Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Villa defense stifles D-East
MALVERN » With Hurricane force, Villa Maria’s defense forced a season-high 11 turnovers by visiting Downingtown East for a 12-6 win Monday.
And whatever the Villa Maria defense couldn’t take away, Hurricane senior goalie Maddie Medve stopped, to the tune of a season-high 12 saves.
“We came out intense today, and kept up our communication on defense, particularly when we were switching,” said Medve, who will play for Widener University next spring. “Our defense has been on a roll the last two games. Last Saturday against Downingtown West [a 9-8 win], our defense really turned it up a notch in the second half.”
Medve has now reached 100 saves for the season for Villa Maria (14-1 overall, 11-0 AACA), a mark she didn’t reach last spring until the PIAA post-season.
“Maddie is a very solid goalie who comes up big when we need her,” said Villa Maria head coach Allie Sweeney. “This was one of her best games.”
The loss dropped Downingtown East’s record to 12-4 (9-1 in the ChesMont League).
Sweeney said, “To cause as many turnovers as we did against one of the best teams we’ve played all season is a real accomplishment. Our attack worked well together, too. I really can’t single out any one particular outstanding player today, because all of our players played well.”
Eight different Hurricanes caused at least one turnover, seven Villa Maria players scored, and seven Hurricanes combined for 11 assists. And to add to the theme of togetherness, the Finley sisters (Bridget and Erin) combined for three goals and four assists, while the Walheim sisters (Abby and Lizzy) combined for three goals and three assists. Early in the contest, while the Villa Maria sister pair was generating offense for the Hurricanes, Downingtown East hung tough and with 17.8 seconds left in the first half, Cougar junior Emily Wurzel’s goal cut the hosts’ halftime lead to 4-3.
Wurzel a University of Cincinnati commit, is one of three Cougars who have reached the 100 career goal mark this season (the other two are junior Livi Lawton, a University of North Carolina commit, and senior Leah Hunter). Wurzel finished the game with a hat trick and Lawton tallied twice.
When Wurzel scored her third goal of the afternoon with 14:41 left in the game, Downingtown East trailed by only 7-5. But Villa Maria fired off a key 4-0 run in the next five minutes.
“At halftime, we talked about becoming more patient, particularly on offense,” said Sweeney.
With an aggressive defense and a more patient offense, Villa Maria went to work. Just one minute after a key save by Medve, Erin Finley scored with help from sophomore Hannah Young, then 15 seconds later Villa Maria junior Sarah Delaney scored with an assist from Lizzie Walheim to make it 9-5 with 12:48 left.
In the next three minutes, the Hurricanes got on the board two more times, thanks to a Erin Finley-to-Hannah Young connection then a Caroline Antell-to-Sarah Delaney score, giving the hosts a comfortable 11-5 lead. Delaney (along with freshman Margie Carden) finished the game with two goals, and Antell dished out a pair of assists.
“We just made too many turnovers today, and it seemed that just about every Villa Maria goal was off a turnover or a mistake [by us],” said Downingtown East head coach Christa Somits, whose squad was coming off a big 13-8 win against powerful Central Bucks West two days earlier. “We didn’t get the crucial ground balls, Villa Maria had a nice press [on defense], and their goalie did a nice job.”
Medve, who plans to major in criminal justice at Widener, said, “I’m glad we’re getting these hard games against strong opponents near the end of the regular season to get us ready for the playoffs. We need that strong competition.”