Riley Welsch was a power player for the Trojans Saturday morning.
It wasn’t just that she scored two goals and had two assists to help Hershey shutout Eastern York 5-0. It was that she tipped in a rocket shot and scored on an off-balanced one of her own that ended the Trojan’s scoring spree.
“I was carrying the ball along the baseline and then it just, like, slipped in,” Welsch said of Hershey’s final goal. “I was almost going to cross the ball, and I just put it in the goal.”
From the sidelines, her angle looked awkward. She turned her body just enough to get the ball in front of her right foot when she launched it.
The goal was Hershey’s final in the lopsided game, but it was a great opportunity for Eastern York’s squad. Both are in District 3, but Hershey (Mid-Penn Conference) is ranked in Pennsylvania, whereas Eastern York (YAIAA) is not.
Had it not been for a strong defensive line and Kendall Felix in cage, the score could have been much higher.
“We lost a girl – one of our starters – two days ago to an ACL,” said Eastern York Head Coach Steph Felix. “One of our great backs, and we missed her tremendously today. But Emma Porta stepped up, and she did a fabulous job.”
Kendall, who has over 200 saves on the season, faced 17 shots and had 12 saves. Steph said if there were two things her defense could have done better to contain Hershey’s “great stick skills and passing,” it would have been for them to “control them” and “mark-up better.”
Hershey’s circle performance was captivating. It started with Lexi Schulz, who angled her stick for an unstoppable tip from a powerful Anne Gardner drive. Gardner said she was ripping shots for that very reason.
Welsch then set up Ampi Marzari in the second quarter with an opportunity. She carried the ball to the baseline where she delivered a solid pass across the cage. Marzari received the ball and scored.
The next goal, you could find Welsch where she regularly hangs out – in the circle. She moved from post to stroke as she read a pass from Emily Beitzel. Welsch received it and then made a huge pull to get around Kendall. She then punched in goal three for Hershey.
“I was down nearby the post, so Emily Beitzel sent the ball in from the top of the circle, and I picked it up and pulled it around the goalie,” Welsch said.
Three minutes into the third, the Trojans quickly were back in their attacking circle. Welsch said she received a pass and turned it over to Gardner.
“I just tapped it over to give her a wide-open shot,” Welsch said.
Eastern saw its first chance to score in the fourth. They proved that they heard their coach after she told them to “play their hearts out.” The Knights were awarded a corner, in which Samantha Burke was able to get a shot off. It went wide.
And aside from that one breakdown in Hershey’s defense, the Trojans were impenetrable.
“I feel really comfortable back there,” said center-back Lauren Schulz. The senior gave credit to her fellow defenders and goalie. “I think we were able to step up well and not let them in the circle as much as they would’ve liked to. It was really nice, and it was really great to get the shutout today.”
With two games left before the postseason, Hershey ranks third behind Palmyra and Susquehannock in Class 2A.
“It’s really exciting,” said Beitzel. “It’s the first time in a while that we’ve made it this strong, played like this much of a powerhouse. We have still two more games left, and we’d like to win both of those. But I think we’re pretty confident going into it. We’ve beat hard teams. We can do it again. We know what to do now, so it’s just getting down to it. Doing the simple things.”
Hershey loves to score.
“I think we would’ve liked to put a few more points up on the board,” Gardner said. “But overall, the outcome was pretty good in our favor, so we’ll take it.”
Hershey had a couple days off, so they were glad to be back on the field, Head Coach Savanna Lenker said.
“I think we were just ready to play,” she said.
Hershey is 11-2-1.
“I think ending off the regular season, we just need to stay composed and stay strong,” said Schulz. “We know the teams we’re going up against have skill and we need to stay the team that we are because we know if we play our game, we should do pretty well against these teams.”
Eastern finished No. 23 in Class 1A with a 6-11-1 overall record.
“It’s our last game of the season for our seniors just to play for each other,” Steph said. “This has been a great group of girls to work with and I’m and I’m proud of all their accomplishments.”
Trojans: 5
- Goals – WeIsch (2), Lexi Schulz (1), Marzari (1), Gardener (1)
- Assists – Welsch (2), Gardener (1), Beitzel (1)
- Shots – 17
- Penalty corners – 13
- Saves – 0
Golden Knights: 0
- Goals – 0
- Assists – 0
- Shots – 1
- Penalty corners – 1
- Saves – Kendall Felix (12)
