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FAIRLESS HILLS – There haven’t been very many reasons for Wissahickon’s field hockey team to get nervous this season.
The Trojans, after all, rolled through their SOL schedule to a perfect 14-0 mark, accumulating 12 shutouts along the way and outscoring their opponents 79-4. It’s hardly the kind of thing that evokes nerves in even the most fragile of psyches as only Springfield gave the Trojans a run for their money in American Conference play.
Things figured to be a whole lot different when the Trojans traveled to Fairless Hills on Thursday for a non-league contest against a battle-tested Pennsbury squad that captured a share of the National Conference crown.
“I was nervous – I’m not going to lie,” Trojan senior co-captain Colleen Lynch said. “They’re in a whole different division with – I would say – better teams.
“We have been playing teams that we’ve been beating by a lot of goals, and we’ve been playing around with the ball. Today we actually had to work for it.”
Thursday’s non-league finale was a war, but the Trojans – who scored twice on corners – earned a 2-0 win, closing out their regular season with a perfect 17-0 record.
“We wanted to end our season with an undefeated record,” senior co-captain Aubrey Bossert said. “We knew this game was going to be a challenge, so we came out with everything we had.
“We pushed it to the end, and we were able to succeed. It was a great feeling. We knew it was going to be a challenge, and it was really exciting to win.”
If the Falcons were looking for an excuse for coming up short, they certainly had one.
Thursday’s showdown was their fourth game in four days, coming on the heels of three must-win games against Truman, Council Rock South and Neshaminy. They clinched a share of the title with their win over Neshaminy 24 hours earlier.
“That’s not an excuse,” Falcon senior Jennalise Taylor said. “They had three games this week, and that’s still a lot of games.
“We were really excited about yesterday (a 3-0 win over Neshaminy), and I feel like we went from yesterday to today and came out a little bit flat. But they just beat us today. We lost the game. It wasn’t a lucky win. They outplayed us, and that’s just the way it is.”
But not even a loss could dampen Taylor’s enthusiasm when the subject of the Falcons’ conference crown – their first since 1992 – came up in conversation.
“We have a joke because most of us seniors were born in 1992, so we were like, ‘Born for it,’” Taylor said. “It’s kind of a cheesy joke, but we like it.
“We beat Neshaminy twice this year, and we beat Council Rock South twice, so we had a really good season.”
When Thursday’s game was over, Bossert was holding an ice pack to her head, icing down a gash she received late in the game.
“They’re definitely one of the (more physical) teams we have had to play,” she said. “We just had to keep ourselves together and not let it get to us.”
There was also the little matter of playing on grass for the turf-tough Trojans.
“Before the game, we said we needed to go actually to the ball because they’re so used to the grass and having it be really slow, and they’re a fast team,” Lynch said.
The Trojans boast plenty of speed as well, and they came out of the gate on the attack, capitalizing on their first corner when sophomore Zoe Kale scored on the follow of a Lauren Becker shot at the 23:15 mark.
“We started slow with our corners at the beginning of the year,” Bossert said. “It’s one of the things we have been trying to work on, especially on grass because stick stopping balls is more difficult, but we all back each other up.”
The Trojans’ goal seemed to be a wake-up call for the Falcons, who seemed to have the better of play for the remainder of the half but had nothing to show for it, forcing only two corners and collecting just a pair of shots.
“We’ve had problems scoring all year in certain situations,” Taylor said. “We won 3-0 yesterday and before that 2-0, but we have a problem getting momentum going after we’re scored on.”
Any thoughts of a Falcon comeback suffered a setback when – on the Trojans’ third corner of the half at the 26:44 mark – Lynch took a pass from Becker at the top of the circle and blasted a rocket into the opposite corner of the cage.
“We have been very successful all year on corners,” Trojan coach Lucy Gil said. “It doesn’t surprise me that they scored on corners, especially the one from Colleen Lynch – she ripped that big time. That’s one of our famous corners.”
Lynch insisted it wasn’t as easy as the Trojans made it look.
“We have set it up a lot, but the way it has to come out to work well – it has to come out fast to Lauren up at the top, and there are a lot of little things that lead up to it,” she said. “It takes the team to make everything happen.”
It was the Trojans’ corner play that proved to be the difference in the game.
“They definitely were dangerous on corners, but they didn’t score on anything other than corners,” Taylor said. “Our defense is strong, we have strong sticks in the circle.
“They’re a good team. They play on turf, and we play two different games almost. They play a small passing game, and they’re more finesse. We play big ball, strong sticks game.”
The Falcons – who drew eight second-half corners – had their chances but couldn’t capitalize.
“We didn’t take advantage of a lot of opportunities we had,” Pennsbury coach Brooke Bergmann said. “We dominated portions of the game but couldn’t put the ball in the cage. They’re strong in the back, and their goalie made a couple of good saves.
“You can tell they’re used to playing on a faster surface. They were getting their sticks on a lot of things on the circle – tips and deflections you don’t see a lot of teams do. That’s good experience for our defense. I’m glad we played the game. I wish we would have come out a little stronger. There are some things we can take away from this coming into practice the next couple of days, and hopefully that helps us come Monday.”
For Gil, the game confirmed what she already knew.
“They started to believe they were just okay, and they weren’t as good as I tell them they are,” Gil said. “This was a really good game for them to get under their belts.”
The game was a perfect prelude for district tournament play for both teams.
“We really would have liked to play a better game and get a win off of this, but I’m not going to make excuses,” Taylor said. “We’re ready to come back Monday to take on whoever we play on Monday.
“We have to build off this. We played with them. They just scored two goals, and we didn’t, but they beat us. I’m not going to deny that.”
“I think it will really get us ready for playoffs next week – coming off a strong win against a strong team,” Lynch said. “It’s a good feeling to be able to say we beat Pennsbury.”
WISSAHICKON 2, PENNSBURY 0
Wissahickon 1 1-2
Pennsbury 0 0-0
Goals/Assists: Wissahickon - Zoe Kale 1-0, Colleen Lynch 1-0, Lauren Becker 0-2.
Shots: W-8, P-8
Corners: W-8, P-10
Saves: Jess Scannapieco (W) 4, Caty Ritchie (P) 4.
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