Gabbi Koury tallies 400th point as OJR handles Methacton in PAC semifinals

ROYERSFORD >> After Methacton upset Owen J. Roberts in the Pioneer Athletic Conference championship game last spring and denied the Wildcats a seventh straight league title, OJR got payback in a District 1-3A playback game to clinch a spot in the state playoffs.

This regular season, Owen J. Roberts swept Methacton, winning each matchup by 15 goals.

Still, the Wildcats went into Tuesday night’s PAC semifinal with revenge on their mind. They scored just 56 seconds into the game and never looked back, cruising to an 18-1 win at Spring Ford’s Coach McNelly Stadium.

“We were really pumped to go into this game and prove a point,” OJR senior Gabbi Koury said, “and just make a statement.”

The Wildcats jumped out to a 2-0 lead just 2:46 into the game, but the Warriors were within one, 2-1, after seven minutes.

That’s when Owen J. Roberts pulled away. The No. 16 team in the nation scored six goals over a 4:55 stretch to open up an 8-1 lead and never looked back. Koury scored three goals during the run while Alexa Vogelman added two and Ava Clemson had the other.

“Sometimes we let up for a few seconds and then we gave them an opportunity, it was a great shot,” Koury said. “We just needed to get ourselves together and keep our foot on the gas. Our chemistry has built up so much over the past couple of years. Whenever we’re down we can all pick each other up and we know that we need to be motivated and work for a goal.”

“I liked when they cut the lead to 2-1 we refocused and put one goal up after another after another, which is what we preach as coaches to do,” OJR coach David Schlesinger said. “We get on runs and things go very well for us. This was a very methodical win for us. It was nothing singularly spectacular, but everything was very, very good.”

Koury finished with six goals and two assist while Vogelman added five goals and two assists. Colby Wasson had three goals and Laina Grimm three assists.

Koury’s first assist, a helper to Wasson to put the Warriors up 2-0, marked her 400th career point. The Florida commit reached the milestone despite not having a freshman season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

“It’s really cool celebrating everybody on the team’s accomplishments,” she said. “I feel like we’ve had so many just in this season alone. I can only thank my teammates for giving me opportunities to get those goals and assists.

“Missing freshman year was definitely a disappointment. I think we would have been a really good team. That was a bummer, but that past three years I’ve just grown closer and we’ve built so much chemistry that it makes it so easy to make those plays on the field and give me those opportunities.”

“She’s an amazing player,” Schlesinger said. “We have a lot of amazing players. Gabbi now has the school record for career points, assists and she’s now within single digits of career goals.”

Owen J. Roberts will face Boyertown in the PAC championship game Thursday at 7 p.m. at Upper Merion. In two regular season meetings, the Wildcats beat the Bears, 19-0 and 21-2.

Michelle Zhai scored both goals for Methacton.

Owen J. Roberts 18, Methacton 2

Goals: M: Michelle Zhai 2. OJR: Alexa Vogelman 5, Colby Wasson 3, Gabbi Koury 6, Ava Clemson, Sierra Milano, Pippi Waldman 2.

Assists: OJR: Gabbi Koury 2, Alexa Vogelman 2, Laina Grimm 3, Kalli Mullen, Sierra Milano.

Saves: M: Emily Drake 7, Natalie Drake 1. OJR: Korrigan Sweeney 4.