American Conference
WISSAHICKON 5, UPPER DUBLIN 2
The Trojans clinched sole possession of first place in the American Conference standings, thanks to Friday’s big win over the Flying Cardinals. Wissahickon opened up a 3-0 lead midway through the opening half and never looked back.
“They are playing really well,” coach Lauren Luft said. “They’re knowing how each other plays, so they’re knowing where to put the ball for each other even if it’s not directly on their stick – it might be to a space that they know their teammate will be able to get to.
“They’re being the eyes for each other. They’re talking, they’re communicating. Even if they’re not in the play, they are talking to one another, and they’re trusting each other and having faith.”
Lauren Becker (Zoe Kale assist) put the Trojans on the scoreboard when she connected on a goal a minute into the first half. Ten minutes later, Becker scored an unassisted goal, and then it was Emily Gallagher connecting on an unassisted goal to put the Trojans on top 3-0 at the 15:48 mark.
Upper Dublin’s Kelly Cross (Stephanie Speese assist) broke the Trojans’ scoring run, but Taylor Myers answered, scoring with 30 seconds remaining in the half to send the Trojans into the intermission with a 4-1 lead.
The two teams exchanged second-half goals with Gallagher scoring her second goal of the game for the Trojans while Emily Hitchings (Samantha Boyd assist) scored for the Flying Cardinals.
Luft pointed to the play of midfielder Jackie Hibbs as key in the Trojans’ run to a conference crown.
“She’s a great person to have in the middle because she doesn’t carry much, and she’s a distributor,” the Trojans’ first-year coach said. “She moves off the ball to create plays.
“My whole forward line (Gallagher, Myers, Becker and Melanie Fry) is key.”
Myers has stepped in to fill the void left with the loss of Gretchen Guaglianone (ACL injury).
“Gretchen left big shoes to fill,” Luft said. “She was really good at tipping and deflecting the ball into the cage.
“Taylor is doing the best she can, and she’s gotten a few goals for us.”
While the Flying Cardinals fell to 8-3 in league play, the Trojans upped their record to 11-0 with just one league game remaining.
“I’m very pleased,” Luft said. “They came a long way.
“After tonight’s game against Upper Dublin, there are things we know we have to work on. We sat there after the game and watched film to prepare for Monday.”
The Trojans will celebrate Senior Night on Monday by taking on a Central Bucks South squad that is on the verge of clinching the Continental Conference crown.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 4, UPPER MERION 1
Rachel Konowal scored three goals and assisted on another while teammate Bryn Frankhouser added a single goal. Mollie Getzfread and Meg McCullough each contributed an assist. Dom Gambone scored the Vikings’ only goal.
CHELTENHAM at UPPER MORELAND (Postponed)
Continental Conference
NORTH PENN 3, SOUDERTON 2
The Indians sprinted to a 2-0 lead less than 10 minutes into Friday’s game, but any thoughts that there would be a rerun of Souderton’s 3-0 win in the initial meeting between the two teams were put to rest as the Maidens rallied to knot the score by halftime.
“They started off really strong in the first 10 minutes and caught us a little off guard,” Maiden co-coach Carrie Jankowski said. “But we just started fighting, and once the girls got one goal, they got more confident that they could keep scoring.”
Alayna Brown scored both of Souderton’s goals – the first with an assist from Taylor Yoder at the 28:59 mark and the second with an assist from Courtney Bradshaw at the 21:01 mark.
The Maidens answered with goals from Kelley Colbridge (Juliamae Marger assist) and Emilie Ikeda within a 64-second span late in the half. Ikeda’s goal came on a penalty stroke at the 7:37 mark just moments after Colbridge connected at the 8:41 mark.
A goal by Marger (Shannon Talbot assist) just over three minutes into the second half would turn out to be the game winner.
According to Jankowski, Souderton goalie Morgan Brozena prevented a sure goal with a superb stick save of a powerful corner shot.
“Souderton fought hard not to lose that game, but my girls fought equally hard to win it,” the Maidens’ co-coach said. “I thought both team plays really well.
“Emilie (Ikeda) had a great game in the middle, and we actually finished and scored some goals for once.”
The Maidens won’t have long to celebrate. They return to action on Saturday when they will face Jankowski’s alma mater - perennial state power Emmaus.
“That will be a challenge,” she said. “Tuesday night is our Senior Night against Hatboro. If we put a good game together against Hatboro, I feel we will have some pretty good momentum going into the playoffs.”
Jankowski acknowledged the effort of Souderton’s Bekah Hershey.
“Souderton played really well,” she said. “Aside from the first 10 minutes, my defense played really well.
“Not only is it is a big win because Souderton is a strong team, but we played really hard. It was one of those where you come out of the game really proud of how your team played.”
As a result of the win, the Maidens improved to 9-4 while the Indians saw their record drop to 10-3 in league play.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH at HATBORO-HORSHAM (Postponed)
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST at QUAKERTOWN (Postponed)
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 2, PENNRIDGE 0 (Thursday, Oct. 13)
National Conference
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 2, PENNSBURY 0
NESHAMINY 6, HARRY S. TRUMAN 0
HARRY S. TRUMAN at COUNCIL ROCK NORTH (Postponed)
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