Pioneers blast OJR, gear for Whippets

TREDYFFRIN » A few minutes after Conestoga’s 6-0 win against Owen J. Roberts in the District 1 Class 3A field hockey semifinal at Teamer Field Tuesday afternoon, Pioneer head coach Kerry de Vries reflected on her team’s need to keep improving, particularly as it prepares to play top seeded and undefeated Downingtown West in Saturday’s district final.

“I don’t think the team has peaked at all yet,” said de Vries, whose squad outscored its opponents 107-19 during the regular season. “We played some really good games at mid-season, where I think we had better passing than we did today.

“We need to string better passing combos together. Sometimes in a big game, players can get excited and might want to go north-and-south, but northand-south isn’t going to win the big games.”

Third-seeded Conestoga (183), the defending District 1 champion, will play 20-0 Downingtown West in the district final Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Methacton High School.

The Pioneers started slowly against Owen J. Roberts Tuesday, holding a 2-0 lead by halftime against the seventh-seeded Wildcats (16-7).

“You know, coming back to coach high school this year, I guess I had forgotten that getting focused for an afternoon game can be a real challenge for these players,” de Vries said. “They have to get to school at 6:45 a.m., then they eat just a small lunch because the cafeteria is packed, and then they have to come out here and suddenly focus on a game at 3 or 4 in the afternoon — that’s a challenge.”

In the first half, Conestoga junior Charlotte de Vries scored twice to give the hosts a 2-0 halftime lead. The Pioneer junior now has 43 goals scored for the season.

Following halftime, the Pioneers opened up a big lead. Senior forward Emma McGillis scored the first of her two goals six minutes into the second half with an assist from Charlotte de Vries, then McEvoy tallied on a rebound with 16:30 left to make it 4-0.

“I really thought Grace McEvoy was a hard-nosed player both on offense and defense today,” said Kerry de Vries. “Emma McGillis was a force on the right side for us, and Dani Dittman had a good second half.”

With 6:56 remaining, McGillis scored her second goal of the afternoon with an assist from Kiley Allen, then Allen tallied on a rebound to complete the day’s scoring.

Conestoga now prepares for the Whippets, who have advanced to their first district final. Earlier this season, the Pioneers lost to the Whippets in overtime.