Ward hat trick, six points leads Rams to 15-6 win over Tribe

Was it only last week that Maddie Ward scored her 100^th career goal?

After a week of rainouts and rescheduling games, the Rams' finally took the field at Coach McNelly Stadium Monday afternoon with an opportunity to eclipse the .500 mark on the season for the first time.

Spring-Ford, led by Ward’s hat trick and six points overall, utilized scoring by ten different players to improve to 3-2 in league play by running past Upper Perkiomen 15-6 in a Pioneer Athletic Conference inter-division battle.

Ward got the Rams on the board just 3:13 into the fray as she took a feed from Leann Shaw, beating Tribe goaltender Katie Lederer on the short side.

Maddie Dishman followed up Ward’s goal just 40 seconds later, posting the Rams to a 2-0 lead and starting a parade of goal scorers that included tallies by Caitlin Bercek, Leann Shaw, Savanna Malloy, Brian Barone, Danielle Rheume, and Kira Gensler, who posted two first period goals to help the Rams build a 9-2 bulge before the break.

“We wanted to come out fast,” said left defensive wing Briana Barone (goal, 2 assists). “Coach Short always stresses the importance of a good start. We grabbed the lead early and just had to make sure we kept up the tempo and didn’t lay back.”

Junior net minder Cassidy Novotny followed up her 14 save effort in her last outing with another solid day in net, making three difficult saves in the first half to prevent any Indians thoughts of a rally and 12 saves overall for the contest.

“Sometimes it’s tough to stay focused back there,” said Novotny. “Our offense is so good and we have played with some big leads. I have to keep my head in the game, whether it’s a one goal game or we are leading by ten. My job is to communicate with my defense, which has been awesome. “

Following the intermission, Ward and the Rams resumed the assault on the Upper Perk  net, with Ward scoring at the 19:27 mark, then claiming her third tally on an 8 meter shot with twelve minutes remaining to give the Rams a 13-4 lead.

“Maddie has been playing great,” said Barone. “I think we have come together as a team and are playing together better than we ever have. The coaches have had a lot to do with that. It feels more like a family than a team, which makes it fun to work hard in practice and during games.”

Left attack winger Leann Shaw was second on the Rams scoresheeet with 2 goals and 2 assists, while Anna Charlebois (goal, 2 assists) and Barone had three points each.

The tribe had no answer for the Rams speed as most of the second half was spent around the Upper Perk goal cage. The cycling of the ball that has become a Spring-Ford trademark led to repeated scoring chances and kept the Indians pinned in their defensive zone.

“We are a young team," added coach Amy Short. “But we are fast and need to use that speed to make scoring chances. We had a couple of breakdowns again late and gave up a couple of goals, but we can work on that. We need to finish as strong as we have been starting games and keep that tempo for the entire game.”

Next up for the Rams (3-2 league, 4-3 overall) is an interdivisional battle at Phoenixville on Wednesday and a non-league game with Springfield –Montco at home on Friday.

RAMS SCORING

Novotny – 12 saves