Nemeth, Bullotta lead Phoenixville over Upper Perkiomen
RED HILL — Even after a 21-save performance, Phoenixville goalkeeper Meg Nemeth felt that she could do more.
How much more she could have done Friday afternoon is hard to imagine.
The reigning All-Area First Team member was sensational in net again for the Phantoms while Zoe Bullotta continued her torrid scoring pace as Phoenixville topped Upper Perkiomen 13-4.
Nemeth finished with a double-digit save count for the second time in three games for the Phantoms (2-0 PAC-10, 2-1 overall) as they rebounded from a 13-10 loss to non-league foe Gwynedd Mercy earlier this week.
“I think today I was really focused,’ Nemeth said. “I tried my hardest to be on top of my game but there’s always games that I feel like I can do more. There were a few shots here that I thought I should have saved but I just feel like I was really on top of things today and really focused.’
“We honestly wouldn’t be where we are without Megan,’ Bullotta said. “She is a huge force behind the team. She saves our butts a lot of the time but she’s amazing. I don’t know what we’d do without her.’
Bullotta, coming off an eight-goal performance in the team’s loss to Gwynedd Mercy, accounted for six goals as the Phantoms left little doubt throughout, building a 7-1 lead at the half before cruising to the nine-goal victory.
Carolyn Groener, Tara Gilroy and Natalie Rubino each registered two goals in the win while Kylie Crovetti also scored. Groener led the way with two assists while seven other Phantoms’ accounted for a mark on the assist sheet.
“It’s nice (being the leading scorer) but we definitely have other scorers on the team too,’ Bullotta, who has a league-high 18 goals this season, said. “Carolyn (Groener) is stepping up a lot this year and Kylie (Crovetti) had a great game the other day. A lot of us have been playing together awhile, and some of us play club together so it’s helpful. We know how each other play, we can see each other and make those connections.’
Upper Perkiomen, hindered by the loss of senior forward Olivia Vogel due to a hand injury suffered in the early minutes, fired 28 shots on target in the loss. Kathryn Lehman and Aubrey Wilcox, who both accounted for two goals, struck for three goals in three minutes in the second half to pull the game to 12-4 with nine minutes remaining.
However, that’s as close as it got.
“You take out a senior leader on attack and then we weren’t quite ready for the level of intensity from our first game to this game,’ Upper Perkiomen head coach Susan Flack said. “We took a lot of shots, we just didn’t make them. If we had two more inches on top of that cage, we could have had a bunch of goals.”The score was lopsided but I don’t feel that it wasn’t as lopsided as it seems. We just didn’t hit anything. Our placement of our shots was not that good. It all came down to finishing.’
