RED HILL — When two good and evenly-matched field hockey teams meet, the outcome is often decided by one key change in momentum or one well-executed play that leads to the deciding goal.
That was the case on Thursday night when Methacton scored midway through the fourth quarter for a 1-0 win over Boyertown and the Pioneer Athletic Conference championship at Upper Perkiomen’s Indian Stadium.
Adriana Hopple scored on a penalty corner play with 7:16 remaining in the match to give the No. 1 seed Warriors (16-2-2) their second title in three years and fourth overall. The No. 2 Bears (14-6) had two corners after the score and possession of the ball deep in Methacton territory with 10 seconds to go, but couldn’t get the ball past the defense and goalkeeper Maddie McKenney.
“It all comes down to who puts the ball in the net,” said Warriors head coach Amanda Parrezzi. “When you get that little edge in momentum or energy.”
“We dominated the game, but that’s not the way it works in field hockey,” lamented Boyertown head coach Alicia Terrizzi, whose team was the defending champion and playing in the PAC final for the fifth straight season. “It was a good game between two strong teams who should do well in the (district) playoffs.”
Boyertown, the Liberty Division runner-up to Methacton, controlled the early part of the match and gained a 5-2 edge in corners in the first half on the way to an 8-5 advantage for the game.
But the Warriors began to even things out in the second half and gained momentum in the fourth quarter. Then they earned their first corner of the quarter and Hopple made the insertion pass for a shot by Calie Fisher. The ball was knocked around in front of the cage several times and Hopple was ultimately in position to put it into the goal.
“The shot came from Calie, a little bouncy,” said Hopple, one of 13 seniors on the Methacton roster. “I knew I had to go to the ball.”
After that, the Methacton defense was tested several times, but McKenney was confident that her defense would come through.
“I think the most confidence for me comes from our defense in practice,” said the senior keeper. “My defense is always playing at 100 percent in practice and how you practice is how you play. And we’re hard on each other in practice.”
The teams had split their two regular season meetings with the Warriors winning 6-0 early in the season and the Bears coming out on top by a 3-2 score in late September.
“We talked in practice about changing our presses and that helped,” said Hopple.
“Just going into this, we knew we had to keep the energy and intensity up,” added Parrezzi. “I felt at the end of the game we gained a little bit of momentum. Energy and momentum can give you that little edge.”
“We battled,” said Terrizzi. “Methacton is a good team.”
Boyertown, a 5-1 semifinal winner over Owen J. Roberts, came into the match having won two of the last three PAC titles, including a 4-2 decision over Methacton in last year’s final.
Methacton, a 9-0 semifinal winner over Frontier Division champion Pope John Paul II, defeated the Bears 1-0 in the final two years ago.
Hopple credited the closeness of the team for much of this year’s success so far.
“We’ve been playing with each other since first grade,” she said.
“Some coaches have told our coaches that they’ve never seen a team as close as we are,” said McKenney. “They said how connected we are.”
Both teams will receive first-round byes in the 24-team District 1-3A playoffs that begin on Monday and will send seven teams to the PIAA Tournament. Methacton is ranked No. 4 in the district and Boyertown will compete as the No. 8 seed.
