Field hockey: Methacton pulls away from Great Valley to clinch third straight trip to state tournament

FAIRVIEW VILLAGE >> The Methacton field hockey team could have lost its composure when its early three-goal advantage dwindled to just one and Great Valley earned a penalty corner opportunity within seconds of the beginning of the second half.

But the Warriors kept their cool, stretched out their lead again and clinched a spot in the PIAA Tournament for the third straight year with a 6-2 District 1-3A playback win Wednesday afternoon at Warrior field. Methacton (18-4-1) will host the winner between Avon Grove and Downingtown East in the fifth-place game on Friday. The Patriots (14-7) will play the loser of that match for the seventh and final berth from the district in states.

Carmela Maro scored twice and Lily DeWan and Giada Catoia each had a goal and an assist to lead the offense for No. 4 seed Methacton and goalkeeper Maddie McKenney made six saves. Nadia Nemeth scored both goals for No. 8 seed Great Valley and Katie Hanlon turned away 14 shots.

“I think we kept our composure the entire time,” said Warrior coach Amanda Parrezzi. “We knew who their good players were from playing them last year and we were able to keep our cool. And we executed our game plan.”

“Our focus today was composure,” said DeWan. “We were going to stick to our game plan and see it work for us.”

Methacton opened the scoring just 1:27 into the match when Renee Blake inserted the ball on a corner play to DeWan, who slapped a hard shot into the cage. Maro scored her first less than four minutes later on an assist from Calie Fisher and knocked in her second off a pass from Catoia to make it 3-0 with 6:18 remaining in the first quarter.

“We all knew how really important this game was and saw the passes,” said Maro.

The Patriots, who defeated Methacton 2-1 in a district quarterfinal last year, got on the board with 40 seconds left in the quarter when Nemeth was tripped up on a breakaway and knocked in the penalty stroke. Nemeth scored again three minutes into the second quarter on a corner play. That’s the way it remained until the half and the Warriors fought off a Great Valley corner early in the third quarter.

“We were able to keep our cool today,” said Maro. “After the corner, set up and get it back.”

Elena Weychert scored midway through the third on an assist from Lea DeWan. Then Catoia made it 5-2 with seven minutes left in the contest, assisted by Lily DeWan, and Maddy Baker wrapped up the scoring off a pass from Lizzie Mun with a little more than a minute to go.

Methacton had a 16-5 advantage in corners and scored on four of them.

“We just practiced fundamentals and the basics,” Lily DeWan said concerning her team’s success on corners.

“I think we did what we wanted to do the entire game, minus keeping them out of the circle and giving them too many corners,” said Parrezzi. “I feel like our corners are what they are at this point in the season. What we’re doing better on corners is reading the defense and we’re more confident in our shooting. All our people on corners are more confident and that leads to success.”

Even though they would have had another shot to qualify for states if necessary, on Friday, the Warriors obviously came out anxious to settle the matter on Wednesday.

“It makes you feel a little more comfortable,” said Parrezzi. “A little less stressful.”

“We’re really excited,” added Maro. “We’re going to play as hard as we can.”

Methacton has now qualified for states eight times since 1993 and five times in the last eight years.

“It’s a goal every year,” said Lily DeWan. “It’s rewarding to see everything pay off. We strive to be there every year.”