true Gwynedd-Mercy 4, Neumann 3

BOX SCORE

GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA. -- Gwynedd-Mercy defeated Neumann 4-3 in front of a full stadium Thursday night on Senior Night to clinch a bid to the CSAC playoffs. What better way for the Griffins, who honored their eight seniors, to send them into the playoffs for the 12th straight year.

The Griffins got on the board quickly with a goal at the 2:59 mark from sophmore midfielder Maura Gifford (North Wales, Pa. / Lansdale Catholic) to hold a 1-0 advantage. Senior forward Gwen Conte (Cherry Hill, N.J. / Bishop Eustace) buried a rebound at the 25:29 minute into the back of the net off an assist by senior midfielder Brigid Dowling (Philadelphia, Pa. / Little Flower) to give the Griffins a 2-0 advantage.

However the first-place Knights flexed their muscles, scoring the next three goals in just over a four-minute span to give them a 3-2 advantage heading into halftime. Heather Hopkins scored the first of the three goales at the 28:10 minute mark. Off their next corner at the 30:04 minute, the Knights' Alexis Tiernan played a ball out of the corner that deflected off the Gwynedd-Mercy goalie to tie the score at 2-2. The third goal for the Knights came of a penalty kick at the 32:29 mark that was taken and scored by Allie MacNeil to give Neumann a one-goal advantage at the half.

The second stanza saw chances for both teams battling through a cold and rainy evening. Senior Kasey Reid  (Mercerville, N.J. / Steinert) gave the Griffins some life at the 74:07 mark, putting away a free kick 25 yards out to tie the game for the Griffins. With a little under 11 minutes remaing in the contest, Gifford completed the comeback, scoring the game-winner at the 79:37 mark her second on the night on an assist from Conte to give the Griffins the edge.

Neumann (12-5, 9-2 CSAC) out shot the Griffins (6-9-3, 6-2-2 CSAC), 12-10. Both teams drew even with corners at 5-5.
Senior goalie Abby Reed (Manheim, Pa / Manheim Central) recorded seven saves for the Griffins to preserve the victory. Her counterpart Briana King had four saves for the Knights.

With the win Gwynedd-Mercy assured themselves a spot in the upcoming playoffs which start next Monday. They travel to Notre Dame Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff to close out the regular season.

Prior to the game, the Griffins honored seniors Kaitlyn Brassell (Huntingdon Valley, Pa / Nazareth Academy), Amelia Garris (Narragansett, R.I. / Narragansett), Melissa Maguire (Philadelphia, Pa / Archbishop Ryan) , Kirstyn Varas (Essington, Pa. / Interboro), Conte, Dowling, Abby Reed and Kasey Reid.