Field Hockey: Hot scoring Villa Maria tops Radnor in district semifinals

PAOLI — Radnor field hockey coach Katie Maguire came upon an interesting piece of information while preparing her scouting report for Villa Maria Academy in the semifinal round of the District 1 Class 2A tournament.

“I heard from a few people that they’re very good at scoring and then scoring quickly after that,” Maguire said. “They ride that wave of momentum. They know how to handle the hype and pressure and they know how to keep pushing forward and get another one.”

That tidbit proved to be spot on Tuesday.

Clinging to a one-goal lead with less than five minutes remaining in the third period, the second-seeded Hurricanes exploded for four unanswered goals, three in a 4:01 span of the fourth quarter, to break the game open and cruise to a 7-2 triumph over the Raptors.

“We were right there,” Radnor senior Gracie Bookbinder said. “They just got us on our toes. They’re a quick team. They have a lot of talent.”

The win sends the second-seeded Hurricanes (15-6) into Saturday’s final at Methacton (5:30 p.m.) against a familiar foe, top-seeded Gwynedd Mercy, which knocked off West Chester East, 2-0. This will be the third meeting between the teams. The Monarchs (16-3) won both meetings, 3-1 and 2-1.

“I’m ready,” Villa Maria senior Brynna Hill said of the rematch with Gwynedd Mercy. “We’re hungry. We’re coming for them, I hope they know that.”

Third-seeded Radnor (16-5) hosts fourth-seeded West Chester East in Friday’s third-place game. The top five teams qualify for the PIAA tournament.

Villa Maria’s offensive explosion wasn’t a surprise. The Hurricanes scored 25 goals in three previous games, 16 in playoff wins over Upper Merion (10-1) and Merion Mercy (6-1). Hill led the way with two goals. Sophomore Alla Cellini and freshman Caitlin Connell also scored twice. Connell also had an assist. Senior Gia Whelan dished out two assists and senior Lauren Files had the other goal.

The seniors came up big in the final home game of their careers.

“The seniors have given us amazing leadership and really helped to guide this team, especially in the second half of the season,” VMA coach Katie Ordonio said. “We’ve been improving every day and now you’re seeing the result of hard work in practice, hard work in games. With their leadership and an amazing group that wants to work hard for each other, amazing things are happening.”

Radnor hung tough despite an early 2-0 deficit. Bookbinder converted a pass from Sadie Schultz to cut that deficit in half. Cellini pushed the lead back to two with the first of her two goals but the Raptors (16-5) responded with a beautiful goal from Sophie Green to get within 3-2.

“We definitely have some fighters,” Maguire said. “It was good to see a team like this before states start because these are the type of teams you’re going to see in states.”

But every time the Raptors made a push, the Hurricanes had a response. It started with the defense and goalie Catie Connolly, who prevented Radnor from getting the equalizer. Then the offense took over.

Hill tallied her second goal off a feed from Whelan to give the Hurricanes a 4-2 lead with 4:31 left in the third quarter. Then Cellini, Files and Connell scored in a 4:01 span in the fourth period to break the game open.

“I think we really train ourselves to not react to what’s happening on the field, but to stay calm and be prepared for anything,” Hill said. “We’ve been working really hard on that and today I think we caught Radnor a little off guard. … It was all about preparation today.”

In Class 3A action:

Methacton 2, Garnet Valley 0 >> The Jaguars are down to one last game to earn a berth in the PIAA tournament.

Lily DeWan gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead with four minutes left in the first quarter. Elise DeWan converted a pass from Avery Schwartz in the third quarter to give Methacton some insurance. The Warriors clinched a berth in the PIAA tournament with the win and takes on the winner of the Souderton-C.B.West game for fifth place.

Garnet Valley faces the loser of the Souderton-C.B. West for seventh place and the final spot in the PIAA tournament from District 1.