To view action photos of the Pennsbury/PW game, visit the Photo Gallery later this weekend and click on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
Abington 10, Upper Dublin 6Molly Seefried and Carli Fitzgerald will be teammates at Temple University next year.
On Friday, the Abington seniors spent the afternoon creating havoc for the Flying Cardinals, combining for nine goals in the Ghosts’ opening day win. Their dominant offensive performances made life easy for a relatively inexperienced Ghost squad against an Upper Dublin team that was minus its big gun, Kelly Cross (pulled hamstring).
‘“Honestly, this is a completely new team, but I’m very happy with the young girls,” said Seefried, who led the Ghosts with a dazzling six-goal effort. “I think they have a lot of skill, and I know as the season goes on, we’ll get a lot better.
“As a senior now, I just need to step it up. Over the last couple of years, there were always people above me that were very good. This year I need to be a leader, and we need to work well together.”Seefried certainly did her part in Friday’s win. By halftime, she already had four goals, and the Ghosts led 7-1 over the Flying Cardinals.
“The first half we were all fired up,” Seefried said. “As a team, we worked well together, and the fact that Kelly Cross wasn’t playing made a big impact.
“I actually wanted to play her. It’s good competition.”
The young Flying Cardinals – whose lineup included one senior, seven juniors and four freshmen – struggled to find any kind of offensive rhythm in the first half, and when they did manage a shot on goal, Abington senior goalie Emily Towey (12 saves) was there to turn it away.
“For our four freshmen, it was their first real game,” Upper Dublin coach Dee Cross said. “They made a couple of mistakes I hadn’t seen them make before, so now they got it out of their system.
“We’re looking forward to starting our league games and improving as we go.”In truth, the improvement began in the second half for the Flying Cardinals, who actually outscored the Ghosts 5-3 in the half.
“We face guarded them and shut them down much better,” Cross said. “It was definitely a positive.
“Our midfield transition, which hurt us in the first half, got a little bit better. Our defense – to their credit – did what we asked them to do. We just need to have more confidence on attack.”
That confidence will experience a major boost when Kelly Cross returns to the lineup. As it was, Cross, saw some things she liked in the loss.
“Kaley Weinstein ended up with two goals and an assist and had a nice game,” Cross said. “Michele DeVincent played well in the midfield. She was taking the draws, and she had two goals and some key checks in the defensive end.
“Defensively, we’re really young, and Steph Speese was back there trying to direct them. She did a really nice job.”
Seefried and Fitzgerald are no strangers to Cross.
“Dee coaches them in Phantastix, so she knows what kind of defense to play,” Abington coach Chris Aquilino said. “She was shadowing them during the game and doubling them and making our younger players step up, and that wasn’t happening.
“It was the first time they actually saw that kind of defense. Dee started doing that more in the second half, and that’s when it started to cause problems. Then you have the turnovers in there. This game is so much about momentum. When they scored a couple of goals, they got going.
“With Kelly (Cross), it would have been a totally different game. I expected a tight game. Without Kelly here, I was expecting the first half. Unfortunately, that didn’t come in the second half.”
Aquilino acknowledged that his team will have to endure some growing pains.“I’m not pleased with the unforced turnovers – throwing the ball away when no one is around us,” the first-year coach said. “We have a young team besides Carli and Molly.
“A lot of our younger players have to get used to the pressure and used to making decisions with the ball. Sometimes you have to go through a growing process with that, and it’s tough.”
Seefried acknowledged that the Ghosts struggled in the second half after coming out of the gate strong.
“On offense, we settled the ball, we spread out, and there was constant motion in the first half,” the senior attack player said. “In the second half, I felt we got a little too comfortable with our lead, and we let them get back in the game.
“Overall, I think we played well, and I hope we’ll get better.”
Fitzgerald added the hat trick while sophomore Meredith Cox scored a single goal for the Ghosts.
North Penn 12, Boyertown 10
The Maidens jumped out to a 7-1 halftime lead and then held off a furious Bear comeback to earn the impressive win.
“Part of our pre-game talk was about building chemistry and what it’s going to feel like when things don’t go our way,” coach Jami Wilus said. “I think in the first half we really dominated play, but we still missed a lot of opportunities and shots on the offensive end.
“Boyertown is a great team, and they had a late-game rally. They kept getting possession and pulled to within one (10-9), but our seniors and juniors and the leadership out on the field – I really felt we started to jell together. They all kind of looked each other in the eye basically and said, ‘We are not going to lose this game.’”
Garrie Grenfell scored the goal that put the Maidens on top 11-9, and Macie Hauck – who led the Maidens with five goals and an assist – added an insurance goal to put the Maidens on top by three before the Bears scored a late goal for the 12-10 final.
Grenfell contributed the hat trick while Rachel Shaw had two goals and an assist. Maddy Humphrey and Steph Knauer each contributed a goal while Brenda McDermott was instrumental in setting up the offense, contributing three assists.
Wilus lauded the efforts of several players in the win.
“Macie was all over the field,” the Maidens’ coach said. “It was her time to step up. She’s been a three-year starter for us, and she’s watched some of our big-time players take over games. I think she saw an opportunity for herself to really step up today. It was a close game, and she’s been there before.
“Brenda McDermott played awesome in the midfield between the lines. Steph Knauer also played very well. Our defense as a whole – first-year starter in goal (sophomore) Jenna Stover had 14 saves.
“Overall, it was a great test for us. It was a good early-season game to really see where we are. I think we have a lot to work on, but there are more positives to come out of a game like this than negatives.”
Pennsbury 11, Plymouth Whitemarsh 6Taylor Hickman contributed four goals and an assist in a game that saw the Falcons turn a 5-5 halftime tie into a convincing win.
“The big difference in the second half was draw control,” Pennsbury coach Kelly White said. “Jackie Sweeney got a lot of the draws.
“Once we re-adjusted our draw controls, we were really running our motion and running some of our plays and making better decisions with the ball.”
In addition to Hickman, Kelsey Gumbert, Liz Cowley and Joy Hopkins each added a pair of goals. Gumbert and Cowley also each chipped in an assist. Jackie Sweeney scored a single goal.
“It was actually a combination of a lot of players,” White said of her team’s strong second half effort. “Jackie Sweeney made a lot of nice connections for us in the midfield.
“Kelsey Gumbert netted a couple of important goals in the second half, and one of our new players – Joy Hopkins – had two goals. , and Becca Radzinksi – a D-wing – is one of our best defensive players.”
The win was the perfect start for a Falcon squad that competes in the SOL National Conference.“For us, it’s very nice,” White said. “Plymouth Whitemarsh is a great game for us.
“The girls worked really, really hard. We’ve been focusing on being a complete player and playing a whole 25-minute half, and in the second half they did that.”
All but lost in the shuffle of the Falcons’ second half surge was the effort of goalie Liana Eyre, who turned away nine shots.
“She made some key saves and kept us in that 5-5 first half,” White said. “She did a good job.”
For PW, Kayla Wisnewski contributed two goals and one assist while Sarah Naylor, Michelle Sturm, Meghan McCullough and Molly Getzfread each added single goals. Naylor and Getzfread also contributed assists.
Goalie Jordyn Dunacusky was strong in goal for the Colonials, turning away 15 shots.
Pennridge 14, Perkiomen Valley 13
The Rams played the final nine minutes down a player, thanks to three yellow cards. They didn’t let that stand in the way of earning a thrilling win in Friday’s opener. Julia Colyar scored the game winner with 27 seconds remaining in regulation.
A new rule has been put in place that after a team has received three yellow cards, that team must play down a man the remainder of the game.
“I was really happy with the way they responded,” coach Heidi Rimmer said. “They played tough the whole game.”
The game actually started out on a shaky note for the Rams, who found themselves staring at a 4-0 deficit early in the contest. They rallied to take a 7-5 lead at halftime.
“We adjusted a couple of things, and the girls really came back well,” Rimmer said.
Taylor Dachowski led the Rams’ attack with six goals and one assist while Julia Colyar had three goals and an assist. Nikki Beck added a pair of goals while Sarah Wiley, Hayley Purcell and Amanda Jynes each contributed single goals.
Molly Hurley handed out a pair of assists while Aerin McHugh and Kate Wiley each had an assist.
Rimmer lauded the solid outings of Sarah Wiley, Jaynes, Colyar and Kate Wiley.
“I think this (win) was pretty big because the girls are still coming together,” the Rams’ first-year coach said. “For them to start off down (4-0) and then to play down (a player) at the end of the game and to be able to pull it all together – they’re all still trying to get their mojo going, so it was important for them to win.”
Hatboro-Horsham 10, Council Rock North 9 (OT)
Freshman Rachel Rauza scored an overtime goal to propel the Hatters to the dramatic win. The Hatters were led by the three-goal, two-assist effort of junior Cortnee Dalee while junior Lizzy Carr added three goals and an assist. Nicole Beck chipped in two goals and an assist while Maria Guerra added a goal and an assist.
For the Indians, Kara Magley led the way with four goals while Lindsay Rheiner added two goals. Kara Le, Lyons and Strange each added single goals.
The Indians were minus a pair of key players in Friday’s season opener. Molly Doyle is lost for the season with a torn ACL while Hannah Plappert is recuperating from a concussion and will also be sidelined for a good portion of the season as well.
“Despite having to completely regroup, I am proud of their effort and know they will keep improving and learning,” Rock North coach Pat Toner said.
Central Bucks West 6, Council Rock South 5
The Bucks won a non-league thriller on the road in Friday’s opener.
“This was a great game going back and forth the whole time with both goalies helping to keep the score low and close,” West coach Tara Schmucker said.
Goalie stats were almost identical with Rock South’s Taylor Hurwitz notching 10 saves and West goalie Sammie Hogan turning away nine shots.
“We had several turnovers today, but our defense had lots of caused turnovers and played well to hold out CR South, especially at the end when it mattered the most,” Schmucker said.
In a game where defense reigned supreme, Christy Grezeszak had five groundballs and two caused turnovers and was, according to Schmucker, a standout on the defensive end. Freshman Elena Romesburg also was superb, collecting six groundballs and four goals.
Romesburg led the Bucks’ attack with four goals, and according to Schmucker, it was a crucial draw control by Romesburg as well as her team’s composure that allowed West to earn the hard-fought win.
Jane Savard and Tara Shugars each had single goals to close out the scoring for the Bucks while Savard also had an assist. Jess Circuit also contributed an assist.
Rock South received the hat trick from sophomore Christine Besselman while Marie Damirgian had two goals. Alexis Vanderslice and Galoi Rosenheld each contributed an assist.
Central Bucks South 15, Gwynedd-Mercy Academy 6
Kayla Kenney and Kelly Hamilton both connected for the hat trick while Casey Haegele, Mackenzie Harding and Kristen Lawlor each added a pair of goals. Bryn Dietzal, Maddie Dibrino and Taylor Michener closed out the scoring with one goal each.
Hamilton, Haegele and Michener also each handed out a pair of assists while Kenney, Dietzal, Harding and Dibrino all added one assist.
South held a 28-21 advantage in shots on goal. Titan goalie Leslie Searles had 14 saves in a winning effort.
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