Pennridge, weather deny North Penn’s comeback bid
TOWAMENCIN >> Just when the North Penn girls lacrosse team finally found its offense, Mother Nature stepped in to end the Knights’ chance at a late comeback.
After seven straight goals gave visiting Pennridge a 9-4 lead in the second half, North Penn scored four of the next five, pulling to within two on a Bri O’Donnell strike. But with 1:26 left in the Suburban One League National Conference contest, thunder and rain prompted a delay and with the threat of more inclement weather, the game ended with the Rams coming away with a 10-8 victory Tuesday afternoon.
“Unfortunately there wasn’t more time, unfortunate the game ended short because I think we were coming back,” North Penn coach Heather Mellow said. “I think we were making a comeback and finally starting to play North Penn lacrosse as opposed to whatever we were playing prior.”
Jen Rodzewich finished with a game-high five goals while Grace Loughery scored three times — the sophomore collecting her 100th career goal in the second half — as Pennridge (8-5, 4-3 conference) erased a 3-1 deficit with five straight goals to finish the first half. Rodzewich and Casey Hefner opened scoring after intermission to give the Rams a five-goal advantage at 19:11.
“We were being really poised and holding it up and we tried to stay focused,” Rodzewich said. “We couldn’t get too worried because North Penn’s a good team, so we had to keep control and not lose focus.”
Bri O’Donnell scored all three of her goals during North Penn’s 4-1 run that sliced the Knights’ deficit down to two twice. Back-to-back O’Donnell goals and a tally by Julia Keffer made it 9-7 at 8:54, but Rodzewich collected her fifth goal on a free position shot at 4:58 to put the Rams up three. O’Donnell then found the back of the net with 4:30 remaining.
Pennridge had possession when play was halted with 86 seconds left. The teams were looking to finish the contest — which had a delayed start due to rain — but the unfavorable forecast ended it. Shortly after the sides shook hands indoors, heavy rain began to fall.
“I told the girls before we walked into this game that anybody can win on any given day and they started off the first half and they really went in and were doing well,” Rams coach Karen Schnurr said. “Attack, I’ve never seen my attack work so well. Yeah, winning sitting inside is not ideal, but it’s a win and they deserved to win. They worked extremely hard.”
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for North Penn (6-5, 3-3), which looks to bounce back on Senior Night against Council Rock North 7 p.m. Thursday.
GIRLS #LACROSSE: @LadyRamLax's @jrodze evades a defender & drives for a goal 2nd half vs. North Penn. pic.twitter.com/6bp4YJsu2z
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) April 27, 2016
“We can’t afford to give games away at this point in the season. Not like this,” Mellow said. “If want to continue to play on into districts or playoffs, we can’t lose this game. We have to continue to win these games. So we’ve got another tough game on Thursday, they can’t come out light on that one either. It’s our Senior Night, we need to step up, our team needs to step up.
“We beat ourselves. It’s unfortunate. The other team, not take anything away from them, because I think they actually played a really nice game today, but we really hurt ourselves today and put ourselves in the position that we were in.”
Pennridge tries for a third straight win 3:30 p.m. Friday as it visits Springfield-Montco in an SOL non-conference matchup.
“We have big games coming up with Souderton and Hatboro-Horsham,” Rodzewich said. “We have to focus and play like we did today to beat those teams and then guarantee our spot — well not guarantee, but it help our chances of making playoffs.”
GIRLS #LACROSSE: @CaseyHefnerl drives and scores, giving @LadyRamLax an 8-3 2H lead over North Penn. pic.twitter.com/KoVpU6M6m4
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) April 27, 2016
Rodzewich began the scoring at 22:26 in the first half on a free position shot. North Penn pulled level when Sam Tossona found Kaitlyn Phifer for a goal at 15:43, while Jenn DeLongis and Mikayla Barrow scored to put the Knights up 3-1 at 9:46. After a Rams timeout, Rodzewich collected her second goal of the day at 9:30, then assisted on Loughery’s strike that made it 3-3 at 5:34.
“We got a little complacent and maybe a little tired and then I called a timeout, regrouped them, gave them our gameplan again,” Schnurr said. “Jen had a phenomenal game. She knows when to go, when to hold. Her shot is unbelievable, she’s just an all-around great player.”
Hefner’s scored off a free position shot gave Pennridge the lead for good at 3:21 while goals by Lowery and Rodzewich — the later on a free position shot at 20 seconds — gave the Rams a 6-3 advantage at halftime.
“We were just really slow to come out today We didn’t have any energy to start this game,” Mellow said. “Chloe (Novak) actually did a great job getting draw controls, we got the ball on the draws almost every time, but yet we never finished. Not until it became dire and then we started putting some consecutive goals in. And unfortunately there wasn’t more time.”
GIRLS #LACROSSE: North Penn's @brriiiannna drives for a goal 2nd half vs. Pennridge. pic.twitter.com/0iE4BqsZSw
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) April 27, 2016
Rodzewich had the Rams up 7-3 at 22:39 with Hefner’s second making it a five-goal lead at 19:11. Keffer ended the 7-0 Pennridge run at 12:02, but Lowery answered by netting her 100th career goal at 10:20.
“Coming into it I told her we don’t need to worry about the 100th goal, but worry about the team win,” Schnurr said. “And I’m just overexcited for her because she deserves it. It’s a great accomplishment as a sophomore.”
Three straight goals by North Penn — the first two by O’Donnell — made it 9-7 before Rodzewich’s found the back of the net for the fifth time at 4:58. O’Donnell completed her hat trick 28 seconds later, but the weather and the Maidens early struggles combined stopped the rally.
“We had the momentum at that time, so that’s why I really wanted to try and play the game out, but you know, we put ourselves in the hole to begin with,” Mellow said. “So, you can only blame yourselves for the situation that you were in. So, if we were ahead they would have been like ‘No, no, no, let’s play this game out,’ but we weren’t, so we did to ourselves.”
