Christopher Dock stays perfect in BAL, shuts out Jenkintown
TOWAMENCIN >> The Christopher Dock field hockey team entered Thursday afternoon’s Bicentennial Athletic League matchup with Jenkintown with an undefeated league record.
The Pioneers left the game with their record still unblemished, using a dominant first-half performance to improve to 12-0 in BAL play with a 6-0 victory.
“We did great passing out on the field, we took shots when we had it in the circle and we executed them into goals. The girls played well today,” Christopher Dock coach Michelle Waldspurger said.
Dock got on the Drakes right away, putting up a pair of goals in the first 5:10 of the game. In the first half, the Pioneers outshot the Drakes 14-0 and held a slight 3-1 edge on corners.
The most impressive aspect to Dock’s game is its passing. Pioneers can execute difficult passes, which helps send the team in transition, flips sides of the field and sets up scoring chances in the offensive zone.
“We attacked both sides of the field (with) strong passes,” Waldspurger said.
The catalyst of the Dock passing game is midfielder Jill Bolton. Bolton finished with two goals and an assist Thursday, but owned the midfield as she rocketed balls up field to set up the offense.
“She has led this team through out this season. She is our set up for our attack,” Waldspurger said of the junior captain. “She plays very strong. She has outstanding stick work. She very hard to defend and she’s very physically strong and mentally tough, she’s just and outstanding competitor.”
Once in the offensive zone, freshman Macy Balmer helped possess the ball and set the Pioneers up with quality scoring chances. Balmer finished with a goal and an assist but the maturity and composure she played with for a freshman was equally as important to what showed up on the score sheet.
“She plays very strong, she’s got a lot of speed, she’s just a freshman but she has great stick skills and she runs down the field very well,” Waldspurger said.
For the Drakes, Ashley Kremp and Sarah Whitney tried their best to neutralize Bolton and the other talented Dock midfielders.
“They were able to get the ball in the open field and keep it from their players and make sure we got it outside,” said Jenkintown coach Katie Small of the Dock midfield duo.
Claire Griffiths and Jen Rae played well at forward for Jenkintown, but because the Drakes didn’t have many offensive opportunities their efforts were muted a bit.
“Jen Rae is an excellent left forward for us,” Small said. “I haven’t seen a team yet that can stop her from taking from the midfield all the way down the field.
“Claire is the work horse of our team. Where ever the ball is, she is going to be and she makes things happen.”
The loss for the Drakes is nothing to be ashamed of, as the Dock has clearly proved it is the class of the BAL. Jenkintown will surely use the experience of playing a team of Dock’s caliber to improve moving forward.
“With a player like (Bolton) in the middle of the field she basically dictates what happens on the field,” Small said. “If they learn anything its that you need to play tough and you need to be able to play where the ball is going to go in situations like this versus trying to the stop the player from getting down field.”
Top Photo: Christopher Dock’s Jill Bolton (18) works a ball upfield past Jenkintown defenders during first-half action of their contest at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015. (Mark C Psoras/The Reporter)
