Lions sticksters split in Inter-Ac action

by TOM UTESCHER

In last Thursday’s Girls Inter-Ac field hockey match in Chestnut Hill, the host Springside Lions (7-1-2, 1-1-1 league) and the visiting Germantown Academy Patriots (5-3-2, 0-1-1) battled to a 3-3 tie, and the teams had reasons to feel differently about the deadlock.

Two days before, Springside had suffered its first loss of the season, 2-0, at Penn Charter, and 20 minutes into the action on Thursday the Lions found themselves trailing GA by a 2-0 count. Over the course of the game, Springside would gain confidence by rallying back from that multi-goal deficit.

For the Pats, it was the second straight league outing in which they’d led during the second half, but had been unable to come away with a victory. Junior Caitlin McGovern’s goal had put Germantown ahead in Tuesday’s tilt against Notre Dame, but the visiting Irish scored twice late in the game to win 2-1.

On that same afternoon, Springside took a jaunt down to Penn Charter to tackle the defending Girls Inter-Ac co-champions. The only goal the Quakers would need for the victory came ten minutes and ten seconds into the match, in a melee following a PC corner. Springside goalie Sara Heinze (ten saves) blocked a shot by Margaretha Ehret and a follow-up by Charter’s Marghi Walters, but on the second rebound Ehret hammered the ball home.

Midway through the second half, Ehret added some insurance for the hosts, smacking her second goal with an assist from Steph Ragg. Quakers goalkeeper Annie McKenna made five saves to chalk up her fifth shutout of the season.

On Friday the Lions were rocked back on their heels again as GA played aggressively at the outset. Just over four minutes in, Patriots junior Rachel Pickins drove the ball towards the goal from just inside the circle and senior Tess Genuardi converted for the visitors.

Emery Maine got off a few shots for Springside, but more often it was Germantown on the attack, and the Patriots went up 2-0 when McGovern scored with ten minutes left in the opening period.

Following a time-out, Springside appeared more determined, and Delia Langan slapped a shot just wide to the right. Later, with 3:26 remaining, Sarah Wadsworth put a shot on goal from the left side of the circle, and when the ball was deflected, Langan was in position in the middle to swat in the rebound.

A GA corner at the start of the second half didn’t yield a shot for the Pats, and when Springside came back down the field Langan carried the ball into the circle and then let go from about 12 yards out, tying the game at 2-2 with 4:05 elapsed. Seven minutes later, the Lions’ Ariane Lee passed the ball down low and from the midst of a pack of players Sofia Zmurkewycz caged it.

Once up by a pair, Germantown now had to play catch-up. The Pats pulled even with 11:42 remaining in the affair. On the latter of back-to-back GA corners, Springside’s Heinze made a kicksave, sending the ball back out into a swarm of players in the middle of the circle. Genuardi got wood on the ball for her second goal of the game, fashioning a 3-3 tie that stood up until the final whistle. In goal, Heinze made 13 stops for Springside and junior Meredith Dean recorded ten saves for the Patriots.