Simon’s two scores get Pottsgrove started early in win over Pottstown

The Pottsgrove field hockey team has started slower than it would like this season — both in games and in the division race.

Slow starts have put the Falcons in an early-hole in some of their close losses this season along with putting them behind the leaders of the Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier Division leaders halfway through league play.

As the Falcons started through the Frontier for the second time Wednesday against Pottstown, Riley Simon made sure Pottsgrove shook off its sluggish ways, scoring two first-half goals to take control early in a 4-0 win over the Trojans.

“It makes it so much easier, just the fact that we’re already up,” Simon said of the early scores. “We definitely still had to keep our heads in the game, which we did keep our composure. The first time we played them, we won 9-0. They came out harder this time.”

Simon scored her first goal with just more than 19 minutes left in the first half off an assist from Jayde Yorgey and put Pottsgrove (5-5, 3-3 Frontier) up 2-0 on a score off a pass from Katie Bean with 12:50 remaining in the first half.

Yorgey snuck in a goal of her own, assisted by Simon, with two and a half minutes left in the first to give the Falcons a 3-0 halftime lead. Kathryn Henriksen rounded out the game’s scoring on a goal assisted by Lu O’Neill with 12:41 left in the game.

Getting out ahead early like Wednesday will be part of the formula for the Falcons as they try to play their way back into the PAC playoff picture.

“We need to come out ready to play the first half,” Simon said. “We’ve been a second-half team this entire year. We need to be a first and a second half team the entire game through and not just pick and choose when we want to play.”

After falling behind, goalie Lillian Stirk and Pottstown’s defense, led by freshman Taetum Robbins and sophomore Mia Bumbarger, kept the game from slipping away. Junior midfielder Destri Roye led several offensive charges, but Pottstown (1-8, 0-6 Frontier) couldn’t find the back of the cage to put pressure on the Falcons.

The Trojans had four shots in the game. All three shots on goal were saved by Pottsgrove goalie Tori Keener. Stirk made eight saves for the Trojans.

“We are extremely young,” Pottstown coach Brandy Scherer said. “We’ve kind of been working to build from the back up. We’ve made improvements over the year. We’re just working on the next piece, which is that front line and scoring goals.”

Pottstown graduated six seniors from last year’s team and has a large group of freshmen and sophomores contributing for this year’s squad. That has resulted in a lot of learning on the fly and an emphasis on growth over results throughout the 2019 season.

While Pottstown has only been able to put together one win this season, a 4-0 victory over Norristown, Scherer is stressing to her  team the little victories — for example holding a Pottsgrove team that beat the Falcons 9-0 in their second game of the season Sept. 4 to just four goals on Wednesday.

“Every game we go to, every practice we have small goals,” Scherer said.. “Our goals are to accomplish those goals each game and today we accomplished the goals we set out for ourselves. That’s improving. You’ve gotta show the little successes.”

Pottsgrove dropped close games to Pope John Paul II, Upper Perkiomen and Phoenixville along with wins over Pottstown and Upper Merion the first time through division play.

The Falcons hope a win to start the second half of their season can propel them to a stronger finish. They have been a second-half team this year.

“We’re really starting it all over with everybody else,” Simon said. “We just had a tough loss to Phoenixville, which we’re ready to come back out, play them again. Upper Merion, we’re ready for that game again. We’re really looking forward to the other half of the season.”