Spring-Ford beats Boyertown, stays unbeaten in PAC

BOYERTOWN >> It’s still early, but Spring-Ford is off to one of its best starts in recent memory.

The Rams stayed undefeated in Pioneer Athletic Conference play, their latest result a 3-0 win over Boyertown on Wednesday afternoon.

The win improves Spring-Ford to 4-0 in conference play (4-3 overall). But hey, who’s counting?

“This is definitely one of the best starts I’ve been a part of here,” said Spring-Ford forward Lexie Nugent, “but that’s nothing for us to celebrate yet. We’ve got to play the entire season this way.”

“We’re taking it one game at a time,” said Rams’ head coach Jennie Anderson. “Obviously we’re excited about the way the season has started, but we’ve got a long way to go from here.”

The Rams’ unscathed start in the league marks the team’s best since the 2012 season when Spring-Ford finished 13-0 in conference play and eventually went on to win the PAC title with a 3-1 win over Upper Perkiomen.

That year, Nugent — one of the current team’s three seniors — was only in eighth grade.

“There’s something about this team … there’s so much energy,” she said. “A lot of players are stepping up and stepping into their roles.”

Nugent scored the game’s opening goal, knocking in a corner try fresh off the stick of MaryPat McKenna. McKenna added a goal five minutes into the second half off a rebound from Katelyn Crist’s shot.

Crist then iced the game, scoring off a feed from Erin Wilson with a shade under nine minutes left in regulation to give Spring-Ford its final goal. On the play, Erin Wilson dribbled the ball on her stick, fought through two defenders then laid a sharp pass to Crist for the closer.

“When we play as individuals, we get ourselves into trouble,” said Anderson. “But when we play as a team, we can pretty much do whatever we want to do. We can score, we can pass the ball, we can defend.

“If we can continue to play as a team, things can continue to go well for us. We just have to play at that level and stay together.”

Lexi Ciano and Kristen Grebe combined for six saves in goal while Spring-Ford’s offense dominated the possession and racked up 15 shots offensively.

Bear Necessities

Fresh off a 3-0 shutout win over Owen J. Roberts on Monday, Boyertown looked like a much different team just a couple days later.

The Bears put only six shots on goal and were out-cornered 14-5.

“We didn’t play the same way as we did against Owen J., but we showed glimpses of it,” said Boyertown head coach Karen Kooker. “We were letting too much space between our forwards and our middies (midfielders). That made it easier for Spring-Ford to control and advance the possession.”

The Bears opened up the season with a 5-1 win over Daniel Boone, but ran into trouble with a 4-0 loss against Methacton followed by a 3-1 loss against Perkiomen Valley. The Bears will look to get back on track when they take on Norristown Friday then open play against the PAC’s Frontier Division next week.

“I think the next few games will be good for us,” added Kooker. “We opened up with a really tough schedule, so hopefully we’ll be able to get back on our feet in the next few weeks.”

Up For The Task

Spring-Ford will go up against Owen J. Roberts on Friday, a game Nugent says didn’t escape her mind.

“We didn’t want to look past Boyertown at all,” she said, “but we know that’s going to be a huge game for us. We’ve got to keep our composure against them.”