LOWERY GWYNEDD >> Kayla Mullin scored two goals in the first 104 seconds and Wissahickon never looked back in an 8-0 Suburban One League Liberty Division win over Abington Tuesday afternoon at Wissahickon High School.
Mullin finished with a hat trick while Riley Ball added two goals and five assists and Kayla Pak, Faith Jampo and Cait Connaghan each scored once.
“Having a lot of little passes around the goalie really helped move the goalie and get the ball in the cage,” Mullin said.
“We’ve really been working on (passing) at practice – getting it stick-to-stick and down the field. It makes it easier and saves our energy.”
The Trojans built a 3-0 lead after the first quarter, 5-0 lead at halftime and 6-0 lead through three quarters before adding a pair of goals in the fourth.
Wissahickon improves to 3-1 overall and 3-0 in SOL Liberty play with the win. The defending league champs beat Hatboro-Horsham, 6-0, and Upper Dublin, 6-1, for their first two league wins.
With 20 goals through three SOL Liberty contests, Wissahickon’s offensive strengths were on display against the Ghosts (1-3, 0-3 SOL Liberty). Crisp passing led to both of Mullin’s early goals, with Ball recording the assists by finding Mullin in front of the cage.
“I just transferred here in the middle of freshman year,” Mullin, a junior who started high school at Lansdale Catholic, said. “Right when I transferred, (Ball) was my first friend and ever since it’s been really great. We play field hockey together, do everything together, it’s fun.”
Pak assisted Ball’s goal later in the first quarter. Pak’s presence along the right wing has been a big part of the Trojans offensive attack.
“We’re finally figuring out the combinations that work really well,” Wiss coach Lucy Gil said. “Getting the ball over to the right-hand side, Kayla Pak is our right wing and she is just amazing at ball-handling. If we can get it to her she can get it down the field.”
Wiss earned 11 penalty corners in the game and scored on two of them – Pak’s goal in the second quarter to make it 5-0 and Jampo’s goal in the third to make it 6-0.
Ball and Connaghan set each other up for goals within 76 seconds of each other in the fourth quarter to make it 8-0.
Abington goalie Keeley Gallagher made seven saves in the first quarter and 13 saves in the first half to limit the scoring to five goals through 30 minutes.
While Wissahickon is cruising through league play so far, Gil still sees areas to improve.
“There were some things we did that were really, really great and there were some things I thought we could have been stronger at,” she said of Tuesday’s performance, “like getting back on defense. They could be a little more disciplined about that.”
The Trojans host Plymouth Whitemarsh, which is 1-1 in SOL Liberty play, Thursday.
Wissahickon 8, Abington 0
Abington 0 0 0 0 – 0
Wissahickon 3 2 1 2 – 8
Goals: W: Kayla Mullin 3, Riley Ball 2, Kayla Pak, Faith Jampo, Cait Connaghan.
Assists: W: Riley Ball 5, Kayla Pak, Audrey Walsh, Cait Connaghan.
Saves: A: Keeley Gallagher 13, Caitlin M 9. W: Ava Fell 2.
