Aberle, Gerbert pace Wildcats past Pennsbury

BUCKTOWN >> They showed no signs of slowing down.

Just a few days after capturing their first PAC-10 title since the 2011 season, the Wildcats kept right on pace to open the District 1-AAA playoffs.

On the shoulders of Makena Aberle and Corinne Gerber, Owen J. Roberts downed Pennsbury, 7-2 on Monday night, advancing to the second round for the first time since the 2013 season.

“These girls aren’t ready to quit playing just yet,” said Owen J. Roberts head coach Amy Hoffman. “They were still riding the high (from winning the PAC-10 Championship), and they came out and did some really good things again in this game.”

Aberle scored a hat trick while Gerber had two goals to go along with an assist.

The win will send Owen J. Roberts to a second round matchup with No. 9 seeded Bishop Shanahan (a 6-1 winner over Harriton) on Wednesday.

The win also comes a season after Owen J. Roberts lost a scoreless opening round game that went down to penalty strokes against Mount Saint Joseph.

This trip to the district tournament was much different, though, for the No. 8 seeded Wildcats.

Scoring three unanswered goals in the first 18 minutes, capped off by Courtney Gerber’s goal with an assist from Keeley White, Owen J. Roberts (11-2 PAC-10; 16-4 overall) put 16 shots on goal on the night and limited the Falcons to just seven.

Amanda Lamb made five saves in goal.

White finished with a goal scored and two assists on the night, including a beautiful pass across the circle to Aberle with 3:12 left.

For Pennsbury, Missy Frankil and Kate Chesney each netted a goal in the loss. Kaitlyn Faulcon finished with nine saves in goal, including eight in the first half.

Much opposed to last season, the Wildcats have rarely had a hard time putting points on the board this season.

“Last year, we could never score, it was our biggest issue,” said Aberle. “I think another year of experience has really helped us. We’ve been connecting better and making better passes.”

It’s experience that played a huge role in the Wildcats advancing to the next round.

Having played alongside most of her teammates since middle school, Corinne Gerber says the team hardly cares about who scores anymore. It’s just a matter of scoring.

“Whoever gets the goal, gets it,” she said. “As long as it goes in, that’s all that matters to us. We just want to keep winning and keep playing.”

Senior midfield Maddie Schaeffer echoed Gerber’s comments.

“Our goal is to just keep winning and go as far as we possibly can,” she said. “So it was definitely a good thing to get this win. As a team, we worked really well together in this game.”

With the loss, Pennsbury’s season comes to an end at 9-5 in the Suburban One League (11-7 overall).

“This score definitely doesn’t reflect how we played,” Falcons’ head coach Jamie Parrell said. “Even though we’re one and done, there’s still a lot to be said about everything we’ve done just to get to this point.

“We’ve got a lot of young girls who have gained a lot of experience this season. We’ve definitely got a bright future with a lot of good players still developing their skills.”

As the Wildcats continue to move further into the district tournament, they know the importance of creating and capitalizing on score chances.

“We know that if we keep pushing, it’s eventually going to go in (the net),” said Hoffman. “Whether it’s a corner or a play we’ve designed, it’s going to go in as long as we keep pushing. With that said, we have to keep pushing. If we let up at all, that will be it.”