Plymouth Whitemarsh edges Springfield-Montco on Reardon’s 2nd half goal

SPRINGFIELD >> Kennedy Reardon forgot her jersey Wednesday afternoon.

It’s a good thing she didn’t forget her stick.

Reardon scored the game’s lone goal as Plymouth Whitemarsh High’s field hockey team topped Springfield, 1-0, keeping the Colonials unbeaten in Suburban One League American Conference play.

Reardon’s goal, with 10:28 left in the game, rescued the Colonials on a day when they were not at their best.

Wearing the unfamiliar No. 44, Reardon let a shot rip from the left of the circle, which eluded Spartans goaltender Emily Henry and gave the Colonials the only goal they’d need.

“I thought Springfield had the home field advantage with the grass-and-dirt field,” said Colonials head coach Charise Halteman. “I thought we did a better job in the second half. Our kids kept their heads high and worked hard throughout the game.”

Neither side seemed to have a territorial edge in the first half, although the Colonials (12-1-0, 10-0-0 conference) did outshoot the Spartans, 4-2.

Both teams had difficulty getting the ball through the midfield throughout much of the first as poor field conditions hindered both teams’ ability to move the ball.

That changed somewhat in the second half, and finally Reardon took advantage, rocketing a shot past Henry that became the game’s lone goal.

Spartans head coach Linda Nixon said the game plan was to force PW into places it didn’t want to go.

“Our motto is, stop the ball and know where your opponents are,” said Nixon, who is in her 50th season of coaching field hockey (48th at Springfield).

“(PW) has a strong team, so our goal was to go out and play a hard, aggressive game.”

That the Spartans (9-3-0, 8-2-0) did.

But ultimately, they were done in by a lack of offense.

“It was a good game, and a good learning experience,” Halteman said. “(Springfield) does a good job supporting each other on the ball.

“If our passes weren’t finding sticks, (Springfield players) were on the ball.

“This wasn’t our best showing, and there are definitely things we have to work on, but I’m not disappointed in the way we played.”

PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 1, SPRINGFIELD-MONTCO
Plymouth Whitemarsh  0 1 — 1
Springfield-Montco          0 0 — 0
First Half Scoring: None.
Second-Half Scoring: PW: 1. Kennedy Reardon, 10:28.
Shots: PW 4-8-12; Springfield 2-1-3
Corners: PW 8; Springfield 3.