Bristol field hockey blanked by Jenkintown
JENKINTOWN – You could say Jenkintown forward Taylor Spoerl imposed her will on Bristol Tuesday afternoon on the Drakes home field. The junior tallied five goals and two assists, helping Jenkintown to a 9-0 shutout win over the visiting Lady Warriors.
In the first half, Spoerl registered a pair of goals and assisted on a goal by senior Grace McCafferty, helping the Drakes to a 4-0 lead by the intermission. After the break, the 11th-grader scored three more goals while adding another helper.
“Her hustle is unbeatable, especially when it comes to scoring,” said Jenkintown coach Neilly Graves, of Spoerl. “She just collects the ball and gets it into the back of the cage.”
Senior Ashley Kremp got the scoring started, hitting the back of the cage just five minutes into the contest. Jenkintown possessed a huge advantage on corner opportunities, outpacing Bristol 11-1 in the first half and 18-2 for the game.
“I’m at a loss for words, today,” said Warriors head coach Stacey Albright. “We have a lot of things to work on. We don’t usually play like this. We’re better than this.”
“We can do it – its’ just a matter of doing what we’re supposed to be doing – the cutting and the talking and we didn’t do it.”
“We didn’t show up to play today.”
Three minutes after the intermission, McCafferty pushed the score to 5-0 with her second goal of the game, off a feed from Spoerl, whose third goal in the contest seven minutes into the second half made it 6-0.
“Our forwards are consistently able to get the ball to one another and get the ball to their teammates’ sticks, make the connecting pass to get it into the back of the cage,” added Graves.
“Grace’s hustle is unbelievable; that’s why she’s starting at center.”
Ten minutes into the second half, Jenkintown junior Mia Kolb took a crossing pass from Spoerl and pushed it into the back of the cage for her only goal in the contest. Spoerl closed the game out, scoring her fourth goal off a feed from junior Rory Strohm and fifth off a pass from Kolb.
Drakes senior captain Jen Kremp teamed up with goalkeeper Courtney Todaro to post Jenkintown’s third shutout of the season.
With the win, the Drakes push their way to 3-1 on the season. Jenkintown started the season with wins over Plumstead Christian and DelCo Christian but lost more recently to Lower Moreland, 4-3, in overtime after mounting an early 3-0 lead.
After starting the season with a 2-1 victory over Morrisville, Bristol has lost four straight including the previous day’s 2-0 loss to Friends Select.
Stepping up onto the varsity squad this year are freshman Kerrigan Reilly, sophomore Rachel Freas and sophomore Kacie Pinelli, who scored the game-winner against Morrisville.
“Kacie was injured last year but she’s come out of nowhere and has had some really great games,” said Albright. “She’s usually the one getting the breakaways. And her sister Paige Pinelli has had some great games on defense.”
The Warrior captains this year are seniors Gabby Quici and Gisselle Marte. Senior Sophia Davis and sophomore Emily Marchese are anchors on Bristol’s back line this season. Senior Kiki Adams is a first-year senior playing lights out for the Warriors.
“She’s a track girl and she’s super quick,” said Albright, of Adams. “I keep saying if she played last year, she’d be even more amazing this year.”
Next up for Bristol is Plumstead Christian on Thursday, Sept. 14, then George School and Lower Moreland next week.
TOP PHOTO: Jenkintown junior Natalie Kolb, right, for the Drakes, Bristol senior Gisselle Marte for the Lady Warriors Sept. 12 on Jenkintown’s home field.
Jenkintown 9, Bristol 0
(Sept. 12 at Jenkintown)
JENKINTOWN (3-1, 3-1: BAL) 4 5 – 9
BRISTOL (1-4, 1-3: BAL) 0 0 – 0
GOALS: J — Ashley Kremp, Taylor Spoerl 5, Grace McCafferty 2, Mia Kolb; B — none.
ASSISTS: J — Jen Kremp, Kolb 2, Spoerl 2, McCafferty, Ashley Kremp, Rory Strohm 2; B — none.
