Pioneers blanked by defending champ VMA
The Christopher Dock fiHOd KRFNHy WHDP DOUHDdy had a big enough challenge LQ IDFLQJ fivH-WLPH dHIHQding district champ Villa Maria on Thursday.
That challenge grew substantially when the Pioneers had to play without their star captain, Taylor Schwoyer, in the lineup, as she was sidelined due to an ankle injury.
Dock fought on but fell behind early to the HurriFDQHV, VWDWH fiQDOLVWV D yHDU ago, and could not catch up. Villa Maria advanced in the District One Class AA Tournament with a 6-0 victory over Dock, which saw a good season come to an end on a cool, cloudy afternoon at Villa Maria.
“Villa came out hard, hard and fast, and they scored quickly,” Pioneers coach Michelle Waldspurger said. “We were kind of caught off guard. We haven’t played a team that fast and skilled.”
The win advanced Villa WR D VHPLfiQDO PDWFKuS ZLWK HLWKHU GZyQHdd 0HUFy RU Phoenixville, who played Thursday night.
Two goals by Megan Parsons and another each by Amelia Iacobucci and Katie Mooney put the top-seeded HXUULFDQHV XS 4-0 LQ WKH fiUVW 15 minutes, and Iacobucci and Caroline Mackrides added a score each before halftime, giving Villa a 6-0 lead at the break.
The Villa Maria pressure was overwhelming, as the fast-paced Hurricanes manufactured 23 shots on goal in the contest and made it a busy afternoon for Dock senior goalie Marissa Souder.
Dock was also trying to cope with the loss of Schwoyer, who is usually a PDMRU IRUFH LQ WKH PLGfiHOG.
“It was exciting to make it WKURXJK WKDW fiUVW URXQG DQG to not be able to play in my last game was really hard,” she said.
No. 8 Dock was able to generate a couple of scoring chances in the second half, but Erika Miller was there to make the saves for Villa.
Dock, a team blessed with seven seniors this year, was able to advance to the secRQG URXQG IRU WKH fiUVW WLPH since 2008 and also improve XSRQ ODVW yHDU’V 7-11 fiQLVK, going 11-8 this fall. The Pioneers will return the bulk of their defense next season, as ZHOO DV VRPH PLGfiHOGHUV DQG forwards.
Dock’s dedication to offseason work starts right away on Saturday, when the Pioneers will host a clinic from 9 a.m. to noon, with 2004 graduate and 2008 Olympian Jesse Gey in attendance.
“:H GHfiQLWHOy LPSURvHG so much this year,” said Schwoyer, who will play at University at Albany next season. “These young girls really stepped up and were able to replace all the skill that we lost from last year. We came together as a team and had some really great games. We pulled together.”