Owen J. Roberts unseats Conestoga, advances to first PIAA championship game

PENNSBURG >> The Owen J. Roberts girls lacrosse team was being forced to deal with feelings it hadn’t felt in a long time and it had Conestoga to blame.

Gabbi Koury was ‘frustrated’, Alexa Vogelman shadowed and stifled, and the reigning PIAA Class 3A champion Pioneers determined to make their third meeting with the Wildcats the charm.

But OJR has a third item in its mind, too, and that drive is ruling the day.

“In the beginning of the season we had three goals: PACs, districts and states. We’ve gotten two of them and now we’re really focused on the third,” senior midfielder Koury said.

One to go, one game to go.

Owen J. Roberts earned its first ever trip to the PIAA final with an early surge in the second half and poise late to turn away Conestoga, 6-4, in a tightly-contested PIAA 3A semifinal on Tuesday at Upper Perkiomen High School.

“It’s a huge moment,” Koury said.

Final: Owen J Roberts 6, Conestoga 4, PIAA 3A girls lacrosse semifinal

An outstanding game befitting of the stage and the Wildcats are on to Penn State pic.twitter.com/s0zbzJaX0D

— Austin Hertzog (@AustinHertzog) June 13, 2023

“We’re really excited and really grateful for how far we’ve come,” senior defender Rachel Sbei added. “It’s the first time we’ve made the state championship and while we do have a lot of work on, we’re really appreciative of the moment and being where we are now.”

The PAC and District 1 champions improved to 26-1 and will have a rematch of the district final against Penncrest in the PIAA championship game at noon on Saturday at Penn State University’s Panzer Stadium in the second game of a state lacrosse final quadrupleheader.

Four has been the charm for OJR in its meetings with Conestoga this year: the Wildcats held the Pioneers to four goals in all three outings (9-4 on March 25, 7-4 on May 25 in the District 1 semifinals, 6-4 on Tuesday).

No other team held Stoga below seven, a badge of honor for an OJR defense that has played second fiddle to its potent offense but has shown its quality in the biggest moments. After Conestoga jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first three minutes, OJR surrendered only two more over the next 47.

Junior goalie Korrigan Sweeney shined with nine saves for OJR.

“Playing a team three times is difficult. They know our tricks, they know every single one of us,” Koury said. “We had to work past that and be a little more creative. We had some struggles with decision-making but we worked as a team to get through that. Our defense and our goalie Korrigan came up with some great stops.”

Offensively, Vogelman scored three goals, including the lead-taking score in the final minute of the first half and the game-sealing goal on a free position with 2:36 to play. Koury had two goals and two assists and Ava Clemson opened OJR’s account.

H2, 2:36 — That might do it.

Vogelman with her third goal on a free position, adding a two-goal insurance for the Wildcats.

Owen J. Roberts 6, Conestoga 4 pic.twitter.com/RRZTGHL3k0

— Evan Wheaton (@EvanWheaton) June 13, 2023

For Conestoga, senior midfield standout Kate Galica scored three Stoga goals and out-dueled Koury on the draw while senior Piper Kienzle netted the opener. Head coach Amy Orcutt was full of praise for her team, especially a defensive effort – goalie Alex Lepore made 11 saves – that held OJR to its lowest output of the season.

“For us it was getting together as a team and I think our defense really stepped it up. We went in having a really solid game plan and I think we executed on our game plan,” Orcutt said. “We just didn’t put the ball in the net when we had our opportunities. Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way.

“I’m very proud of the way our team fought. I couldn’t have asked for anything more from them.”

Conestoga (19-6), District 1’s fourth-place team, was stopped a game short of a return to the PIAA final after an undefeated run to the championship in 2022. Yet a third straight trip to the state semifinals marks more success for one of the state’s gold-standard programs.

“These girls are fighters and they know what it takes to win in big games. They know to never give up on themselves,” Orcutt said. “That’s the culture we have at ‘Stoga, which we talked about right before the game, being a team that never gives up, trusts each other and loves and supports one another. If we continue to play like that and with that culture in our minds, teams are going to continue to succeed.”

Conestoga’s graduating seniors are captains Galica, Kienzle, Brooke Braslow and Gabby Ridder, plus Caroline Marengo and Paige Lee.

The Pioneers got the dream start with a 2-0 lead on unassisted goals from Kienzle and Galica in 1:47.

The game settled down with Sweeney and Lepore making strong saves in between the defenses using knowledge from previous meetings to take away their opponent’s preferences. Stoga’s Maria Ziff was a nuisance face-guarding Vogelman while the Pioneers also man-marked OJR transition threat Cailin Harrington, prompting fellow defenders Sbei, Avery Wentzel and Ashly White to step up on the clears.

OJR tied it 2-2 on a Vogelman free position with 5:41 to half then Koury found a cutting Vogelman for the lead-taking score in the final minute of the first half.
Koury came out on fire in the second frame and scored two in succession for a 5-2 lead, the game’s largest margin.

“As captains, we have to be leaders,” Koury said. “I could tell I was getting frustrated in the first half and I needed to change that. I needed to get that frustration out in a different way, not yelling or putting my head down when I was mad. You prove it by stepping up a level.”

H1, 0:51 — Gabbi Koury hits Alexa Vogelman over the middle for a third straight goal and lead for OJR.

The two-time All-American middie duo puts Owen J. Roberts in front, 3-2 over Conestoga. pic.twitter.com/Fu5KKosEaY

— Evan Wheaton (@EvanWheaton) June 13, 2023

The Pioneers kept coming, Galica got them back within one, down 5-4, with 12:44 to go.

But OJR’s poise of a starting lineup with nine seniors shone through down the stretch, killing the clock offensively for large chunks.

“We definitely kept our composure and did a very good job settling down the game, staying out of our heads, focusing and being in the moment,” Sbei said.

The Wildcats might as well stay in the moment: the biggest one awaits Saturday.

Owen J. Roberts 6, Conestoga 4

Owen J. Roberts

Goals: Alexa Vogelman 3, Gabbi Koury 2, Ava Clemson

Assists: Koury 2

Saves: Korrigan Sweeney 9

Conestoga

Goals: Kate Galica 3, Piper Kienzle

Saves: Alex Lepore 11