GMA rallies past Lower Moreland in first round
GMA 2, LOWER MORELAND 0 »
Keira Cassidy scored in the 25th minute on an assist from Hannah Griffin and the eight-seeded Monarchs held on for the win a District 1-3A first-round match on Wednesday. Caroline Drakeley added a goal in the 63th-minute for GMA, which will face No. 1 seed Radnor on Friday. Ellie Verrill made six saves in net for GMA, while Alessandra Malaveo had 10 saves for Lower Moreland.
WC EAST 1, UPPER MORELAND
WC East took advantage of a corner kick in the 42nd minute with Jordan Colton finding the back of the net on Wednesday in a District 1-3A first-round match. The 10th-seeded Golden Bears responded with Kyra Favors hitting a crossbar, Emma Frasca missing the upper 90 by inches, Willow Taylor hitting the crossbar and the WC East goalie robbing Brooke Lobban’s chance.
“Coming into districts with 10 seniors who have been here for three of their four years, we knew what this game would bring. Heart, desire, and grit,” said UM head coach Lisa Benvenuto. “Our girls were ready for tonight. We knew our game plan, and we executed it. Every player who stepped on to the field tonight emptied their tank. As a coach, you can not ask more of your players.” DOCK 6, CALVARY CHRISTIAN 1 » Abby Brown picked up a hat trick as the Pioneers rolled to the District 1-A semfinal victory on Wednesday. Kenzie Derstine, Emma Kratz and Ashley Lapp also scored for Dock. Next up the Pioneers will face top-seeded Faith Christian for the District 1-A title Monday night at 5 pm at Dock.
Boys soccer
DELCO CHRISTIAN 3, DOCK
Dock traveled to Delco for a District 1-A quarterfinal on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. Earlier in the season Dock handed Delco one of its six losses on the season, but not on Tuesday. Delco struck quickly with three first-half goals from Cortez Cardone, Max Cordone and Titus Ahlborn. Cameron LeSeeur found the crossbar, but the Pioneers (9-5-4) could not find the back of the net. Dock’s Braden Churches made five saves in net.
Rugby
The future of rugby in schools in Pennsylvania has taken a positive step forward, as the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Board of Directors has approved the creation of an Emerging Sport classification
During its meeting on July 14th, 2021, the PIAA Board accepted a proposal from their Executive Staff for the development of an Emerging Sports Process Guide. This new emerging sports classification allows sports with smaller levels of school participation, like rugby, to have a pathway to achieving full sponsorship by the PIAA.
Rugby PA leadership met with members of the PIAA Executive Staff in early 2020 to discuss the potential of rugby being introduced into more schools across the state. Rugby PA encouraged the PIAA to consider creating a classification similar to that of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women, for which rugby qualifies. Currently, PIAA policy provides the establishment of an Inter-District Championship for a sport when the number of member senior high schools sponsoring that sport reaches 100. The new emerging sport classification allows for only 25 schools per gender to sponsor the sport; including varsity, club, and co-op programs.
“This emerging sport classification is exactly what we were hoping for after our meeting in 2020. We knew that getting to 100 schools would be a challenge, particularly after previous meetings with Athletic Directors to encourage participation. But with this new classification, we look forward to bringing all the inclusivity of rugby to every community across the state,” said Rugby PA Executive Director Dylan Hamilton.