Forward trio leads Souderton past Hatboro-Horsham in SOL Continental opener
HORSHAM — Souderton was ready to go from the opening whistle of Wednesday’s opener of the Suburban One Continental Conference play scoring two goals in the first half and one goal in the opening three minutes.
Souderton used its first half momentum and parleyed it into a solid complete game as the Indians opened league play with a convincing 5-2 win over the hosting Hatters.
“All day long we do a thing in school where if we see each other we just yell ‘game day’ at each other and that just gets us pumped from the very moment we wake up,” Souderton coach Lauren Whiteside said.
Although the Hatters did not get out to a hot start it controlled play in the early going in the second half getting quality scoring chances. Souderton however was able to brave the Hatboro-Horsham storm as keeper Megan Mehaffey made a few crucial saves to protect the Indians lead.
“In the beginning we were a little slow I think in the end we stared to find each other especially on the corners,” Hatboro-Horsham senior midfielder Syd Rausa said. “[There goalie] did awesome. I have to give her credit she made some great saves.”
The Souderton offense came from a trio of forwards in junior Nina Disco, senior Erin Saybolt and sophomore Jessica Gabriel. Disco recorded a hat rick while Saybolt put in the other two goals including a nifty lifted floater from the top of the circle off a corner play to give the Indians a 3-1 lead.
Gabriel record four assists as she asserted her self on the offensive end with some aggressive runs at the Hatter defense.
“My three forwards Nina, Erin and Jessie they have this great connection where they don’t need to speak they just see each other, they just know where each other is going to be,” Whiteside said. “Nina had three goals, Erin had two but Jessie had four assists so it really speaks volumes to their support towards each other and their ability to get inside the circle and make things happen.”
Getting off to a good start for Souderton in league play was a crucial emphasis as the Indians have struggled the past couple seasons in the difficult Continental Conference and with a roster that only boasts four seniors the win is a nice confidence boost for the young Indians.
“The last couple years we’ve been towards the bottom of our league and what we’ve been saying all year is this is our year. We’re here we’re ready to fight every minute of every game and we were ready for this game and I’m very happy with a 5-2 score.”
