Villa Maria tops Upper Perk in battle of top Class 2A teams

MALVERN—In what could be a preview of the District 1, class 2A field hockey finals, Villa Maria (12-1) put together a game that made it clear that they intend to repeat as the District champs, knocking in six goals in the first half, and cruising to a 7-0 shutout over Upper Perkiomen (14-2).

“We played really well as a team,” said Villa’s Hannah Miller. “We showed what our hard work can do and showed what Villa field hockey can do when we play as a team.”

Upper Perk had opportunities, especially in the early going. The Indians controlled things early on, and forced the first two penalty corners of the game. But those chances didn’t result in putting up any points on the board.

“Villa really has a nose for the goal, they push hard inside the circle and don’t stop until they have the goal,” said Indians’ coach Jamie Warren. “We need to develop that kind of mentality and attack inside the circle. But there’s a lot we can take from this game, and will take from this game as we move on with the season.”

The Hurricanes broke the scoring drought with a beauty of a goal just over six minutes into the game. Emily Doyle picked up a ball around midfield, and outraced her defender to the circle, drawing out Indians’ goalie Carly Eidle. Once inside the circle, Doyle made a perfect pass in front of Eidle, right on to the stick of Adrianna Yacovelli, who slipped in the easy shot behind Eidle.

“My first thought was to pass it off to Megan (Dillon) and let her transfer it,” said Doyle. “Then I realized that our next player (Yacovelli) was wide open, so I just passed it over to her.”
That score opened the floodgates. Over the next ten minutes, Villa got goals from Adele Iacobucci, Doyle (twice), Miller, and Erin Finley. And just like that, it was 6-0 headed into the break.

“I think probably the best thing we’re doing right now is playing as a team,” said Villa coach Daan Polders. “We’re not counting on any one or two players to get it done for us. It’s always good to get a win over a quality team like Upper Perk, especially with big games in our league and the playoffs coming up.”

Villa scored just once more in the game, when Miller notched her second goal of the day three and a half minutes into the second half.

“Villa is a very quick team,” said Warren. “I thought we did a nice job adjusting to the speed and stepping it up defensively in the second half. After a rough first half, we got better in the second half and kept it 1-0 the rest of the way. We’ll learn from this and be ready if we see them again down the road.”
Villa improves to 12-1 on the year, and have been flying high since suffering an opening day loss to Downingtown West.
“It has been exciting,” said Doyle. “It’s a big positive with Districts coming up. Hopefully we’re getting ready to make another run at states.”

Upper Perkiomen 0 0 –0
Villa Maria 6 1 –7
Goals: Doyle (2), Miller (2), Yacovelli, Iacobucci, Finley
Goalie Saves: Eidle (UP) 5, Acuna (VM) 4