Zrada leads Souderton by Pennridge
Treading water is crucial to success in water polo, but when its usage is best served with its idiom meaning, something needs to change.
In both the boys and girls games between Pennridge and Souderton the teams were “treading water,” or not making much progress. With two quarters complete the games were still up for grabs.
In the ever-important third quarter it was the team that VFRrHG firVW WKDW VHizHG WKH momentum and inevitably ZRn WKH EDVWHrn DiviViRn contests.
TKH LDGy RDPV GrHZ HvHn DW 3-3 in WKH VHFRnG TuDrWHr on a Chelsea Weiss fastball and the Indians, upset about their play, decided to add emphasis to defense and never looked back. Powered by LDurHDnD ZrDGD’V IRur goals, two coming in the third quarter, the Big Red (6-1) rHHOHG RII VHvHn unDnVZHrHG JRDOV IRr WKH 10-3 win.
“We missed a couple shots and they made a couple shots,” Indians’ coach Chris Hemmerle said. “It made it a little closer than it was. We played great defense and Kara really turned it on in the second half. She is a senior leader for us in goal. She has a scope of the entire pool.”
AV WKH RDPV (5-2) VDZ WKHir GHfiFiW HxWHnG WKHir urgency picked up and their VKRW VHOHFWiRn HxSDnGHG. The Indians’ goalie Kara Stegmann saw shots from all over the pool, but constantly stopped shots headed her way.
“We did not do anything different defensively in the second half,” Stegmann said. “We were pretty mad about Rur firVW KDOI DnG MuVW ZDnWHG it so much more. They were shooting from anywhere. I was watching Chelsea Weiss DnG MRrJDn AOOiVRn bHFDuVH I know they are their main shooters.”
Rams top Indians
The Souderton boys also targeted the main goal scorers in the nightcap of the doubleheader, but the Rams had a game plan to defend against the pressure. They NnHZ MiNH LDZVRn ZRuOG see the Big Red defense collapse to the hole and the senior two-meter-option used his teammates to take the JDPH’V firVW WKrHH-JRDO OHDG in the third quarter.
“Mike was a threat every time he got the ball,” Rams’ coach Ken Vincent said. “When a person is a threat,
people start doing different things. They dropped on him and other people were open. We knew how good Souderton was and I am very proud of the effort we put in.”
While Lawson tallied three goals in the 14-10 win, the Rams received scores from seven different players. David Zurmuhl also added a trio of scores. The Indians’ Holden Kudla cut the score to 12-10 to end the third quarter with his fourth goal of the night, but Lawson’s score to start to fourth quarter halted the momentum shift in its tracks.
“When they got the momentum in the third quarter we had to adjust,” Lawson said. “We calmed down, played smart defense, and made plays. When I get the ball my number one priority is to score, and if not score, make something happen so someone else does.”
It was senior Josh Apple who beat the Indians’ goalie on a dead sprint to the loose ball and made the fancy pass WR LDZsRQ WR RSHQ WKH fiQDO quarter. Zurmuhl scored in WKH fiQDO sHFRQG RI DFWLRQ to add to salt to Souderton’s wound.
“Pennridge has gotten better, but if our guys do not show up we are going to get beat,” Hemmerle said. “I think 10 goals are more than enough to win that game. The way we play defense needs to improve. But we will bounce back. We play them again.”