By Christiaan DeFranco
LANSDALE — Faith Christian has its own sort of miracle baby.
Two years ago, the school — which just turned 50 years old — didn’t have a field hockey program.
Now, in their second year of existence, the Faith Christian Lions are going to the state playoffs.
“It feels really good,” said junior Amaly Klock, an original member of the team. “I knew we could get here though.”
Klock scored the opening goal and freshman Sarah Hahl added another as Faith Christian toppled the Lansdale Catholic Crusaders 2-1 on the road in the District 1/12 subregional Thursday afternoon to earn a state berth.
“We had to pinch ourselves, we cannot believe it,” Faith coach Jayne Longacre said. “The girls are doing such an awesome job.
“It feels awesome!” she said of reaching the PIAA playoffs. “There is no better feeling. It is amazing.”
The Lions struck quickly.
In a furious attack in front of the LC net, Klock knocked the ball in with 2:07 left in the opening quarter after LC keeper Cassidy Wackerman thwarted her first shot off a pass.
“I expected it to go in when I hit it off my stick, but it just deflected off and the goalie kicked it out,” Klock said. “But I think, because we’ve worked so hard getting one-v-ones with the goalie, with our pressure and all of us being there for the rebound, it really helped it to get in.”
Midway through the second period, Hahl found the net to put Faith (15-5), the District 1-A runner-up, ahead 2-0 by halftime.
“The game plan was to get out there often and early, and keep the pressure on, to set the tone,” Faith Christian coach Jayne Longacre said. “We had a little lull at the end of quarter three and the end of quarter four. But our defense, man, they stepped up. They worked so hard, we’re so proud of them.”
The Crusaders (12-6) struggled to get anything going on offense, often fighting out of their own end of the field. But they mounted a couple of threats in the second half, eventually breaking through when Maura Johnson scored with 7:10 remaining in the contest.
“The girls played so well in the second half, and that late goal just gave them the momentum to do it again, but it just wasn’t in the cards,” an emotional LC coach Karen Dowd said.
Pope John Paul II, which downed Conwell-Egan Thursday and beat Faith Christian in the District 1-A final, will be the No. 1 seed out of the region while the Lions will be No. 2. A regional final is unnecessary.
“Going into this season, I wasn’t expecting us to gain this much skill so fast and be able to work so well together as a team,” Klock said. “Last season, we worked well together, but it was our first year and we just didn’t grow as quickly compared to this season.
“I think our new players this year were so willing to learn new skills and we were all willing to put in the effort, and I feel like it helped us get this far.”
Lansdale Catholic will graduate four seniors from this squad.
“This was an awesome season. It’s my first season to have gone this far with a team,” said Dowd, in her third year at the helm. “This team, I won’t forget them, especially the seniors. They’ve all worked really hard, all the way from August until now, to prepare for this type of game, and this group is very special.
“I love this team,” she said. “I seem to love all of my teams, but this one it’s a little bit more.”
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Field HockeyDistrict 1/12 Class A Regionalat Lansdale Catholic H.S.
FAITH CHRISTIAN 2, LANSDALE CATHOLIC 1
Faith Christian 1 1 0 0 — 2Lansdale Catholic 0 0 0 1 — 1
FC goals: 1st — Amaly Klock, 2:07; 2 — Sarah Hahl, 6:58.
LC goals: 4th — Maura Johnson, 7:10.
Corners: FC 8, LC 8.
Shots on goal: FC 9, LC 4
Saves: FC — Kylie Hetherington 3, LC — Cassidy Wackerman 7.
Records: FC 15-5, LC 12-6.
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Email Christiaan DeFranco at cdefranco@thereporteronline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @the_defranc, or visit ChrisDeFranco.com.
