Vervlied’s 5 goals lead Wissahickon past Souderton
FRANCONIA >> Emily Vervlied wants to make a play wherever she can.
“It’s just kind of how I’ve always been,” the Wissahickon junior midfielder said. “I’ve never really been once to give up on one side of the field. I just love being all over.”
Vervlied seemed to have a hand in everything everywhere in the Trojans girls lacrosse team’s Suburban One League non-conference matchup with host Souderton Friday night. The Boston University commit was active throughout forcing turnovers while also collecting a game-high five goals to help Wissahickon pick up a 13-8 victory.
“I think we just put it all together and as team just really worked as a team instead of doing individual plays and stuff,” Vervlied said. “And our defense played really well. We stepped up big time.
Vervlied scored four times in the open half as the Trojans took a 9-4 lead into the break. Her fifth tally off a free position shot gave Wissahickon (2-2) its biggest lead of the contest at 12-6 with 9:10 remaining.
“I’m excited about the win. We came together as a team,” Trojans coach Patty Kovacs said. “Everybody had a moment today, I can’t single anybody out.”
GIRLS #LACROSSE: Wissahickon's @emilyvervlied spins & rifles a shot in for her 4th goal 1H vs. Souderton. pic.twitter.com/j7qgFUiJWT
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) April 9, 2016
Sam Interieri added three goals while Carolyn Wilde found the back of the net twice for Wissahickon.
Souderton (2-2, 2-0 SOL National) jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Kate Mardi struck just 12 seconds in. But after scoring 20 goals in each of their last games, the Indians struggled creating offense Friday as turnovers kept Big Red from sustained time in the attacking area.
“It was really frustrating cause we’re capable of a lot more,” Souderton first-year coach Lindsay Walbrandt said. “We didn’t stick to our game plan, we didn’t play our game. We had a lot of silly mistakes and silly turnovers that really cost us the game.”
Mardi and Megan Walbrandt each had two goals for the Indians while Leah Goodwin handed out three assists.
Souderton gets back into SOL National play 3:30 p.m. Monday when it visits Council Rock South.
“Moving forward, next week’s a big week for us,” Lindsay Walbrandt said. “And we’ll turn it around and learn from it and we’ll move forward.”
Wissahickon begins its SOL American schedule Tuesday when it hosts Springfield-Montco at 3:30 p.m.
After Mardi opened scoring at 24:48, Wissahickon answered with four straight goals — the middle two by Vervlied — to lead 4-1 on Interieri’s strike at 18:16.
Souderton found some offensive rhythm after going down 5-2, with consecutive goals by Maddie Knight and Megan Walbrandt getting the Indians to within one 10:19. Big Red, however, did not score the rest of the half while the Trojans struck four times.
“It’s hard to pick up momentum when you don’t have the ball and that was it tonight,” Lindsay Walbrandt said. “We scored four goals on fast breaks in 10 seconds but those strung together far apart don’t really help at all to pick up momentum. And then we just got a little down on ourselves and so we’re going to learn from it and move forward for next week. But it’s just frustrating when you know that we’re capable of much more.”
GIRLS #LACROSSE: @emilyvervlied scores off a Shannon Stagliano assist, putting Wissahickon up 3-1 1H vs. Souderton. pic.twitter.com/sTUhrxLD2P
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) April 9, 2016
Claire Tarzia made it 6-4 at 9:11 while Vervlied scored on a low shot at 4:16. Vervlied found Shannon Stagliano for a goal at 2:39 then spun off a defender and release a shot that went in at 19.6 seconds.
“I’m starting to take shots earlier cause it catches the goalie off-guard,” Vervlied said.
Souderton twice cut the margin to four in the second half, the last time as Leah Goodwin converted on a free-position shot at 15:11. Back-to-back goals from Interieri and Vervlied, however, put the Trojans up 12-6 with less than ten minutes to go.