The second day of competition at the 2019 Young Women's National Championship (YWNC) saw four closely contested matches take place at Spooky Nook Sports in Lancaster, Pa. Below is a recap of each game played.
Freedom 3 - 1 Courage
Day 2 of the 2019 Young Women’s Championships opened with the a Pool A clash between Freedom and Courage. In an even first half which saw both teams create chances, Freedom got on the board first as Megan Rodgers (San Diego, Calif.) converted a penalty stroke after 13 minutes of play. Courage, unable to take their penalty corner opportunities, would go into the break down 0-1. Natalie Burns (Sewell, N.J.) extended the lead five minutes into the third quarter before Erin Huffman (Annville, Pa.) pulled one back with a nice backhand finish. Freedom effectively iced the game two minutes into the final period of play as Rodgers eliminated a defender before carrying down the right baseline and coolly finishing past the advancing goalkeeper. Courage pulled their goalkeeper with 5 minutes to play but were unable to change the outcome as Freedom ran out 3-1 winners which, by the end of the day, was enough to see them top Pool A.
Game 6: USA U-19 3 - 1 Spirit
After their hot start on day one the USA U-19 team were kept in check through the first quarter by Spirit as both teams traded corners. Two minutes into the second quarter Hannah Miller (Malvern, Pa.) broke the deadlock as she finished the rebound after a nice deflection chance from Leah Crouse (Virginia Beach, Va.) was saved. History repeated itself two minutes after the halftime break as Miller was on hand at the back post to finish after a threatening run from Maddie Zimmer (Hershey, Pa.) The USA U-19 team continued the scoring at the start of the fourth quarter when Charlotte De Vries (Wayne, Pa.) exploited the baseline and found Josie Varney (Smithfield, Maine) who grabbed the team's third goal. Spirit was not done as Mikayla Michels (Needham, Mass.) continued her scoring ways as she pounced on a loose ball in front of goal to close the gap a minute later. A sharp penalty corner save from Brie Barraco (Allentown, Pa.) with 7 minutes to go snuffed out the final Spirit chance as the game ended 3-1 in favor of the USA U-19 team who now top Pool B heading into the final day of pool play.
Patriots 1 - 2 Honor
In the second Pool A match-up of the day Honor opened the scoring in the 13th minute as Mackenzie Keegan (Delran, N.J.) deflected in a broken penalty corner to grab her third goal in two games. It would take until after halftime before Honor could extend their lead and when they finally did, it again came from a broken penalty corner play. Kelee Lepage (Honey Brook, Pa.) was in the right place at the right time as she tapped it home from a couple of yards out. The game was not over yet however as the Patriots found a lifeline through Fusine Govaert (Rye, N.Y.) who slotted home a backhand shot from the top of circle after Kelsey Briddell (Wilton, N.Y.) supplied the assist. Unable to find the equalizer, Patriots pulled their goalkeeper in the final minute but they couldn’t break through as Honor grabbed the 3 points.
Pride 3 - 2 Dream
In the final game of the day it would take until the second quarter for a team to find the backboard. Olivia Sahaydak (Bethlehem, Pa.) opened the scoring for Dream as she finished on her backhand from close range. Pride threatened to tie things up as they hit the post twice, once from a penalty corner variation and once from a Tess Queen (Smithsburg, Md.) deflection, as Kealsie Robles (Yorktown, Va.) was called upon to make a handful of saves in the Dream goal. Eventually they broke through as Pip Konerth (Huntingtown, Md.) slid a forehand spin past the goalkeeper with 3 minutes to go in the third quarter. Two minutes later Pride had the lead when Corey Mayer (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.) found Jessica Dembrowski (Palmyra, Pa.) on a well executed penalty corner routine. Pride extended their lead at the start of the final period. On the play, Robles saved the initial shot by Queen but Makayla Gallen (Glen Mills, Pa.) picked up the rebound and found Avery Powell (Moorestown, N.J.) in front of goal who deflected it home. Dream was not done as they pulled the trigger on their own penalty corner variation which resulted in a deflection by Mary Kate Neff (Villanova, Pa.) with six minutes to go. Dream created one more chance to tie things up but a good save from Noelle Frost (Glenwood, Md.) in the Pride goal was enough to secure the 3-2 win.
The Young Women's National Championship continues tomorrow and runs through Tuesday, June 18. Admission to all games are free. For more information including results, full schedule, rosters, live stream and more, check out the YWNC event page by clicking here. #YWNC2019
Sunday, June 16 Schedule:
11:30 AM A Patriots vs. Courage
1:30 PM B Pride vs. Spirit
3:30 PM A Freedom vs. Honor
5:30 PM B USA U-19 vs. Dream