Check out Thursday's SOL girls' lacrosse results.
Continental Conference
HATBORO-HORSHAM 10, NORTH PENN 9
The final seconds had barely ticked off the scoreboard clock when the celebration began for the Hatters, who earned their first win over the defending conference champion Maidens since 2007.
It took just one word to describe exactly what it felt like to come out on top.
“Amazing,” seniors Cortnee Daley and Caroline Hagan said in unison.
Although the season is young, the Hatters assumed sole possession of first place in the Continental Conference standings while the Maidens – who have been solo champs in each of the last four years – suffered their first lost.
The players say they are far from satisfied and recognize the season is far from over.
“I think this gets us more riled up” Hagan said. “Last year when we went to playoffs, the hardest team we had played was North Penn, and we (struggled) when we got in the playoffs.”
“We want to beat the bigger and better teams,” Daley said. “I honestly don’t even feel like we played our 100 percent best tonight.”
Hagan received the first of three yellow cards for the Hatters early in the second half, and when she returned to the field, she was unstoppable, scoring three free position goals including the goal that knotted the score 9-9 with 10:27 remaining.
“I was mad,” Hagan said. “It’s not acceptable to play the way I played (in the first half). We knew we could beat them. We were just getting in our heads. That’s our biggest problem.”
The Hatters acknowledged that their biggest battle might not have been on the field when they face the Maidens.
“Every year it’s mental,” Daley said. “We just think, ‘It’s our biggest game. It’s our biggest game.’”
“We say it over and over,” Hagan added. “We’re jittery all day. We would get mental blocks before this game.”
This time the Hatters got past that hurdle, twice overcoming two-goal deficits in the second half and winning it when sophomore Rachel Rausa scored a free position goal with 3:38 remaining.
When it was over, Hatter coach Duncan Swezey acknowledged that nothing came easily.
“They were pressuring wherever the ball was, and we haven’t really run into that where someone is pressuring the girls all over the field,” the Hatters’ coach said. “Our normal game is transition, and they didn’t give us any transition.
“We were trying to get behind their ‘D’ and get fastbreaks, and we really weren’t getting them. They did a good job of taking away our normal game. They were doing a great job.”
The game was undeniably physical, but after issuing no yellow cards in the first half, the officials combined to hand out seven in the second half – three to the Hatters and four to a Maiden squad that had three yellow cards total in six games prior to Thursday’s contest.
As a result of receiving their fourth card, the Maidens were forced to play the final 8:15 down a player, which enabled the Hatters to effectively run out the clock after they gained possession with a one-goal lead late in the game.
“I thought we had a lot of careless turnovers in the second half, and we didn’t get the ball on the offensive end and get into a rhythm the way we have been,” Maiden coach Jami Wilus Behm said. “They’re a good team, but I think tonight it was pretty even.
“It just so happened at the end when they’re stalling, we’re a man down, and it’s pretty difficult to try and get the ball back.”
The Hatters helped their own cause by winning the draws down the stretch.
“Honestly, the game really changed when we started getting the draws,” Daley said. “In the very beginning when we weren’t getting the draws, momentum was theirs. They were getting fastbreaks.
“Our game is a lot of fastbreaks. When we get the draws, we get transition. I thought the momentum picked up when we got the draws. That just always helps us.”
The Maidens were led by senior Aubrie Stouffer’s hat trick. She scored all of her goals in the first half, including a late goal that sent North Penn into halftime with a 6-5 lead. Laura DeLongis added a pair of goals, including a fluke goal with the Hatters’ goalie out of the cage early in the second half to put the Maidens on top 7-5. Brenda McDermott added a goal and two assists and Kaitlin Suzuki had a pair of goals and one assist, including a goal that put the Maidens on top 9-7. Lauren Green added a single goal.
Hagan led the Hatters with three goals while Rausa and Nicole Beck both added a pair. Lizzy Carr had a goal and an assist while Daley had one goal and two assists and Julie McKay had one goal.
Jackie Giovinazzo turned away seven shots for the Hatters, four in a strong first half. North Penn’s Jenna Stover also was credited with seven saves, including back-to-back saves in the closing moments before Rausa connected for the game winner.
While the Hatters upped their record to 4-0 in league play (7-0 overall), the Maidens fell to 3-1 in the league (5-2 overall).
PENNRIDGE 15, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 7
The Rams received a pair of monster performances from Leah Alcott and Taylor Dachowski en route to their first league win on Thursday. Alcott connected for six goals while Dachowski had four. Maddie Maher scored a pair of goals while Aerin McHugh, Sarah Wiley and Allison Fugate each added one goal.
The Rams opened up a 7-2 halftime lead and never looked back.
The Patriots were led by the two-goal efforts of Sam Axenroth and Mary Kate Schwartz.
East goalie Maddie Steuber was credited with 14 saves while Pennridge’s Lynsey Babcock (four saves) and Danielle Nichols (eight saves) combined for 12 stops.
The Rams improved to 1-3 in league play (2-6 overall) while the Patriots fell to 0-5 in the league (4-5 overall).
SOUDERTON 8, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 5
Carley Kendall connected for the hat trick to lead the Indians to the win. Alyssa Ziegler, Sydney Niles, Liz Mower, Alexa Schneider and Natalie Bulgier each added one goal to round out the scoring for the Indians.
The Indians improved to 3-1 in the league (4-1 overall) while the Titans fell to 2-3 in the league (4-3 overall).
American Conference
WISSAHICKON 16, UPPER MERION 10
Laura Frankenfield was a one-woman wrecking crew for the Trojans, scoring a game-high seven goals. Teammate Lauren Irvine contributed the hat trick while Zoe Gomez added two goals and two assists. Goalie Julie Silverman turned away seven shots in goal.
For the Vikings, Dominique Gambone connected for three goals and also had two assists. Haley Fitzgerald and Mel Ryan both added a pair of goals and Liz Botto, Danielle SanFelice and Julia Reinert each added single goals. Viking goalie Ally Frymoyer was credited with 12 saves.
The Trojans remain perfect in league play (4-0, 4-2 overall) while the Vikings fell to 1-3 (2-4 overall).
UPPER DUBLIN 15, UPPER MORELAND 3
Kelly Cross, Brooke Callahan and Julie Cross each contributed the hat trick to lead a balanced Flying Cardinal attack. Kelly Cross also had three assists while Callahan had one. Emily Hitchings scored two goals and two assists and Taylor D’Ginto added two goals. Anna Trentini (one assist) and Rachel DiFrangia both added one goal.
Samara Santry scored a pair of goals for the Golden Bears while Sami Wojciechowski added a single goal.
Upper Moreland goalie Kaitlin Taylor was credited with six saves while Upper Dublin’s Sarah Gallagher had three saves.
Upper Dublin upped its record to 4-0 in SOL (5-1 overall) while Upper Moreland fell to 1-3 in the league (2-4 overall).
CHELTENHAM 17, NORRISTOWN 4
Allison Hawkins (five goals, two assists) and Sammie McManus (four goals, two assists) both turned in big performances to lead the Lady Panthers to the decisive win. Emily Hawkins, Emily Leibovitz, Brittany Hazard, Cozette Carter, Lynn Li, Alix Macklin, Gabby Szcrepanek and Skye Wallace each scored one goal to round out the scoring for Cheltenham.
The Eagles received a pair of goals from Beverly Pate while Precious Evans (one assist) and Taishay Gordon each added single goals.
The Lady Panthers improved to 3-1 in league play (4-2 overall) while the Eagles fell to 0-5 in the league (0-6 overall).
National Conference
ABINGTON 16, NESHAMINY 4
Hanna Sjoholm led the Ghosts with five goals and one assist while teammates Elisa MacColl and Meredith Cox each connected for the hat trick. Jeannie Van Buren scored a pair of goals, and Allison Rooney contributed one goal and three assists. Katrina Thallner and Maddy Cline both scored single goals. Emma Gross was credited with one assist and three caused turnovers while Emma Kurtz had four ground balls.
The Ghosts improved to 2-0 in the SOL (2-4 overall) while the Redskins fell to 0-3 in league play (0-5 overall).
- Log in to post comments
