Lindelow scores 100th goal, Upper Merion tops Upper Perk

UPPER MERION >> Francesca Lindelow knew she was closing in on a milestone.

But she also knew the importance of Thursday’s game against Upper Perkiomen.

So she put her personal achievement on the back burner, did what she was supposed to do and watched the Vikings achieve their goal while she achieved her own.

Lindelow notched four goals, including her 100th career tally as the Vikings used a strong second half to sink the Tribe, 15-8, and improve both their standing in the Pioneer Athletic Conference standings and their hopes of reaching the District One playoffs.

“We went through that tough stretch where we had to play Spring-Ford, Owen J. Roberts and Perkiomen Valley,” said Vikings head coach Angie Yanocha. “We had our troubles against those teams, as most programs have, but now we have a chance to make up for that.

“And after this win, we might be back in a position to make the district playoffs, which was one of our goals at the beginning of the year.”

The contest began with the Vikings breaking on top, 2-0, on goals by Molly Weygand and Riley O’Malley, then after the Tribe’s Hope Flack halved the lead, opened the lead to 4-1 with 15:24 left in the half.

Upper Perk would not get within two goals the rest of the way, as the Vikings tightened up defensively while the Indians simply hit a wall.

“We broke down defensively and we didn’t shoot the ball well,” said Tribe head coach Sue Fox. “We kept shooting the ball at the goaltender’s stick.”

And it didn’t get much better.

Flack’s goal 46 seconds into the second half drew the visitors within two goals at 8-6, but the Tribe would never get closer, as the Vikings built a 12-8 lead with 9:56 left, then piled it on with the game’s final three goals.

Among them was Lindelow’s 100th which saw the Vikings take a timeout to celebrate, although Yanocha said the stoppage was two-fold.

“I had two timeouts left, so we used one to celebrate the goal,” Yanocha said. “But I also wanted us to tighten up on defense.

“And really, we did. We really played well together as a team. We managed to stay composed, which is something we didn’t do when we played Pope John Paul. That was one of our goals today, to stay composed.”

As for Lindelow, she enjoyed her 100th goal, but enjoyed the win even more.

“I really just wanted to win the game,” the Slippery Rock-Bound senior said. “That’s what we all wanted to do today. Getting to 100 goals was definitely one of my goals for the season, so it’s exciting.”

As for the Indians, Fox said the team’s shortcomings are correctable.

“We just have to work at it,” Fox said. “Today we lost our intensity and our focus, and we have to work on that.”

Upper Merion 15, Upper Perkiomen 9
Upper Perkiomen  5 3 —   8
Upper Merion 5 10 — 15
Upper Merion Goals: Molly Weygand 6; Riley O’Malley 4; Francesca Lindelow 4; Allison Shuster 1.
Upper Perkiomen Goals: Hope Flack (3); MacKenzie Gebhardt 1; Courtney Bauer 1; Erica Boyer 1; Grace Lehman (1); Aiyi Young (1).