WORCESTER >> Methacton senior Jayme Weber scored the 100th goal of her career Tuesday during a 13-8 Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division win over Spring-Ford.
The milestone is even more impressive when you consider how quickly Weber got there. She scored 37 goals as a freshman before losing her entire sophomore season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She added 44 more goals as a junior before scoring her 100th goal during the first half of the eighth game of her senior year.
“It’s crazy,” she said. “I’ve been working really hard since freshman year to get it. Seeing the upperclassmen get it before me just gave me something to strive to get. I’ve just been working really hard for it. I’m relieved.”
“She’s not afraid to go to goal,” Methacton coach Laurei Markle said of what makes Weber a prolific scorer. “She’s got a lot of variety in her shots. She has a powerful shot.”
Methacton’s Jayme Weber, center, gets congratulations from teammates Megan Sanelli, left, and Delaney Smith, right after scoring her 100th career goal Tuesday against Spring-Ford. (Owen McCue – MediaNews Group)
The 100th goal of her career was her third of the game Tuesday. She converted a free position for her 98th goal and finished in transition for her 99th before giving the Warriors (7-1, 4-1 PAC, 3-1 PAC Liberty) a 6-1 lead with another free position for her 100th.
Methacton’s Jayme Weber scores her 100th career goal. pic.twitter.com/jZG3xMrwuq
— Ed Morlock (@emor09) April 12, 2022
Weber, who earned second team All-PAC Liberty honors as a freshman and first team All-PAC Liberty honors as a junior, will continue her academic and athletic careers at Old Dominion University. She committed at the start of her junior season and chose ODU over Philadelphia schools like Drexel and La Salle.
“I wanted to go far,” she said, “and Old Dominion is 15 minutes from Virginia Beach and I loved the coaching staff and the team.”
Weber also scored her 101st goal Tuesday, which helped slow down a strong Spring-Ford (4-3, 4-1 PAC, 2-1 PAC Liberty) run.
The Rams scored four straight goals in less than eight minutes, trimming an 8-1 deficit to 8-5, early in the second half.
Spring-Ford’s Gianna Dibattista, left, dodges the defense of Methacton’s Giada Catoia on Tuesday. (Owen McCue – MediaNews Group)
Weber responded with her fourth goal of the game to get the Warriors lead back to four.
“This is our first game with the heat,” Weber said, “so I think we just needed to adjust and then we had a little lull but then we got back into our rhythm.”
The Rams got their deficit back to three two more times, 10-7 and 11-8, but both times Methacton’s Megan Sanelli answered to extend the lead back to eight.
“They responded well,” Markle said of her team when the game got close. “I know we were a little bit rattled by a couple of the calls, but I thought our defense stood pretty strong and offensively when we want to turn it on, we can turn it on.”
Sanelli scored a game-high six goals, tallying a hat trick in both halves. Michelle Zhai added three goals for the Warriors.
Alyssa Mozi, Emma Sowers and Gianna DiBattista each scored two goals for the Rams while Madison Pierce and Summer Smith each scored once.
Methacton’s Delaney Smith, left, sprints up the field as Spring-Ford’s Hailey Mozi defends Tuesday. (Owen McCue – MediaNews Group)
Methacton’s Delaney Smith, center, sprints up the field as Spring-Ford’s Hailey Mozi, right, and Emma Sowers, left, attempt to chase her down Tuesday. (Owen McCue – MediaNews Group)
Methacton 13, Spring-Ford 8
Spring-Ford 2 6 – 8
Methacton 8 5 – 13
Goals: SF: Madison Pierce, Alyssa Mozi 2, Emma Sowers 2, Summer Smith, Gianna DiBattista 2. M: Megan Sanelli 6, Michelle Zhai 3, Jayme Weber 4.
