Owen J. Roberts runs PAC title streak to five with win over Spring-Ford

UPPER MERION >> Eloise Gebert was there at the start of Owen J. Roberts’ current Pioneer Athletic Conference title run.

Gebert was an eighth grader in 2014 watching her sister Maddie and the Wildcats dethrone Boyertown, then the 10-time defending champs.

In Gebert’s four years at OJR, she has built on what her older sister started. At Upper Merion High School on Thursday night, she helped the Wildcats defeat Spring-Ford, 17-5, for their fifth straight PAC title. 

Gebert and fellow seniors Charlotte Lasak and Sophia Murray are the second straight Wildcats’ senior class to end their careers with four league titles.

“I just remember thinking, ‘Wow I can’t believe they finally beat them.’ But now being here, it’s amazing,” Gebert said. “It makes me really excited because I know the younger girls will do great and keep this legacy going on.”

Spring-Ford matched OJR’s energy at the start of Thursday’s championship game. Rams goalie Makayla Kwiej and the Spring-Ford defense kept a potent Wildcats’ attack in check, while captain Liv Yeagle knotted the game 3-3 with 7:55 to go in the first half.

Then came the OJR onslaught, as has happened to so many teams. OJR scored 12 of the game’s next 13 goals. Junior Hannah Delahaye led the Wildcats with six goals, and junior Maddi Koury accounted for eight scores, tallying four goals and four assists. With 5:25 left in the game, Koury set the school’s assist record with a pass to Gebert, who scored three times. 

“It wasn’t the best assist, but I can always count on Eloise to finish it off for me,” Koury said.

Maddi Koury to Eloise Gebert. Koury becomes OJR’s all-time assists leader. @ojrglacrosse pic.twitter.com/zNPAVo7fU2

— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) May 9, 2019

Gebert, Lasak and Murray have been through three different coaches during their four-year careers. David Schlesinger took over this season, winning a league title in his first year.

A constant over the past four years has been a commitment from the players. Murray said the team consistently has a high attendance for its fall and winter leagues and practice sessions throughout the year. At the start of each season, the Wildcats are prepared for each team’s best shot. 

“We come into each season thinking we have to work our butts off,” Murray said. “We have to work really hard to get back on top. Because we’ve been winning it the last couple years, we have a target on our back coming into every season. We know we have to go the extra mile.”

Michaela Haney led Spring-Ford with two goals, and Cassie Marte, Brenna Whiteside and Yeagle finished off the Rams’ scoring. 

After a 2-8 finish in the Liberty division last season, Spring-Ford turned things around to finish second in the division this season behind OJR and make it back to their second title game in three years.

The Rams were bounced by OJR in the first round of District 1 Class 3A tournament last season after coming into the 24-team tournament as the 24th ranked team. They entered Thursday as the No. 13 seed for this year’s tournament and feel poised for a deeper run.

“I think defensively, we were forcing them to take bad shots,” Spring-Ford coach Kristi Holstein said of her team’s strong start Thursday. “If we can maintain that into districts, that’s going to be something big.”

“Our district goal right now is to go further than we ever have in the past,” she added. “We’ve won in the first round, but we’e always lost in the second round. We would love to make it to next Saturday, which would be the third round.” 

Gebert said the Wildcats’ goals are simple to finish of their season: “Win districts, win states,” she said. 

Regardless of how OJR finishes off this year, a strong junior class led by Delahaye, Koury and goalie Cayden Jarvis, who made 11 saves Thursday, will make the Wildcats the favorites to win a sixth straight PAC title next season. 

At the moment, OJR is still six championships away from matching the Boyertown team it knocked off.

“There’s always been pressure from the first year,” Koury said. “As we keep going, it keeps building up. I can’t wait to keep it going as long as I can.”