Rausa, Daley lead Hatboro-Horsham past Upper Moreland

HORSHAM — In several respects, Sydney Rausa and Carly Daley are very similar.

Neither is imposing, both have plenty of speed, they can possess the ball and when they get near the net, they’re plenty capable of putting it away. Wednesday night, the two Hatboro-Horsham left a big dent on the Hatters’ 18-8 Suburban One League American Conference win over visiting Upper Moreland.

Rausa scored five goals and assisted four more while Daley found the net four times and helped out on two. Yet, despite the lopsided final tally, the Hatters weren’t exactly pleased with their play.

“They’re the ones with the ball in their stick most of the time,’ Hatters coach Duncan Swezey said. “I was getting more frustrated where we weren’t running some of the things we needed to get done.’

Even with a very slow start and a tough finish, there were enough positives for the Golden Bears to take away.

“It was 6-1 four minutes in then we started playing and played well,’ Bears coach Pam Remmey said. “Then we lost that the last few minutes. The first five minutes and last five minutes we weren’t playing, which was disappointing.’

Early on, it was the Sydney Rausa show for the Hatters. The swift attacker had chalked up a hat trick and two assists in the first four minutes of play. The hot start was part of a 6-1 run to open the game for Hatboro-Horsham.

Rausa’s speed caused plenty of trouble for Upper Moreland’s defense, so much so that the Bears called time after her third goal. Carly Daley, Kaitlyn Wallace and Casey Swezey scored the other three goals for the Hatters.

Rausa and Daley combined for the next two goals to push the score to 8-1. First, Rausa fed Daley before the attackers flipped roles for the seven-goal lead.

Remmey said Hatboro-Horsham’s aggressive defense and speed on attack caused those problems early on. She pointed to senior Mel Felicetti on defense and junior Delany Smith on attack, both team captains, as voices that helped the rest of the team along.

After sitting on Smith’s goal for 14 minutes, the Bears got one back when Allison Felicetti hit Veronica Baez for a goal. However, the Hatters came roaring back to score the next three with Wallace, Swezey and Gwyn Acker finding the net for the nine-goal lead.

Smith got hot over the final 4:19 of the half, scoring three before halftime. Felicetti also got one and the Bears went into the half down six.

“Once we got used to their speed and aggressive defense, we played with them,’ Remmey said. “I’ve got some vocal kids on the team. Delany was talking about the staying with the speed of the game and matching the speed they played the game. Syndey Bachmayer was another one who helped them out with not feeling that pressure.’