Owen J. Roberts overcomes rain, defeats Spring-Ford, 12-6
The rainy conditions at Wildcat Field on Wednesday may have been an issue for the fans in attendance, but it didn’t seem to bother the Owen J. Roberts’ girls lacrosse team. The Wildcats scored 12 goals and downed the Spring-Ford Rams, 12-6, in the first round of the District 1-AAA playoffs.
“We have a lot of experience playing in the rain,” Wildcats head coach Casey Kellogg said. “We’ve had a lot of games in conditions like this, we’ve had games delayed due to lightning, and even this game was postponed a day.”
The Wildcats scored right off the opening draw, then built an early 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Danika Swech and Sophia Murray. The Rams responded with a pair of tallies from Jill Quigley and Liv Yeagle, but still trailed at the half after goals by Eloise Gebert and Hannah Delahaye pushed the Wildcats’ lead to 5-3.
Owen J. Roberts came out hot to start the second half, building a four-goal lead before Cassie Marte scored for Spring-Ford, cutting the lead to 7-4. Yeagle scored her second goal of the day, but Gebert’s second and third goals of the game gave the Wildcats a four-goal lead at the midway point of the second half.
“Our defense played a really good second half,” Kellogg said. “I think we gave up a few easy opportunities, but in the second half we were a lot stronger.
“Our defense is everything. They are the backbone of our team and they have come up huge in most of the tight games we’ve had. We wouldn’t be where we are without their effort.”
Owen J. Roberts dominated the possession battle for the final 10 minutes of the game, building a 12-6 lead before the final whistle. Gebert, Yeagle and Kelsey Kilgallon each finished with three goals on the day, while Swech and Murray added two apiece.
Wednesday’s contest marked the third time Spring-Ford and Owen J. Roberts faced off in 2018, with the Wildcats taking all three games by a combined score of 35-21.
“When you play the same teams over and over again, you have to make sure you execute,” Kellogg explained. “Both teams know what each other does well and we really respect them. It’s tough, we play Boyertown in the next round and that will be our fourth time playing them this year, so we’re getting used to seeing the same teams this year.”
