Prinkey鈥檚 hat trick leads Lady Falcons to 7-3 victory
CONNELLSVILLE 鈥� Claudia Prinkey scored a hat trick, and Connellsville held off a second-half push by Southmoreland for a 7-3 non-section victory Saturday morning at Connellsville Stadium.
鈥淚鈥檓 not going to lie to you, to give up seven goals, I鈥檓 not happy about that. It鈥檚 a weird feeling. I don鈥檛 think we played horribly.鈥� said Southmoreland coach Josh Pajak.
The Lady Scotties held possession advantage in the offensive zone for most of the first half, but it was Connellsville that netted five goals.
Relying on their outside speed, the Lady Falcons opened the scoring at 32:35 with Rylee Leasher鈥檚 first goal of the match.
鈥淪peed on the outside is going to be our strength. We just have to get a lot of balls slotted across the middle,鈥� said Connellsville coach Jeff Puskar. 鈥淲e just need to be a little better cohesive in the middle defensively.
鈥淚t takes a little bit of time there in the middle.鈥�
Puskar added, 鈥淚 was happy with the way we scored goals. We were stingy early. Sara made the great save (early in the first half). That changed momentum there. They score and it makes it a lot tighter game.鈥�
Leasher鈥檚 goal stood for 15 minutes when Southmoreland goalkeeper Autumn Bartos was unable to control Prinkey鈥檚 shot with the ball bouncing over the prone keeper, flipping into the air and landing over the goal line for a 2-0 lead.
Addison Bandemer assisted on the goal.
Amelia Lincoln gave the Lady Falcons a 3-0 lead at 10:53 when she settled a pass from Emily Burkus and managed to find the back of the net.
Prinkey scored her second goal of the half about 8陆 minutes later.
Leasher鈥檚 defense set up Lincoln for her second goal of the half with 22 seconds remaining. Leasher stole the ball in front of the Southmoreland net and rolled a pass to Lincoln, who buried the shot for a 5-0 halftime lead.
鈥淎s a team, we鈥檙e going to have to really work on transitioning to defending and it鈥檚 just about a mindset. Our team has to dig in and not let them get off a shot,鈥� said Pajak. 鈥淭hree of their goals, they should鈥檝e never got a shot off. Get your body in front of a shot.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to work hard on that this week.鈥�
Prinkey completed her hat trick six minutes into the second half when she won a ball in front of the net and popped a shot over Destiny Auer.
Connellsville got a bit complacent after with the 6-0 lead and Southmoreland took advantage of the lack of focus with a natural hat trick by Megan Mehall.
鈥淲hen we鈥檙e focused and we have the starting 11 out there, we鈥檙e pretty good. But, sometimes, I don鈥檛 know what it is, the girls tend to lose that,鈥� said Puskar. 鈥淢y job is to make the best squad out there. Hey, we鈥檙e finding our way.鈥�
Mehall scored her first at 29:03 when she controlled a bouncing ball and slipped it behind goalie Sara Tinkey.
Mehall鈥檚 second goal was the result of a mishandled shot two minutes later. The junior was on the post to the right of Tinkey and muscled the ball into the net.
The hat trick came on a shot from around 30 yards out that sailed over Tinkey鈥檚 outstretched arms with 18:03 remaining in the half.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we played horribly from the 30-yard line to the 30-yard line. As a group, we played poorly in our final third,鈥� said Pajak. 鈥淚n the first half, we weren鈥檛 as tenacious in their final third. That鈥檚 why we couldn鈥檛 get on the board.鈥�
Leasher scored her second goal late in the match when she sprinted alone down the left wing and drilled a shot into the net.
Both teams won鈥檛 start section play until after the Labor Day holiday, so they鈥檒l have a few non-section matches to settle into a rhythm.
鈥淲e have about two more weeks roughly, before section starts, and we want to make sure we鈥檙e playing at 80, 90 percent, because if not, we鈥檒l be in big trouble,鈥� explained Puskar.
Girls volleyball
Carmichaels 3, Brownsville 1 鈥� The Lady Falcons stayed alive with a win in the second set, but Carmichaels closed out the non-section match by taking the next two sets for the victory.
The Lady Mikes won the opening set, 25-23, dropped the second, 25-19, and won the next two, 27-25 and 25-23.
Payton Evanchak had a double-double for Brownsville with 11 service points and 12 kills. Skyler Gates was tough at the net with 18 kills and six blocks. Kenzie Adams finished with 16 service points.
Boys soccer
Mount Pleasant 4, Connellsville 2 鈥� The Vikings held off the Falcons in the second half for a non-section home victory.
Mount Pleasant (1-0) led 1-0 at halftime.
Gavin Rummel scored a goal and assisted on one for the Vikings. Tyler Kurtz and Landon Stuart scored second-half goals, and Aydan Gross closed the scoring on a penalty kick.
Grayson Gardner preserved the win with four saves.
Bentworth 3, Trinity 1 鈥� Ryan Moessner scored a pair of goals as the Bearcats opened the season with a victory over the Hillers in the Canon Mac Showcase.
Andrew Vipperman also netted a goal for Bentworth. Adam Moessner, Dillan Colbert and Isaac Reynolds had assists.
Bentworth (1-0) led 2-0 at halftime. Trinity scored its goal late in the second half.
鈥淚t is always rewarding to see hard work from practice translate to the field. Trinity is a solid and experienced team and we were definitely challenged today.,鈥� said Bentworth coach Nicholas Malarbi. 鈥淢y guys played hard for 80 minutes and that is all I can ask for this early in the year.鈥�
Ringgold 4, Elizabeth Forward 3 鈥� Nick Evans鈥� goal with around 15 minutes remaining in the match was the difference in the Rams鈥� victory in the Moe Rosensteel Memorial Kickoff Classic.
The Warriors scored first at the 30-minute mark, but Evans responded just over a minute later with his first goal of the match.
Lucas Wukovich gave the Rams their first lead with a goal at 18:29. Elizabeth Forward tied the match about three minutes later for a 2-2 halftime tie.
Wukovich鈥檚 second goal gave Ringgold a 3-2 lead 10 minutes into the second half. The Warriors pulled into a tie at the 16-minute mark.
Football
Summit Academy 20, Frazier 16 鈥� The Knights rallied for a non-conference victory with a fourth-quarter touchdown on Demetrius Crosby鈥檚 13-yard run.
The Commodores led 8-6 after the first quarter and 16-14 at halftime.
Frazier鈥檚 Derek Diamond scored on a 5-yard run and Brady Secrist found Andrew Bandish open for a 44-yard touchdown pass.