Pennsbury 9, Truman 0

First half: 4-0

Truman hung strong for most of the first half, keeping the game within a goal until just under 10 minutes. Junior midfielder and team captain Lila Giunta was having a strong game until a collision at midfield resulted in a knee injury and she would not be able to return. The Tigers couldn’t hold Pennsbury’s persistent attack and yielded 3 quick goals to end the half and never quite recovered. Center fullback Isabella Romer, the team’s leader in minutes played, also exited the game with an unfortunately injury. Defensively, Sophomore Natalie Klimowicz displayed her versatility dropping back to play center fullback in Romer’s absence. Offensively, Laila Lorenti and Gwen Marston left nothing on the field, but the team just couldn’t find the back of the net.

Coaches comments: Despite the score, I saw a lot of good things today. Players worked hard to stay with their defensive assignments and they needed to, given Pennsbury’s speed and skill. Hadley Rizzo continually hustled back deep into the defensive zone and moments after making one defensive play, she was back on the attack, nearly scoring a goal. There was another play that stood out where Pennsbury was on a quick offensive transition and two of their players made runs to get open. Midfielders Julianna Romer and Azra Biyik communicated and stayed with their mark, allowing our defender Jada Akins to make the play on the ball carrier. These little things don’t always show up on the scoreboard, but the progression is noticeable.

Today we lost a few core players to injury and fell behind in the game. Players were cast into positions that they were not used to. Freshman Harley Palencik and Junior Monica Almanza were repositioned into center midfield and stopper positions and played strong defense for almost the entire 2nd half. It is not easy to learn a position you have not practiced, yet alone try for the first time at the varsity level and against a team of Pennsbury’s caliber. It would have been an easy excuse to give up, but not these girls. In back to back days, the Tigers were involved in lopsided games, winning 8-0 and losing 9-0. One thing was consistent in both games, regardless of the score, the girls played hard for 80 minutes and carried themselves in the same manner, displaying teamwork, pride and sportsmanship.