lever 0-1.
Shots: UD-3, W-12.
Corners: UD-2, W-5.
Saves: Brittany Rowley (UD) 5, Maria Marinari (W) 5.
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