Girls Soccer: McGeoch, midfield enough for Haverford to top Penncrest

HAVERFORD — Barely 100 seconds had elapsed Tuesday afternoon when Grace McGeoch found herself in a pocket of space in the Haverford midfield.

It wouldn’t be the last time the junior had the ball on her foot with a chance to dictate the pace of the game. But so quick into a Central League contest with Penncrest, that first opening would prove to be all she needed.

McGeoch’s perfect through ball played in Tessa Wiedeman to finish the first chance of the game and the only goal of the affair, a 1-0 win for Haverford.

The teams spent the next 78 minutes chasing a similarly crisp connection, to no avail. But the one link was enough for the Fords (5-2, 2-1 Central).

“I think one of the outside players passed to me and there was a girl on me so I turned around,” McGeoch said. “I saw Tessa call for the ball and make a run, so I hit it to her and she got the goal.”

While the Fords couldn’t replicate the decisiveness of McGeoch’s assist, the space she found was a constant for the Fords. The deep-lying midfielder patrolled the area in front of rangy and tidy center backs Alyssa Seavey and Mollie Carpenter. With Mackenzie Lacey and Deegan Mack making themselves a menace in stretching the field vertically, particularly shading toward the left wing, McGeoch often hand plenty of time and space to pick her head up and move the game along.

It’s been a theme of the Fords’ fast start to the season.

“I think we’re doing a very good job of finding our passes and marking up in the middle and connecting together,” McGeoch said. “Being behind them is a really good place to be and to support them.”

To concede so quickly was a tough blow for Penncrest (1-5, 0-3). But even more worrying to midfielder Taryn Tagtmeir was how familiar the goal looked, mimicking goals conceded in overtime to Ridley and against Lower Merion on similar line-splitting passes. The Lions being just that half-step slow to react is part of the reason why a young team has four one-goal losses this season.

“It’s hard, but the whole team needs to be like, OK we still have another (78) minutes to go, we can still get this,” Tagtmeir said. “We need to forget about it and keep moving on.”

The early goal they allowed nullified lots of strong bulidup play by Penncrest that just didn’t find its mark in the final third.

The closest the Lions came was in the eighth minute, when Emily Huggins latched onto a well-weighted ball by Sophie Grant. Huggins tried to sneak her shot to the near post, but Haverford goalie Madison Kantawala dove to catch.

Penncrest forced four saves from Kantawala, the first one being the most difficult. Emma Strahan broke in behind with four minutes left until halftime and played a teasing ball through the six that needed just a touch, but Huggins couldn’t quite get there. Strahan finally got the better of Carpenter in their long-running battle with six minutes to play, but Kantawala was equal to the task when Strahan didn’t get all of her shot.

“I think we did connect a lot of passes,” Tagtmeir said. “I think a lot of times, we did a lot of good through balls, but also sometimes I think we need to talk to each other more. On the whole I think we did well, but we can always do so much better there.”

Both teams had their moments in midfield, though the Fords looked more poised, with and without the ball. Wiedeman spent most of the game on the bench with an injury, which dented their ability to get forward. But Lacey took up the burden by connecting passes on the edge of the box.

McGeoch hit a rising shot from outside the box in the 14th minute that Grace Simpson caught for the first of her four saves. Haverford was unlucky to have what looked to be a handball on Tagtmeir waved away in the box in lieu of a penalty kick.

After a four-game winning streak turned into two straight losses, the Fords are back on the winning side of the ledger. And as Tuesday showed, the midfield connection is a big reason why.

“I think it’s our communication and our linkups,” McGeoch said. “I think it’s being positive and energetic in the game and not getting down on ourselves.”

Also in the Central League:

Radnor 1, Harriton 0 >> Jane Daiutolo scored in the second half off a feed from Emily Daiutolo to send Radnor to the win. Mallory Toomey kept the clean sheet in goal.

Ridley 1, Garnet Valley 0 >> Adria Kitzinger scored in the first half, and Ridley’s defense hung on from there to move to 8-0 on the season.

In the Inter-Ac League:

Episcopal Academy 4, Germantown Academy 0 >> Avery Le scored twice, and Bella Piselli paired a goal with an assist as the Churchwomen rolled on the day that the school formally dedicated its field in honor of retired athletic director and field hockey coach Regina Buggy.

Alexa Capozzoli also scored for EA, and Maya Naimoli stopped both of the shots to come her way.

In the Catholic League

Archbishop Carroll 8, Bonner-Prendergast 0 >> Ella Wright tallied a hat trick, and Regan Duzy added two goals as the Patriots (2-2-1, 2-0-1) remained unbeaten in the league.

In the Del Val League:

Chichester 3, Penn Wood 2 >> Gianna Nardini scored in the second overtime period off an assist from Nicolette Contino as the Eagles picked up the victory.

Amiya Lewis and Isabella Ricco also scored for Chichester.

Marie Conteh found the back of the net for Penn Wood, which forced its way to overtime behind an own goal.