Perkiomen Valley girls lacrosse keeps playoff chase alive with win over Upper Perkiomen

GRATERFORD >> The Perkiomen Valley girls lacrosse seniors know the clock is ticking on their high school careers.

Their goal is to do whatever it takes to preserve their final hurrah together as long as possible.

So when Upper Perk scored a quick goal in the first minute of Monday’s Pioneer Athletic Conference crossover contest, the Vikings locked down, making sure nothing came easy for the next 49 minutes of game action.

Senior Kiki Rotay led the way with five goals and classmates Jana Nuss and Mackenzie Hanlon followed with four and three, respectively, as the seniors guided the Vikings on a stretch of 10 unanswered goals in a 14-2 victory.

“I think right now, we have the mindset that every game means so much with our rankings in districts right now,” Rotay said. “We’re all fighting.”

“It’s definitely motivating. Every game is like we’re playing like it’s our last game.”

.@PvViking seniors Kiki Rotay, Kenzie Hanlon and Jana Nuss were multi-goal scorers in a 14-2 win over Upper Perk on Monday. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/Cru5a5j4Dj

— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) April 26, 2022

 

A few heartbreaking losses early in the season, including one-goal games against Pennridge and Spring-Ford in the first three games of the season, has Perk Valley (6-7 overall, 6-4 PAC, 2-4 Liberty) on the outside of the District 1-3A playoff field late in the season.

PV hopes a revenge win over Spring-Ford last week could rally it down the stretch as the Vikings carried that momentum into Monday night’s win over Upper Perkiomen (7-5, 4-5 PAC, 4-2 Frontier).

The Vikings are currently at No. 30 in the district power rankings, six spots out of the 24-team playoff field with five games left.

“It could be (our last game), and we just want to keep working, keep playing, so I think it brought the team a lot closer together and we just continue to give it 100 percent,” Nuss said.

After Hanlon scored 31 seconds into Monday’s game and Upper Perk junior Mary Kate Sitko responded 13 seconds later, the Vikings closed the half with eight straight goals.

UP goalie Makenzie Bettys made 11 saves, but Nuss, Rotary and Hanlon all had hat tricks by halftime as PV led 9-1 at the break and senior Elle Armbruster and Nuss added scores early in the second half before Sitko finally scored again at the 13:11 mark in the second half.

“It was just hard keeping possession,” Upper Perk coach Catie Sobotor said. “We just kind of, sort of panicked in some situations. That’s kind of something we’ve been working on all season. Some games we do well with possessing the ball and some games we don’t. Tonight wasn’t one of those games.”

Senior Sydney Schiffman also scored for PV, and sophomore Mollie Logan saved seven of her nine shots, passing 100 saves on the season in her first varsity year. Payton Bettys had five draw controls for UP.

Games against Norristown, Owen J. Roberts, Boyertown, Methacton and North Penn remain for the Vikings as they attempt to make a District 1 playoff push in coach Rachel Zurheide’s first season.

“We’re trusting in each other a lot more, and we’ve grown so much, which I think shows a lot about all of us,” Hanlon said.

The Indians are in strong shape in districts, currently at No. 7 in the 2A field, but have their focus on a return to the league postseason. They haven’t been to the PAC Final Four since winning the Frontier in 2016, and will likely need to take the division crown once again to punch their ticket.

Upper Perk opened division play with three straight wins, including Phoenixville, before losses to Pottsgrove and Upper Merion. The three consecutive games against that trio will decide the Indians’ postseason fate, starting with a rematch with Phoenixville on Thursday.

“They want to compete, they want to go the PAC playoffs, and I expect us to get to the PAC playoffs because I think this team can go far,” Sobotor said. “With districts as well we still have a winning record.

“We’re in that right spot. I don’t think we’ve peaked yet. We didn’t have our best game tonight, but the next few games I think they’re going to show up and do what we need to do to get to their goals.”