Cougars' Comeback Stopped Short

Harriton-When Great Valley senior Sara McBride found the twine behind Springfield goal tender Kristy Reid, who had been spectacular all game, with 2:01 remaining in the second overtime period, it ended the Cougars season and a remarkable comeback just short of the PIAA state championship semi-finals.

Reid, who made ten saves on the day, rose to the occasion on the threes separate outstanding plays in the first half alone.

With 6:10 remaining before intermission, Reid stoned Patriots sniper McBride on an eight-meter shot and was able to get her stick on an attempt by Brooke Gamble and Ali Karwoski at point blank range just before the buzzer, to keep Springfield within striking distance.

After falling into a 5-0 hole to start the contest, sophomore Alex Poplawski (4 goals, assist) and freshman Ally Gromely both scored on an eight-meter shot, as the Cougars clawed their way back to a three-goal deficit at the break.

“We put ourselves in that position by getting in a 5-0 hole,” said Cougars head coach Keith Broome. “If it weren’t for Kristy’s play early on we would not even have had a chance to get back into it as it could have been 10-2 at the half.

Following the break, the Cougars (18-4, ranked third in the state) snared the momentum of the game by being more aggressive attacking the ball, holding an 13-2 second half edge in ground balls to help fuel their amazing comeback.

Poplawski made her presence known in the second half as she peppered the Great Valley net minder Jenna Morris (17 saves), scoring back-to- back goals, which cut the Great Valley advantage to 7-5 with more than 17 minutes remaining.

With 11 minutes left in their season, coach Broome called time out following the second goal in the game by Patriots attacker Emily Scullin to give Great Valley a 9-6 lead.

In a game which the flow was continually interrupted with more whistles than a Mardis Gras parade, it was check to the head, yellow card by Great Valley Caroline Dodds that busted through the door that had been cracked open by two goals off the stick of junior Maddy Lynch with 6:41 left.

On the ensuing advantage, Poplawski scored twice, tying the tilt on an eight-meter shot, then giving the Cougars the lead on another penalty with 3:37 left.

“It was horrible to stand and watch that,” said Dodds. “I was so upset to put us in that position, if we lost because of it I knew I would never hear the end of it, fortunately we were able to get the goals back.”

As the penalty expires and the clock wound down, Great Valley junior Alex Karwoski took a great feed from Brooke Gamble (goal, assist) and knotted the game at ten when she found the back of the net with 3:06 left in regulation.

The Patriots (21-3, ranked sixth in the state) were almost a victim of their own design as regulation came to an end as the Patriots wasted two and a half minutes of the clock, playing for the last shot, but were thwarted by great defense Michelle Gildea and Emily Verica, who stripped Karwosi of the ball with two second left, forcing overtime.

Following a scoreless overtime period, it was Gildea who was issued a yellow card for a check to the head, as her stick glanced Karwoski with just 1.8 seconds remaining, to give the Pats a player advantage as the second OT loomed, which was ended by McBride's heroics, sending the Patriots into the semi-finals next week.

“We just kept believing in each other,” said McBride. “They (Springfield) are a great team and, when they came back in the second half, we were really forcing things. This is unbelievable that we were able to come back like this when they beat up pretty good last week.”

“Anytime you have such an advantage in draw controls," added Broome. “You should win the game. I am disappointed for the seniors as they gave 150 percent and absolutely left nothing on the field.  Courtney (Kennedy), Kristy (Reid) and Brooke (Shea) have set the example all year for the younger kids. The have played their butts off all year and deserved to still be playing. I really thought we had a shot this year, because you never know if you’ll get back here. But we are young and have a talented squad heading into next year.”

Great Valley          5            5            0            1-11

Springfield            2            8            0            0-10

First Half scoring

21:37  GV            Scullin from Kalick

17:43   GV            Gamble  8 meter shot

11:00   GV            Kratzer 8 meter shot

  9:54   GV            McBride from Kratzer

  7:14   GV            Karwoski

  4:42   SP            Gormely 8 meter shot

  3:29   SP            Poplawski 8 meter shot

Second half scoring

21:30   GV           Kalick 8 meter

21:05   SP            Lynch from  Poplawski

20:03   GV          Karwoski from Kalick

18:18   SP            Poplawski from Notofranceco

17:35   SP            Poplawski 8 meter shot

17:14   SP            Notofrancesco

16:39   GV           Karwoski McBride

13:55   GV           Scullin

11:04   SP            Lynch

  7:52   SP            Lynch

  6:38   SP            Poplawski 8 meter shot

  3:37   SP            Poplawski 8 meter shot

  3:06   GV           Karwoski from Gamble

Second OT scoring

2:01     GV            McBride

Goaltending stats-      Kristy Reid  10 saves, Jenna Morris  17 saves

Yellow cards-           

Caroline Dodds  (3:00)  check to head at 6:41 left in second half

Michelle Gildea (3:00) check to head at 01.8 left in first OT