Kirby, Owen J. Roberts oust Spring-Ford in districts - PA Prep Live

Kirby, Owen J. Roberts oust
Spring-Ford in districts
BUCKTOWN >> Off the top of her head, Owen J. Roberts head
coach Amy Hoffman can recall one major detail of both of the
Wildcats’ losses this fall.

“We’ve had a few games this year where we’ve scored just one
goal,” she said, “but two of them we ended up losing.

“We just kept telling our players tonight that one goal won’t
be enough. We had to keep pushing.”

With that in mind, Owen J. Roberts was in full attack mode for
60 minutes Wednesday night on the way to a 2-0 win over
Spring-Ford in the second round of the District 1 Class 3A
playoffs.

     Owen J. Roberts’ Bridget Gallagher (4) brings the
     ball upfield while Spring-Ford’s Caroline Todd (33)
     defends. (Thomas Nash – Digital First Media)

Junior midfielder Jenna Kirby opened it up with a goal five
minutes in, then added another with two minutes to go in
regulation to ice a game that provided plenty of action along
the way between two familiar Pioneer Athletic Conference
opponents.

“We did not want this to be our last game,” said Kirby, who
had the game’s opening score in last Thursday’s 3-0 win over
Perkiomen Valley in the PAC championship game. “We’re on a
high and we want to keep the momentum going. Our goal is to
get to states and that’s what’s driving us right now.”

The result moves No. 4-seeded Owen J. Roberts (19-2 overall)
to within a win of reaching that goal. The Wildcats will host
No. 12 Central Bucks South — a 1-0 winner over Plymouth-
Whitemarsh — on Friday with a spot in the PIAA Class AAA
playoffs on the line while the loser will drop into the
playback round.

      Spring-Ford’s Ashley Sessa (17) protects the
      ball from an Owen J. Roberts defender during

Wednesday’s district playoff game. (Thomas Nash
      – Digital First Media)

No. 13 Spring-Ford’s season comes to a close at 12-7-1
overall, the second year in a row that the Rams’ run at
districts ended at the hands of a PAC opponent.

On a night that featured the teams’ third meeting of the
season, familiarity was afoot.

The OJR defense shadowed talented Spring-Ford freshman Ashley
Sessa all over the field and made life difficult throughout
the night for Spring-Ford’s fast-paced offense to settle
inside the scoring circle.

   Spring-Ford’s Ashley Sessa (17) winds up on a reverse
   chip during the second half of Wednesday night’s
   district playoff game against Owen J. Roberts. (Thomas
   Nash – Digital First Media)

“They stopped everything we were throwing at them,” said
Spring-Ford head coach Jennie Anderson of Owen J. Roberts.

“They played really good team defense. Everywhere we went,
there was someone.

“We tried making adjustments, but their defense was just too
much for us.”

For the night, Owen J. Roberts held a 12-7 advantage in
penalty corners, converting their first try of the night at
24:47.

Kirby inserted the ball to senior defender Natalie Fuertsch at
the top of the circle. From there, Fuertsch fired a big blast
at the left side of the cage where Kirby was waiting for the
finish to make it a 1-0 game.

“It was in the air so I wasn’t sure if I was going to tip it
or not,” said Kirby, “but it touched my stick and went into
the back of the net. Next thing I knew we were celebrating.”

But not for long.

   Owen J. Roberts’ Eloise Gebert sends the ball upfield
   during Wednesday night’s game against Spring-Ford.

(Thomas Nash – Digital First Media)

Owen J. Roberts kept the pressure on throughout the first but
couldn’t get anything past Spring-Ford keeper Ashley Della
Guardia (11 saves) in the cage for the rest of the half.

Spring-Ford turned up the offensive pressure in the second
half, but was struggling to get a clean look at the goal.

Then, the Rams finally got their opportunity.

Spring-Ford sophomore Abbey Boyer picked off an errant pass at
midfield and charged all the way down to the cage with the OJR
defenders nipping at her heels. Once she got within shooting
distance, she was greeted by Wildcats’ goalkeeper Cayden
Jarvis, who emerged from the cage to poke the ball away and
preserve her team’s 12th shutout of the season.

On her team’s ensuing possession, Kirby finished her second
goal off a feed from Olivia Leclaire to give OJR the final 2-0
lead.

   Spring-Ford’s Ariana Magazzolo sends one upfield during

Wednesday’s district playoff game against Owen J.
   Roberts. (Thomas Nash – Digital First Media)

“We came in saying, ‘If it’s close, we know we’ve got a shot
no matter what the time is on the clock,’” said Anderson.
“That’s what we’re most proud of our girls for. They never
gave up, just kept fighting the whole game.”

So while Owen J. Roberts is planning for a potential state
playoff run, Anderson and the Rams will begin planning for the
2019 season with plenty of promise and experience.

“We’re young. We’re losing some defenders and a big senior
class, but we’ve got a lot of young talent,” she said. “So
hopefully the experience this year will help us going into
next year.”