Pottsgrove eases by Jenkintown in District 1-2A first round

LOWER POTTSGROVE >> She’s experiencing a load of scholastic success her first high-school season.

And helping her Pottsgrove teammates to a similar haul.

Sydney Wasdick’s freshman season reached another significant plateau Tuesday, when the Falcons hosted Jenkintown in the opening round of the District 1 Class AA playoffs. With a share of game scoring honors to her credit, Wasdick helped propel her team to a 20-6 victory over the Drakes exactly one week after being bumped out of the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s Final Four playoffs.

Wasdick’s six-goal performance matched senior teammate Emily Williams for productivity. And productivity took the Falcons (11-3) a long way in their district opener, with two other Pottsgrove players – Sydney Tornetta and Allie Reppert – turning in multiple-goal games.

“We do work great as a team,” Wasdick said afterward. “We feel we do connect as a family. As we’ve won more games, we’ve connected.”

Connecting — in the goal department, for sure — was the key for Pottsgrove. After spotting Jenkintown a goal 18 seconds in, the Falcons ran off six before the visitors were able to find the back of the net again.

Another five-goal run helped Pottsgrove to a 12-3 halftime lead. After the Drakes opened the second half with a goal less than two minutes in, the Falcons strung together four tallies before closing the game with three over the final 4:26.

Wasdick kicked off the stretch-run scoring surge with her sixth goal of the game. she also answered Jenkintown’s half-starter from Sam Peyser by hitting the nets at the 22:59 mark.

“It’s definitely been a big transition,” Wasdick said of the step up from middle school to high school. “Last year, I was going against players my own age. Now, I’m going against players that could be four years older than me.

“But I love the challenge.”

In complement to the big scoring outputs of Wasdick (one assist) and Williams, Pottsgrove got a four-goal game from Tornetta and two from Reppert. Katie Bean (three assists) and Alyssa Petrucelli (two assists) each contributed goals.

“It was great to see the scoring spread out,” Pottsgrove head coach Kirsten Urie said. “Freshmen and sophomores … they’re equally contributing. We don’t have to rely on one or two people.”

Jenkintown got two-goal efforts from Izzi Byler, who got them a game-opening lead that lasted only until Wasdick converted at the 23:50 mark. Mia Kolb also scored twice while Taylor Spoerl and Sam Pizer had one apiece.

But the Drakes’ offense couldn’t keep up with Pottsgrove’s fast-breaking, hard-pressing unit. They closed out a campaign that saw them finish second in the Bicentennial League this spring.

“I’m really proud of the way the girls competed,” head coach Bob Cummings said. “They battled to the very end.

“When we got to their end, we were able to score. And we were able to cause turnovers off re-directs. But they (Pottsgrove) controlled the draw circle, which meant they could dictate the score.”

Pottsgrove will be back in action Thursday when the 1-AA playoffs move to the quarterfinal round. The Falcons will play third-seeded New Hope, a 16-11 winner over 14th-seeded Pope John Paul II in other opening-round action.

“The girls are putting in the time,” Urie said. “We told them they’re not doing this for the coaches, you do this for yourselves. For our seniors, it’s nice to see things pay off.”

NOTES >> Alaura O’Neill had eight saves in goal for Pottsgrove, with Aniya Cager making 10 for Jenkintown. … Pottsgrove had four free-position goals in the first half. Williams got two and Reppert one.