Goalie Ward saves the day for Spring-Ford
Key stops preserve 14-11 win over Boyertown
BOYERTOWN >> Ever-present and ever-reliable, there is no questioning goalie Kamille Ward’s worth to the Spring-Ford girls lacrosse team.
Wednesday afternoon, she proved why. Not once ... but twice.
Staring down a free position try in the final five minutes, Ward turned away a hard shot searching for the far post and then stood tall on a point-blank shot two minutes later, preserving a two-goal lead and allowing the Rams to emerge with a 14-11 victory over Boyertown in a pivotal Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division matchup.
“It was do-or-die for us,” Ward said. “I just wanted to win and for us to have a spot in the PAC Final Four. That’s real important to us. Wins like this, especially after coming off a tough loss to PV, was good for us to bounce back and get our minds back on task.”
The win keeps the Rams (6-3 Liberty Division, 9-3 PAC) entrenched in the No. 3 position in the PAC playoff hunt, one game up of Perkiomen Valley (9-4 PAC).
Ward finished the game with 12 saves, her two momentous stops allowing Camryn Jones and the offense to ice it at the other end.
“We do rely on her, a lot,” Spring-Ford head coach Amy Short said. “Sometimes a little too much. It’s a lot of pressure for a goalie and Kamille really steps up for us and has done a lot for us this year.”
Jones finished with four goals, her fourth capping it at 14-11 with 1:22 remaining. Jill Quigley and Liv Yeagle each added hat tricks while Anja Sweeney, Lauren Mensch, Cassie Marte and Michaela Haney each found the back of the net once for a Rams squad that rebounded from an overtime loss against Perk Valley two nights ago.
“We talked a lot yesterday at practice about different situations, moving the ball and starting with the ball behind the cage,” Short said. “The attack did a nice job taking the ball back there. We did a nice job of realizing if we’re not going to get the fast break, then pull it out and use what we have. They worked a lot with what we did yesterday in practice and they performed well today.”
Hannah Wentzel, Sydney Fox and Kate Kada led the way for Boyertown, each scoring twice.
The Bears’ (3-6, 6-6) PAC playoff hopes hinged on the team winning their final games against the Rams and Norristown while getting some help from Perkiomen Valley and Methacton. The team pulled even at 10 with 15 minutes left following a brilliant feed from Sydney Fox to an awaiting Maddy Siejk (one goal), but the Rams sprung for the next two goals; Sweeney hooking up with a cutting Haney to make it 1110 before Jones shot from outside the crease to make it 12-10 a minute later. The team’s traded goals in the next eight minutes before Ward came up big. NOTES >> Boyertown also received goals from Jen O’Connor, Haydn Hallman and Hailey Heimbach.