FIELD HOCKEY:
Pennsbury seeking top five finish in D-I tourney
By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor
Pennsbury won their league this year, splitting a share of the Suburban One League (SOL) championship with Council Rock North.
While a one-goal loss to both the Indians and William Tennent prevented the Falcons from claiming the trophy all to themselves, Pennsbury is the only team from lower Bucks moving on to states. Seeded 13th in District One AAA play, Tennent was eliminated in a 3-2 loss to 20th-seeded Conestoga. Seeded ninth, the Rock was shut out, 3-0, in a second round pairing with 8th-seeded Radnor.
The 7th-seeded Falcons, meanwhile, blanked their first two district foes, defeating No. 26 seed Academy Park, 7-0, in a playoff opener and 23rd-seeded Strath Haven, 2-0, on a pair of goals by Mia Reed.
In a battle that took place under the lights in the rain at Truman’s turf field at Henry Morgan Stadium, Pennsbury went ahead when Reed tallied her first goal of the night off a feed from Jenn Taylor. The pair teamed up again after the break for that all important insurance goal.
“Sometimes when we score, we let up, so it was nice that we kept attacking the whole time,” stated assistant coach Tracey Arndt.
While Pennsbury stumbled in the district quarterfinal matchup with district finalist CB South, the Falcons punched their ticket to states Nov. 4 with a 1-0 triumph over 6th-seeded Downingtown West (18-5). Locked in a scoreless deadlock at the half, senior Jenna Allen got the game’s only goal and her 11th of the season with help from Reed and sophomore Ali Brady.
It looked like Pennsbury might claim a state berth earlier in districts when it faced off against CB South, a team it lost to in the regular season. Senior midfielder Melinda Feyko put a ball into the Titans’ cage in the first half and for the longest time, it looked like the Falcons would make the goal stand. With two minutes to go in regulation however, Sarah Hughes redirected a ball in the circle off a feed from Maddy Harding.
In overtime, Kelly Hamilton tipped the game in favor of South with the Titans second goal midway through the extra session.
Pennsbury actually had a chance to win the game in regulation after the Falcons were awarded a penalty stroke when a CB South player kicked a ball in front of the opponent’s cage. But Titans keeper Liz Lewallen made a fantastic save on the shot by Feyko to send the battle to an extra period.
“It was tough because we were winning the game for 45 minutes,” stated Arndt. “In some ways, it was crushing but we got another chance to make states with Downingtown and to our credit, we won.”
Arndt is glad she has taken advantage of the opportunity to share the 2009 campaign with her seniors--all 13 of them.
“I knew this was a special group and I knew they were capable of great things,” stated Arndt. “Sometimes their hockey is great and sometimes it’s not, but at the end of the day, they just don’t want their time together to end.”
The Pennsbury offense begins--and probably ends--with Reed, who has tallied 18 times thus far for the Falcons. While Allen has seen her goals total decrease over last year, she still is Pennsbury’s second leading scorer. Part of the reason is that at times, Jenna has been asked to play a midfield position.
“We rely on Jenna for her stick-work up top, her quickness and her ability to get a lot of pressure on the ball and come up with interceptions up front and go to goal,” stated Arndt. “She’s done a great job for us both up top and defensively.”
Sophomore Ashlyn Stevens is another player stepping up at Pennsbury, though her contributions have been mostly a surprise to the varsity staff. Ashlyn began the season on the JV team but was brought up to varsity in a midseason matchup at home. Stevens scored a goal in her very first game, twice in the Falcons first game at CR South and once in an ensuing win over the Hawks. She’s tallied seven times for Pennsbury thus far.
“She’s still raw in a lot of things that she does but she has that mentality of getting in the right spot and finding the cage and focusing on the ball,” commented Arndt.
“She doesn’t think about it, she just goes after it and does what needs to be done.”
In June, when 13 seniors depart the Pennsbury ranks, Stevens will be counted on to carry on the Falcons winning tradition.
“She’s been a great addition and it’s been nice that she’s been able to get all this [varsity] time,” said Arndt. “We’ll have to look to her as a leader next year when we lose all these seniors.”
If Pennsbury has been a standout this year on offense, defensively, the Falcons have been downright stingy. Pennsbury has won 11 games via shutout and has surrendered a goal or less in 15 of its contests.
A lot of the credit goes to keeper Caty Ritchie, who has shown dramatic improvement after working with goalie coach Jeannie Fissinger.
“Jeannie has come in and just dropped out of the sky for us and has been a wonderful addition to our team,” said Arndt.
Still, there are others. Right back Danielle Geller, the only returning varsity starter on defense besides Ritchie, has done well after being moved to a position in the center of the field.
Senior right back Marcie Paglione stepped up when junior center back Julie Kang suffered several injuries that have kept her off the field for large portions of the season.
Seniors Alyssa Cox and Jess Bulafka have also played a significant role in anchoring a defense that hasn’t surrendered more than three goals in any one game and hasn’t lost a game by more than one or two goals all season long.
At 7 p.m. tomorrow at Wisshickon in a battle for fifth place, the Falcons go up against Radnor, a team that knocked off Neshaminy, 1-0, and Rock North, 3-0, before falling in the district quarters to top-seeded Wissahickon, 2-1, in overtime.
“Winning here will help us with our goal of dragging this season out as long as we can,” explained Arndt. “It will be nice to know that while we got to states, we can also prove we are a top five team in the district.”
Six teams from District One make states. Arndt says the D-I brackets fell in an odd way this year. Most of the time, the district czars shape the brackets in a way that pits contestants against previously unseen foes. It didn’t work that way this year in this district with CR North, Neshaminy and Tennent all in the same bracket with Wissahickon and the Falcons in the same group as CB South. Ironically, Wissahickon was shut out 2-0 in the D-I semis by 4th-seeded Owen J. Roberts, which will face the Titans in the finale in a 5:30 p.m. pairing at Wissahickon.
Stay tuned.
***
NOTES: While Taylor is the only player committed to taking her game to the next level, Reed, Allen, and Feyko could also play in college. Cuthbert and Bulafka have both expressed interest in playing at Overland College, a private school in Ohio.
“We have a lot of girls who are just realizing now that this—playing in college—is a possibility.”
Sports Editor
Pennsbury won their league this year, splitting a share of the Suburban One League (SOL) championship with Council Rock North.
While a one-goal loss to both the Indians and William Tennent prevented the Falcons from claiming the trophy all to themselves, Pennsbury is the only team from lower Bucks moving on to states. Seeded 13th in District One AAA play, Tennent was eliminated in a 3-2 loss to 20th-seeded Conestoga. Seeded ninth, the Rock was shut out, 3-0, in a second round pairing with 8th-seeded Radnor.
The 7th-seeded Falcons, meanwhile, blanked their first two district foes, defeating No. 26 seed Academy Park, 7-0, in a playoff opener and 23rd-seeded Strath Haven, 2-0, on a pair of goals by Mia Reed.
In a battle that took place under the lights in the rain at Truman’s turf field at Henry Morgan Stadium, Pennsbury went ahead when Reed tallied her first goal of the night off a feed from Jenn Taylor. The pair teamed up again after the break for that all important insurance goal.
“Sometimes when we score, we let up, so it was nice that we kept attacking the whole time,” stated assistant coach Tracey Arndt.
While Pennsbury stumbled in the district quarterfinal matchup with district finalist CB South, the Falcons punched their ticket to states Nov. 4 with a 1-0 triumph over 6th-seeded Downingtown West (18-5). Locked in a scoreless deadlock at the half, senior Jenna Allen got the game’s only goal and her 11th of the season with help from Reed and sophomore Ali Brady.
It looked like Pennsbury might claim a state berth earlier in districts when it faced off against CB South, a team it lost to in the regular season. Senior midfielder Melinda Feyko put a ball into the Titans’ cage in the first half and for the longest time, it looked like the Falcons would make the goal stand. With two minutes to go in regulation however, Sarah Hughes redirected a ball in the circle off a feed from Maddy Harding.
In overtime, Kelly Hamilton tipped the game in favor of South with the Titans second goal midway through the extra session.
Pennsbury actually had a chance to win the game in regulation after the Falcons were awarded a penalty stroke when a CB South player kicked a ball in front of the opponent’s cage. But Titans keeper Liz Lewallen made a fantastic save on the shot by Feyko to send the battle to an extra period.
“It was tough because we were winning the game for 45 minutes,” stated Arndt. “In some ways, it was crushing but we got another chance to make states with Downingtown and to our credit, we won.”
Arndt is glad she has taken advantage of the opportunity to share the 2009 campaign with her seniors--all 13 of them.
“I knew this was a special group and I knew they were capable of great things,” stated Arndt. “Sometimes their hockey is great and sometimes it’s not, but at the end of the day, they just don’t want their time together to end.”
The Pennsbury offense begins--and probably ends--with Reed, who has tallied 18 times thus far for the Falcons. While Allen has seen her goals total decrease over last year, she still is Pennsbury’s second leading scorer. Part of the reason is that at times, Jenna has been asked to play a midfield position.
“We rely on Jenna for her stick-work up top, her quickness and her ability to get a lot of pressure on the ball and come up with interceptions up front and go to goal,” stated Arndt. “She’s done a great job for us both up top and defensively.”
Sophomore Ashlyn Stevens is another player stepping up at Pennsbury, though her contributions have been mostly a surprise to the varsity staff. Ashlyn began the season on the JV team but was brought up to varsity in a midseason matchup at home. Stevens scored a goal in her very first game, twice in the Falcons first game at CR South and once in an ensuing win over the Hawks. She’s tallied seven times for Pennsbury thus far.
“She’s still raw in a lot of things that she does but she has that mentality of getting in the right spot and finding the cage and focusing on the ball,” commented Arndt.
“She doesn’t think about it, she just goes after it and does what needs to be done.”
In June, when 13 seniors depart the Pennsbury ranks, Stevens will be counted on to carry on the Falcons winning tradition.
“She’s been a great addition and it’s been nice that she’s been able to get all this [varsity] time,” said Arndt. “We’ll have to look to her as a leader next year when we lose all these seniors.”
If Pennsbury has been a standout this year on offense, defensively, the Falcons have been downright stingy. Pennsbury has won 11 games via shutout and has surrendered a goal or less in 15 of its contests.
A lot of the credit goes to keeper Caty Ritchie, who has shown dramatic improvement after working with goalie coach Jeannie Fissinger.
“Jeannie has come in and just dropped out of the sky for us and has been a wonderful addition to our team,” said Arndt.
Still, there are others. Right back Danielle Geller, the only returning varsity starter on defense besides Ritchie, has done well after being moved to a position in the center of the field.
Senior right back Marcie Paglione stepped up when junior center back Julie Kang suffered several injuries that have kept her off the field for large portions of the season.
Seniors Alyssa Cox and Jess Bulafka have also played a significant role in anchoring a defense that hasn’t surrendered more than three goals in any one game and hasn’t lost a game by more than one or two goals all season long.
At 7 p.m. tomorrow at Wisshickon in a battle for fifth place, the Falcons go up against Radnor, a team that knocked off Neshaminy, 1-0, and Rock North, 3-0, before falling in the district quarters to top-seeded Wissahickon, 2-1, in overtime.
“Winning here will help us with our goal of dragging this season out as long as we can,” explained Arndt. “It will be nice to know that while we got to states, we can also prove we are a top five team in the district.”
Six teams from District One make states. Arndt says the D-I brackets fell in an odd way this year. Most of the time, the district czars shape the brackets in a way that pits contestants against previously unseen foes. It didn’t work that way this year in this district with CR North, Neshaminy and Tennent all in the same bracket with Wissahickon and the Falcons in the same group as CB South. Ironically, Wissahickon was shut out 2-0 in the D-I semis by 4th-seeded Owen J. Roberts, which will face the Titans in the finale in a 5:30 p.m. pairing at Wissahickon.
Stay tuned.
***
NOTES: While Taylor is the only player committed to taking her game to the next level, Reed, Allen, and Feyko could also play in college. Cuthbert and Bulafka have both expressed interest in playing at Overland College, a private school in Ohio.
“We have a lot of girls who are just realizing now that this—playing in college—is a possibility.”
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