Hatboro-Horsham hangs tough in loss to Pennridge

HORSHAM >> Hatboro-Horsham girls soccer coach Kelsey Daley knew the history of her team’s series with Pennridge.

So, she understood why some of her players were a little apprehensive before their game with the Rams on Friday afternoon. The results had been pretty one-sided in the past, but this is a new season for the Hatters.

Pennridge still picked up another win over the Hatters, but the hosts accounted well for themselves in a 2-0 Rams win at Hatters Stadium.

“We knew Pennridge is a top team in the area and in the past, there have been some ugly games with Pennridge and this team,” Daley said. “My team was still confident, we had a good win with two league wins that really helped us out. My girls played well, Pennridge is just an unbelievable team and well-coached, so they were one step ahead of us and we’re not used to that.”

The Rams (10-2-0, 6-2-0 SOL Continental) were coming off a loss Thursday night against Central Bucks West, so they rotated a lot of players in during Friday’s match. They also at times got a little too fancy with the ball, trying to ping one-touch pass after one-touch pass together.

It certainly helped the Hatters (8-5-0, 7-3-0 SOL American), and the host side’s defenders were able to read the attack well. Pennridge had the tic and the tac, but the toe usually belonged to one of Hatboro-Horsham’s backs.

Isabela de la Torre, Peyton Toale, Gabby Liott and Talia DeLuca all stepped on some key interventions over the course of the match and freshman keeper Martine Royds made five saves.

“It took us a while to adjust,” Daley said. “We realized they do play fast and you can’t hold the ball as long if we wanted to get it out. We adjusted pretty well to that.”

Pennridge senior Abby Groff had another hard-working performance for her team and played a role in both goals. Early in the first half, the forward was pushed down in the 18-yard box, drawing a penalty kick that midfielder Ashley Groeber converted.

When the Rams got determined and started taking the ball at defenders, they got things going. Groff turned that approach into a goal in the second half when she got the ball, turned to shield off a Hatters defender then charged into the box before putting away the chance.

“We need to focus on going out hard,” Rams senior defender Holly Harbeck said. “Sometimes we go out a little cocky, so we need to keep our intensity up the whole game. We can’t sit back and when they score, start to go. It has to be like that the whole 80 minutes.”

Harbeck, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, was part of a stout Pennridge defensive effort on Friday. The senior outside back has gotten stronger with each passing week and covered a lot of ground when she was on the field against the Hatters.

Hatboro-Horsham’s forward line pushed hard all game and the Rams defenders had to put a lot of energy forward even if the Hatters weren’t putting a lot of shots on goal.

“They didn’t play so many long balls so we had to focus on pressure-cover,” Harbeck said. “Right when we got the ball, someone was on us. The forwards were good with the ball at their feet so we had to focus on their turning and keeping them in front of us.”

Harbeck didn’t play much as a freshman or sophomore and with her junior year lost to injury, the senior is trying to make the most of her senior year. While the Rams returned three starters on the back line plus keeper Mary Kate Levush, Harbeck wasn’t a total newcomer.

Playing next to seniors Sarah Williams and Molly Groff has also allowed Harbeck to get involved in the attack and she played in a couple of good balls against the Hatters.

“I’d still like to be a little bit strong going forward, but it takes time,” Harbeck said. “I can always improve that with the season going forward and I’m excited to see where it takes me. I’m just looking to play early balls in and I’m working on dribbling up further but it isn’t really working out for me right now.”

Pennridge has a big week coming up with SOL Continental games against Central Bucks South and Souderton before a nonleague clash with SOL American leading Abington.

While her team didn’t get a result on Friday, Daley felt the Hatters should have taken some good things away from their performance.

“I told them they should keep their heads up, they played really well and hung in there,” Daley said. “They saw stuff from previous games Pennridge had played and some of the girls were a little intimidated but they held their own and hopefully brought their confidence up seeing they could hang with a team like that.”

PENNRIDGE 1 1 – 2
HATBORO-HORSHAM 0 0 – 0
Goals: P – Ashley Groeber (PK), Abby Groff.