EAST ROCKHILL – Delivering a corner kick, Pennridge girls soccer senior Hailey Primwhere normally opts for a location rather than seeking out a player.
This one just found its way to the head of her twin sister Hannah.
“I kind of usually place it or try to place my corners in the same spot each time and my main targets are Anna (Croyle) and Hannah (Primwhere) usually because they find the ball well,” Hailey Primwhere said. “But last year the same thing happened, Hannah got asked the same question but it really just happens.”
Hannah Primwhere, a senior defender, rose up a little inside the six-yard box and knocked a header past the North Penn keeper, pushing the Rams’ lead to 2-0 in the 10th minute of Tuesday afternoon’s Suburban One League Colonial Division opener for both sides.
A few minutes later, Hailey Primwhere found the back of the net for Pennridge’s third tally. Freshman Gabriella Howley struck right before halftime while Liv Grenda tacked on another after the break as the Rams rolled to a 5-1 victory over the visiting Knights at Helman Field.
“We kind of all just work as a team and connect off of each other because we have really good team chemistry,” Hailey Primwhere said. “Because we’ve been playing together for so many years so we kind of just like to keep it like that and play simple and off of each other.”
Pennridge opened its season Monday night with a 4-0 home victory over Owen J. Roberts and maintained the momentum by grabbing the lead less than three minutes into Tuesday, Sophie Craig blasting a ball in from in front at 37:09.
“It really brings motivation to our team and kind of gives us more energy than we already have,” said Hailey Primwhere of the fast start.
Hannah Primwhere’s goal off her sister’s corner came at 30:58 with Hailey Primwhere making it 3-0 at 26:08 in the opening half.
“The scoreline was 4-0 I think last night but it was a hard 4-0, it wasn’t like they were a walk in the park so we were trying to get players rested from last night,” Pennridge coach Audrey Anderson said. “So you never know what you’re going to get, it’s an after-school game, first week of school, so it’s always good to score that quickly.
“But we’re still trying to figure out tempo and intensity and playing through a game and I know it sounds strange cause it’s only our second game but those are things that we need to continue to work on these next couple weeks.”
Pennridge came up just short of a second PIAA-4A title in three seasons in 2022, falling to Central Dauphin 2-1 in the state final at Cumberland Valley. The Rams return 12 seniors after graduating only one – Joey Tomlinson, now at Robert Morris – but still are early in the process of building this team’s identity.
“Learning to work together again because they all play club soccer – some play together, some don’t, some play a certain style, some play this style so it’s just getting them comfortable with each other,” Anderson said. “And everybody gets a little better – they change over a year so it’s just learning again who can do what.
“We got some girls coming back from injuries so trying to get them worked in is always important. But it’s just really learning each other and figuring out are we going to be different than we were last year, which I think we are and how quickly can we get back to a good rhythm.”
Junior Maddy Murphy scored for North Penn, which began the season last Saturday falling 3-0 to Allentown Central Catholic.
Both teams have division games Thursday – Pennridge hosts Souderton at 3:30 p.m. while North Penn visits Central Bucks West at 7 p.m.
“Every year’s a different year, it’s a puzzle and it’s our job to put the pieces together,” Anderson said. “And we’re hoping that we do it, play enough good soccer throughout the season to get us where we want to be. But of course our main goal is to be in that last game of the season as I’m sure every coach’s goal is the same.
“But I think there’s enough players on the field right now that are going to do whatever they can to make sure we’re there.”
After picking up the assist on her corner, Hailey Primwhere, a Lock Haven commit, added a goal as she collected the ball in the box after a pair of Knights defenders could not clear it and the Rams senior forward placed a shot into the net.
“They were in front of me and they both jumped for the ball,” Hailey Primwhere said. “So I kind of just held it and then shot the ball and they came back down.”
Howley made it 4-0 with just 21 seconds left before halftime, receiving a pass from Jessie Moylan, getting through a defender’s challenge then ripping in a right-footed shot.
“She’s a fighter,” said Anderson of Howley. “And our goal this season with 12 seniors is to try and use those seniors when we can to teach these underclassmen what the tempo, what the intensity level should be like on the field so next year when they’re gone there’s not a big drop, it is everybody still understands that expectation.”
Grenda, who picked up the assist on Pennridge’s fifth and third goals, pushed the lead to 5-0 at 38:38 in the second half by knocking in a loose ball in the box.
Murphy put North Penn on the scoreboard as she struck on a long-range effort with 37:35 remaining.
