North Penn pulled the shocker of the day in SOL field hockey, upsetting previously undefeated Central Bucks South. To view photos of the CB South/NP game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
Continental Conference
NORTH PENN 1, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0
A dominant performance doesn’t necessarily translate into a win in the world of field hockey. The Maidens proved that on Tuesday when they took on an undefeated Titan squad that rolled into town with a dazzling 12-0 record.
The Titans held a lopsided edge in corners (12-1) and a decided advantage in shots (10-4), but none of that mattered as the Maidens rode a first-half goal by Casey O’Donnell to the dramatic win.
“They were just relentless today, and they believed they could win,” North Penn coach Shannon McCracken said. “They knew they could do it. Especially after losing to them 1-0 earlier this season, they knew they could hang with them.
“Today they just played together, and they fought so hard.”
O’Donnell scored on the rebound of a goalie save 18 minutes into the game.
“It was huge to score first,” McCracken said. “If CB South had scored first, then you start to doubt yourself as a team. It was so important for us to get the first goal because then we knew we could hang with them.
“I told the girls at halftime, ‘We won the first half, but you can’t play to hold the lead. You have to play to win.’”
The Maidens’ defense and goalie Chessa Kownurko did the rest, silencing the dangerous Titan attack the rest of the way. Kownurko turned away 10 shots in the shutout.
“She had an excellent game,” McCracken said. “All three of our defenders – Alexa Gable, Laura Squicciarini and Juliana Hill - had excellent games. Julianna Hill, our left back, had a defensive save.
“Alexa Gable was our flier on corners. Mackenzie Harding takes all of their shots, and she has such a hard shot from the top. Alexa had a great day flying – she got her stick on a lot of her shots and was able to slow it down.
“One of our trails, Shannon Talbot or Katrina Marger, just picked it up and cleared it out. They played a great trail behind Alexa’s fly. Casey O’Donnell also played an excellent game.”
According to Titan co-coach Marie Schmucker, the Titans simply could not finish in the circle.
“We had a goal on the line, and we didn’t finish,” Schmucker said. “We had balls firing in, but we couldn’t finish.
“We had every opportunity to score. We told the girls, ‘This is not acceptable. You need to finish. Your job is to score goals when you’re in the circle, not dribble it to the corner.’ We had beautiful passing, we did a lot of nice things, but we could not finish in the circle.”
The Maidens (3-5-1 SOL) are 4-1-1 since an 0-6 start.
“This game will send us into our next series of games, and our girls are more confident,” McCracken said. “When we started the year, we were trying to figure out who should play where, trying to put together a team, and now they’re just really coming together.
“The girls were so excited. I’ve never seen such relentlessness in their eyes. They had it as their mission today to win this game.”
The Titans (8-1 SOL, 12-1 overall) still maintain a two-game lead over Hatboro-Horsham and Central Bucks West in the conference standings.
“As I said to the girls, ‘Better to lose now than later, but now you really have to step up your game,’” Schmucker said. “We have to work for it now. You have to want it more than the other team. Nothing is easy.”
HATBORO-HORSHAM 1, SOUDERTON 0
The Hatters earned the big win in Tuesday’s battle for second place in the conference standings. Carlie Baldus (Casey Swezey assist) scored 14 minutes into the game, and that goal held the rest of the way.
“It was a well-played game by both teams defensively,” Hatter coach Laura Swezey said.
The Hatters coach lauded the efforts of Tori Waddington, Jane Henry, Jenna Cutilli and Rachel Rausa for coming up with big saves in the circle and clearing the ball out of harm’s way.
“Casey Swezey controlled the midfield and carried the ball, transitioning it up the field for opportunities,” coach Swezey said. “We had a lot of offensive pressure. We just need to finish.”
Swezey also recognized the strong defensive play of Souderton’s Meghan McDermott, Jess Ziegler and Bekah Hershey.
The Hatters held a 10-6 edge in shots on goal and a 13-10 advantage in corners. Hatter goalie Emily Braunewell was forced to make just one save in the shutout while Souderton’s Jen Bergey had eight saves.
The Hatters improved to 6-3 in league play (7-4 overall) while the Indians are 5-4 in the league (5-5 overall).
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 7, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 4 (Monday, Oct. 1)
In a game that saw the two teams combine for 11 goals, the Bucks set the tone by connecting for three within the first 10 minutes of the game. Junior Erick Fiorelli put the Bucks on the scoreboard, assisted by Elena Romesburg, and then it was Romesburg connecting for an unassisted goal. Senior Heather Zezzo (Kate Varallo assist) scored to make it a 3-0 game.
East answered with three goals of its own, the first from Sarah Thiroway (Marissa Glatt assist). Then it was Glatt scoring a pair of goals, the first an aerial shot with an assist from Emily Ofsa and the second with a Maggie Ryder assist.
The Bucks – or more specifically Zezzo responded, scoring back-to-back goals, both at the end of nice passing sequences with Virginia Moore assists. The hat trick was Zezzo’s third in the last four games.
“She’s been a great finisher and is finding the back of the net extremely well,” West coach Casey Hughes said.
The Bucks took a 5-3 lead into halftime.
“We had a little bit of a defensive letdown in the first half,” Hughes said. “Our goalie, sophomore Brianna DeAngelis, was making great saves and really was the reason that East didn’t rack up more goals against us than they did in the first half. Elena Romesburg also played a great first half.”
With 11 minutes remaining, Moore scored using a Kim Hitchcock assist, and then it was Hitchcock scoring an unassisted goal. Glatt accounted for East’s second half goal.
“We have been playing well and are doing a great job of taking care of the ball,” Hughes said. “Erick Fiorelli had a great offensive game and was seeing space and making great passes.”
While the Patriots fell to 2-7 in the league (2-9 overall), the Bucks improved to 6-3 in the league (10-3 overall).
PENNRIDGE at QUAKERTOWN (Rescheduled – Oct. 5)
American Conference
WISSAHICKON 3, SPRINGFIELD 1
Home sweet home.
Three weeks after suffering a 3-2 loss on the Spartans’ grass field, the Trojans came back to hand their archrivals their first loss of the season on their home turf on Tuesday.
“I think (the field) was the really, really big thing,” Trojan coach Lucy Gil said. “They love to hit the ball really hard because they have to on their field, and today they were hitting it and it was going out of bounds. They did not use the small ball as effectively as we did, and I think that was a big part of it.
“We have also been talking a lot to our team about just being more aggressive and getting to the ball first. I think our team had at times been playing very uninspired, and I think the last few games have been playing a lot better. They have a lot of potential, but I think they sometimes lack in their belief of themselves that they can do it, and they play that way. Hopefully, this will help them believe in themselves a little bit.”
The Spartans actually took a 1-0 lead after a goal by Juli Cardamone at the 10:35 mark of the first half. That lead held up for all of 90 seconds before Jackie Hibbs answered with the equalizer, sending the teams into halftime deadlocked 1-1.
Emily Gallagher (Kara Miles assist) connected on a goal that turned out to be the game winner just over two minutes into the second half. A late goal by Lindsay Anderson (Hibbs assist) gave the Trojans their final margin of victory.
Gil lauded the performance of center back Angela Virtu.
“She just did an amazing job,” Gil said. “She made a save – she just dove after the ball in the middle of the circle. There was going to be a one-on-one with the goalie, and she just came out of nowhere and threw herself at the ball.
“She has such vision on the field and passes the ball really well. She played awesome.”
Springfield goalie Kim Machalette turned away 16 shots in a busy day while Wissahickon’s Claire Tarzia had three saves.
Both teams are 8-1 in conference play. The Trojans are 9-3 overall while the Spartans are 9-1.
NORRISTOWN 2, UPPER DUBLIN 0
The Eagles swept their season series with the Flying Cardinals, thanks to Tuesday’s win. Monica Levins broke a scoreless tie when she scored during corner play with 14 minutes remaining. Amelia Schunder tacked on an insurance goal when she converted a penalty stroke with 2:45 remaining in regulation.
The Eagles held a slight edge in shots (9-8) and corners (9-7). Goalie Jess Grose was credited with nine saves in the shutout.
While the Flying Cardinals fell to 2-7 in league play (2-9 overall), the Eagles improved to 5-4 in the league (5-5 overall).
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH at CHELTENHAM (Rescheduled – Oct. 3)
UPPER MERION at UPPER MORELAND (Rescheduled – Oct. 8)
National Conference
NESHAMINY 8, BENSALEM 0
Brittany Sheenan connected for the hat trick in the opening half of Tuesday’s game and finished the day with four goals. Her first goal came four minutes into the contest during corner play with assists from Emily Curtin and Annie Kopera. Nine minutes later she scored with a Rachel Rotteveel assist, and her third goal came with 20 seconds remaining in the half, this one with a Kopera assist.
In the second half, Malloree-Jo Mason (Erin Bedesem and Rotteveel assists) connected during corner play to put the Redskins on top 4-0, and then it was Rotteveel (Abby Alexis assist) scoring three minutes later. An Alexis goal (Adrienne Reice assist) was followed by Sheenan’s fourth goal of the day. Kopera closed out the scoring when she connected with 30 seconds remaining in the game.
The Redskins are 8-1 in SOL play (8-3 overall) while the Owls fell to 0-8-1 in the league (0-9-2 overall).
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 8, HARRY S TRUMAN 0
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH at ABINGTON (Rescheduled – Oct. 5)
WILLIAM TENNENT at PENNSBURY (PPD)
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