To view game action photos of the Pennsbury/Emmaus and CB South/Cocalico games, visit the photo gallery at the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
Talk about a dramatic change in fortunes – this was it.
One second, Cocalico’s Jordan Page was taking the opening pushback down the left alley in overtime of Tuesday night’s PIAA Class AAA opening round game against Central Bucks South. The next, the Titans were heading in the opposite direction for the game winner.
In one glorious moment, Colleen Kempf sent a perfect pass that found teammate Casey Haegele in stride, and the Titans’ junior forward – after a quick move to avoid charging goalie Haley Mitchell – did the rest, slamming it home from the top of the circle.“I stopped it, pushed it to the right and shot it,” Haegele said. “I just hoped to God it would go in. I haven’t scored in a few games, and I just really wanted a goal.
“The coaches said, ‘Get it done early.’ Thank goodness we did. It’s nerveracking. It needed to happen fast.”
Fast hardly covers it in this case.
Thirty-one seconds of overtime was all it took for the Titans to escape with a 3-2 win over District 3’s fifth place squad in a nail biter at Wissahickon High School.
“I was so happy,” Haegele said. “After they scored to tie it, it was like, ‘We’re not losing this. We’re going back out there and getting a goal. We’re winning. We’re going further in states.’
“It was just all a positive attitude.”
The Titans are the only SOL school still standing after the opening round – Wissahickon, Pennsbury and Springfield all lost, and for those who think it’s easy to come back after the emotional high of winning a district championship, guess again.“It was really tough, especially knowing that we weren’t expected to come this far – we had to prove ourselves,” junior midfielder Casey McGowan said. “We knew they were going to come out fired up.
“They came out with a higher intensity than the normal teams we play.”
Last year, Neshaminy won the district title and was sent home in the first round. The Titans avoided a similar fate, but it wasn’t easy.
“Winning a district championship is definitely a hard game to bounce back from because you’re on an emotional high, you’re excited,” coach Christina Ford said. “You just became champions of the district, and this game – it’s back to work. We talked on the bus and said, ‘That was great. We were happy Saturday, but it’s a new day. This is the third part of our season, and we have a job to do in states.’
“It’s hard. You feel like you’re at your highest point, and now you have to keep on going to achieve a state championship level. You have to stay composed and keep playing at your best level. It’s easy just to be satisfied with district champs, but this team wants more, and that’s what I love about them.”
It looked as though the Titans – who received a pair of goals from sophomore Kayla Kenney, the first with a Maddy Harding assist – would eke out a 2-1 win, but Cocalico’s Courtney Ueberroth (Page assist) had other ideas, scoring the equalizer with 2:15 remaining in regulation and setting the stage for OT.
“We always come fired up,” McGowan said. “We knew we had to score again and not let down.”
The fired-up Titans brought an end to overtime before fans had settled back in their seats, and this win was hard-earned.
“Cocalico played a great game,” Ford said. “We knew the fifth seed doesn’t really mean anything in District 3. They’re all very talented hockey teams. They were a definite threat, and we respected them coming into this game. We knew it was not going to be a walk in the park.
“We knew they would be one our best competition, and they were. They definitely made us work for this win.”
The Titans will face Hempfield in a quarterfinal game on Saturday at a site to be determined. Hempfield, the District 3 runner-up, defeated Wissahickon 1-0.
Emmaus (11-1) 2, Pennsbury (1-5) 1
Pennsbury gave Emmaus all it could handle in Tuesday night’s opening round, battling the perennial state powerhouse to a 0-0 halftime tie and rallying from a one-goal deficit to knot the score. But in the end, the Green Hornets benefitted from a deflection to score the game winner midway through the second half of Tuesday night’s thriller at Whitehall High School.
“We played excellent,” coach Brooke Bergmann said. “They capitalized on two mistakes, two bad bounces, but I was just really proud of how we played.
“Obviously, the girls were really upset at the end, but I think once the sting of this wears off, they’ll realize what kind of season they had. They left the field today, and they shouldn’t regret anything because they played great against a really good team.”
The Green Hornets boast a dangerous arsenal of offensive weapons, none more dangerous than junior Allison Evans, who has scored 45 goals this season.
“We had a plan, and they executed really well,” Bergmann said. “We had them on their heels a little bit.
“We knew they were a team that looked for possession passes, and we didn’t get caught trying to go after balls we knew we weren’t going to get. We moved with the flow of their passing and took advantage of intercepting passes. We did a very good job of sticking to that plan.”The Green Hornets took a 1-0 lead less than minute into the second half, but the Falcons came roaring back, using a goal by Allie Brady (Jennalise Taylor assist). Emmaus won it with a goal midway through the half.
“It was a great team effort,” Bergmann said. “Alyssa Cox, our left back, played a great game.
“I also though Allie Brady played one of her better games of the season.”
The Falcons, the National Conference co-champs, closed out their season with a 16-7-1 record.
Donegal (3-1) 2, Springfield (1-3) 0
The Spartans were shut out for the first time all season in Tuesday night’s opening round game of the PIAA Class AA Tournament at Hershey High School when they fell to District 3 champion Donegal.
“We just didn’t put the ball in the net,” coach Linda Nixon said. “We gave it a try.
“We had some nice opportunities, but we just didn’t have the magic.”
The two teams were deadlocked 0-0 at halftime, but Donegal scored two minutes into the second half and then added an insurance goal with five minutes remaining. Donegal held an advantage in shots (11-5) and corners (13-5).
“Our corner defense was good,” Nixon said. “Their attack had a hard time getting things organized.
“We did not pass well. We were handicapping ourselves.”
The Spartans closed out the year with a 16-4 record.
“We had a great season,” Nixon said. “We did really well, and the kids improved.
“Donegal is a good team. We needed everybody to bring their ‘A’ game tonight, and we didn’t get that.”
One player who did bring her ‘A’ game was Spartan goalie Maggie Olson, who turned away nine shots in a superb outing.
“Maggie had a really good game,” Nixon said.
Hempfield (3-2) 1, Wissahickon (1-3) 0
Wissahickon collected 16 corners – 12 in the second half – but could not convert any of them into a goal. Hempfield’s Lauren Brooks scored the game winner at the 26:13 mark of the opening half.
The Trojans, the SOL American Conference champions, closed out their season with a 20-2 record.
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