WHITEMARSH – The most important step for Souderton field hockey’s Tatum Andrews in her double-overtime goal was the first one – making sure the pass from Julia Blair did not get past her.
“Stopping the ball,” Andrews said. “Not letting me miss the ball. As long as I stop the ball, I’m able to shoot it on goal.”
Blair knocked away a ball for a steal then found Andrews, who collected the pass and slid a shot past the outcoming goalkeeper and into the cage at 4:40 of the second period of 7-on-7 play to give the No. 18 seed Indians a 2-1 victory over No. 15 Plymouth Whitemarsh in Monday afternoon’s District 1-3A first round game.
“I know she would get that ball off to me,” Andrews said. “I knew we would get that goal there. Those are our best moments, those two-v-ones, getting up the field.”
Andrews, a UMass Lowell lacrosse commit, scored both goals for Souderton (11-7-1), her first also assisted by Blair, as the Indians won their district opener for the third consecutive season and advance to visit No. 2 Downingtown West in the second round 7 p.m. Wednesday.
“Definitely really stressful on us,” Andrews said. “But we knew we had to come together in the end and we knew we were getting this win today.”
For Plymouth Whitemarsh (12-7-0), who forced overtime on GracIe Kerns’ tally with 5:22 remaining in the fourth, the loss was its third straight in the first round since the Colonials reached the district 3A final in 2020.
“Overall, I thought we played a pretty team game today, found a lot of good passing connections,” PW coach Charise Halteman said. “I don’t think our third quarter was as strong as it should’ve been, I feel like we could’ve scored earlier which would’ve maybe taken a little less pressure off of the team. But to keep fighting the whole game, tie it up and then honestly I thought we dominated large chunks of overtime, we just couldn’t put it in the back of the cage.
“So happy with how they played, obviously you can go back and different things, different decisions but overall I thought the girls played a hard game.”
PW came close to claiming the game-winner on a first-overtime corner as an Emily Dobrowolski shot hit off the left post before Souderton keeper Meredith DeMarzio denied Kerns twice on rebounds.
Souderton could not convert on a corner with no time left in the first overtime but broke the tie in the second extra session – Blair forcing a turnover in the Colonials’ half and delivered a pass to Andrews, the senior alone in the circle for a shot by the keeper and into the empty cage.
“I just kind of reached out and tried to grab the ball cause I saw that it was kind of far away,” Blair said. “And I wasn’t sure if I could get it but I figured I’d reach for it. And then I had the girl on my shoulder and I was dribbling and I ended up looking into the sun and I heard Tatum yelling and I was like ‘OK, I mean I trust that she’s there.’
“So once I got past that girl and kind of sealed her off I just trusted that Tatum was going to be there.”
Both Souderton and PW had slow starts to the 2023 season but each came into districts with momentum.
The Indians – without first team all-state junior Ava Jones this year after her ACL injury playing lacrosse last spring – were winless in their first six games (0-5-1) but bounced back to earn victories in their next eight.
“We have a really young team, a lot of great freshmen coming up but you’re playing with a new team so you’re learning about each other,” Andrews said. “And I think that it took us a little bit, a lot longer than we would’ve liked.”
After losses to North Penn and Central Bucks East, Big Red – which qualified for the PIAA Tournament the past two years – edged Central Bucks West in overtime, handing SOL Colonial Division champ West its second loss, before beating Pennridge in the regular-season finale.
“I think we’ve definitely kind of grown in confidence,” Blair said. “And we’ve been doubling the ball in our offensive end and we’ve been moving as a pack better and I think we’re communicating on the field and we’re really doubling as a team, that’s been a really big factor in our success.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh, meanwhile, won just one of its first six before putting together a seven-game win streak that was halted by an OT loss to Quakertown. The Colonials, however, had picked up four victories in a row entering Monday’s matchup.
“I think we just really preached to the team that we saw a lot of potential and saw where they could be at the end and just kind of tried to live into that and stay positive,” Halteman said. “And we knew things would turn at some point and once we started gaining that confidence and playing together as a team I think they really saw, yeah we can do this.”
Andrews gave Souderton a 1-0 lead with 2:46 left in the second quarter on a corner. Blair got the ball back after it left the circle and hit it towards the cage, Andrews corralling it and knocking it past the keeper and in.
“I just remember she pushed it in and I was like I got to get this ball,” Andrews said. “And the goal was to just get the ball to score at that point.”
The Indians held the advantage until the fourth when PW equalized with 5:22 left in regulation on a corner – an Ella Catania shot was blocked but Ella Bruno gathered the rebound at the left post and sent a ball to the right post that Kerns put into the cage.
“I really thought from the beginning of the game to the end she was really starting to figure out what their defense was good at and using some new moves and different things to get some really nice attacking opportunities,” said Halteman of Kerns. “And she’s a freshman so she has a lot to offer moving forward so it’s exciting to see her play so well in her first playoff game.”
