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By Mike Prince
PLYMOUTH MEETING - Through 19 games this season, the Wissahickon field hockey team had no idea what it felt like to lose a game. But for the district’s top seed and the defending American Conference champions, all that changed on Wednesday.
With a berth in the state tournament already secured, the Trojans put their 19-0 mark on the line when they faced the fourth-seeded Owen J. Roberts Wildcats in a semifinal game of the PIAA District One Class AAA playoffs at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.
And while the Lady Trojans were awarded corner after corner after corner in the final 12 minutes of regulation, they were never able to find the back of the net as Owen J. Roberts (19-2-1) held on to shut out Wissahickon 2-0, vaulting the Wildcats onto the district finals while handing the Trojans their first loss of the year.
“Streaks are meant to be broken, I guess,” Wissahickon coach Lucy Gil said. “We had to lose at some point, I suppose. They came out the stronger of the teams. We needed to play up a little stronger than we did today. It wasn’t our regular game, and we needed to have our ‘A’ game for it to be anywhere near being close, and we didn’t.”
Wissahickon might not have had its best stuff on this given day, but one thing is for sure – it never gave up.
The Trojans had 10 corners (to seven for OJR) with seven of those coming in the final 12 minutes. They had numerous scoring chances and opportunities in the Wildcats’ defensive zone, but other than one goal that was wave off because it went in off a Wissahickon player’s body, they never could find the back of the net.“We gave them a little rally there at the end, but for the most part, they dominated and were in control the entire game,” said Gil. “We couldn’t get the right shots off the corners that we wanted to. They came out with a high flyer and high trailer and that really did us in. We usually go to our right and they took that away.”
OJR was forced to play defense for the latter part of the game but not before the Wildcats took a comfortable 2-0 lead that they would not relinquish.
With 6:40 remaining in the first half, OJR senior Kim Mooney was awarded a penalty stroke after a Wissahickon player fell on the ball in the circle. Mooney put the ball in the back right corner of the net past Trojans’ goalkeeper Jess Scannapieco for a 1-0 lead.
OJR would tally another goal at the 23:53 mark when senior Caitlyn Mitchell scored off a corner to put the Wildcats up 2-0.
“By the time we got the ball all game, they were right on us,” Wissahickon senior Colleen Lynch said. “We piddle-paddled a little bit and by the time we got the shots off, they were on us. They beat us stepping towards the ball, and we weren’t playing our game.”In the end, Wissahickon had more shots on goal and more corners than OJR. But the Wildcats led where it mattered most – on the scoreboard. And for the first time this year, Wissahickon felt what it was like to lose.
“I think it was something that we needed to do,” Lynch said. “They are a good team, and that’s what we are going to be seeing in the state tournament, so to come out with a loss is not fun, but it’s something that we kind of needed to have going into states playing the harder teams.”
While OJR advances to the district finals, Wissahickon will face Great Valley on Friday to determine seeding in the state tournament.
There was no mistaking that this loss hurt, and the Wissahickon players were visibly upset. The team not only must settle for a lower seed, but its chance to win the district championship was expunged.
Still, some players believe it may be a blessing in disguise.
“We knew it was going to be a really hard game and I think that losing now will keep us in a mindset that we can lose and just not let it happen again,” Wissahickon senior Aubrey Bossert said. “I think we’ll do well in the state tournament. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to win our next game and seed higher in states and get some more wins for us, but I really think that this loss might not be the worst thing for us in the long run.”
Coach Gil, meanwhile, hopes that the attitude of Bossert and Lynch will spread to her other players before Friday’s game and the state tournament.
“I hope they got it out of their system,” she said. “I hope they don’t get down on themselves now. I think they’ll continue to grow from here, but let’s just hope that this loss doesn’t end up hurting us.”
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