Keep the goals, passing, and communication going: Palmyra's Jovie Weaver on Cougar's 4-2 win against nationally-ranked Warwick

Palmyra’s Mallory Hudson said she was “happy with the score” of the Cougars game against Warwick. 

“I think all season, one of our main goals is to work on our passing, and I think we had a game on Monday against Red Land that wasn’t the outcome that we wanted,” Hudson said after Wednesday's game at Warwick. “So, our focus at practice yesterday was just, really focusing on our passing.” 

The final score favored the Cougars 4-2. The first goal was fired off just under 90 seconds into the first, which boosted Palmyra’s winning mindset, she said.

Warwick, which joined Palmyra in MAX Field Hockey’s national rankings in week two, kept pace with Palmyra. Palmyra is currently ranked No. 9 and Warwick No. 18 by the stats-based website. 

“Even though they had two goals scored against us, this game was a good confidence booster since Monday’s game,” Hudson said. 

The first half easily went to Palmyra, which controlled the game by navigating the ball to the right quadrant of the field. Keely Bowers, per usual, was a large part in securing penalty corner opportunities for the Cougars.

Palmyra earned one score in each quarter. The first two goals were scored on field goals that involved team passing sequences. At least four to five athletes touched the ball prior to putting the ball in the cage. 

Hudson scored the final goal in the fourth off a corner. She was positioned to the right of Warwick’s goalie and completed the play. Jovie Weaver, who assisted Hudson, nabbed the first goal of the game in the first. Morgan Lantz assisted her.

Weaver also found the team’s third goal in the third. Bowers ripped a shot from the top and Weaver tipped it in.

The ball hit the cage’s crossbar, dropped straight down, and then bounced over the goal line. 

“I think our communication was a lot better from the backfield to the front,” Weaver said. “We were telling our teammates where the ball was and where they needed to be. We just need to keep the momentum up, keep the goals coming, keep the good passing and communication going.”

Palmyra’s passing was pretty. They used paced balls, which were dumped into space before a player was there, allowing them to run onto it and then look up for the next pass. They used overlap plays just outside the circle on the right side that effectively helped to earn them corners. Passes were intentional and stick-to-stick.

 The second Cougar goal was a pass from Lantz to Maddie Blouch. Blouch scored in the second quarter. 

And, defensively, they supported one another, too, when Warwick forced a series of penalty corners in the fourth. 

Warwick netted its first goal in the first. Bree Zoccolo passed to Taylor Hess for the point.

Zoccolo helped her team capitalize on a corner in the fourth cutting the deficit to 4-2. The Warriors started to beat Palmyra to the ball in the fourth but couldn’t catch up in time. 

Bennett was under fire during the final minutes, rejecting a chip shot and several rebounds sent to her pads. 

“It’s very exciting back there,” she said. “And, having my defense cheer me on. I know they’ll help me with the rebounds, too. I like when it’s scrappy and you get to play it out.” 

Palmyra is 12-1-1 on the season. Lower Dauphin defeated the Cougars in the second matchup between the Mid-Penn Conference Keystone Division teams.

The Cougars play Penn Manor today in another out-of-conference game and then end their regular season on Monday against Hershey. 

“Good game to get ready for the postseason,” head coach Kent Harshman said. “It turned out schedule-wise, that this was the only time where Warwick and Penn Manor had room for us. We’re getting ready for the postseason in two weeks. We had flashes of brilliance and a couple that went the other way. We had a couple of lapses lately. We needed to get our mojo back. Good game against good competition. No game is going to be perfect in a game that is that fast. They’re going to make some breaks. We did what we had to do. I thought our corners were good again. Our straight strike seemed to be working well, getting tips occasionally.” 

Palmyra’s “trademark” is earning corners, Harshman said. 

“But, I think one of the biggest keys this year is we’re getting the ball stopped at the top,” he said. “We’re not having balls that are getting to our back-up player and we’re just missing at the top. We’re stopping them. The timing is right and I’m really happy with the attack corner game. I thought we were playing good defense.” 

Palmyra is not only a physically powerful team, but they are also an intellectual one. They had a film session this week to study where they can make improvements.

In the Cougars first contest against Red Land, the Patriots fell 6-0. This time, Red Land took Palmyra into overtime, only losing 1-0. 

“Not sure what happened in the Red Land game,” Harshman said. “Red Land certainly had the ball in their zone a couple times. But, they got no shots, no corners. We just couldn’t convert our corners. Good goalkeeper. We weren’t moving laterally before we slammed the ball. Sometimes you win and move on. We’re not going to have our A-game every night. As a coaching staff, we try to minimize those things and prepare them for those things. We try to work on things that are weaknesses in our game. Sometimes it just doesn’t go according to plan. Sometimes a win is a win is a win.” 

Warwick is 12-2-1 on the season. 

“Honestly, they are very good, very skilled, and very fast,” head coach Ron Stief said. "But, we’re pretty fast too. We can match that. And, we did eventually. It’s pretty cool to see. It’s a good pick me up for our kids. We need that going into playoffs. They are very well coached.” 

Stief said he wanted his athletes to “move the ball.” 

“[Palmyra] is disciplined,” he said. “You’re not going to go through them. Because sometimes we get away with it; because we’re fast. You don’t get away with it with good teams. We were attacking into the teeth of their defense all day.” 

On being nationally ranked, Stief said “it’s cool.” 

“I don’t shy away from telling the girls that stuff,” he said. “Enjoy it. We’re here. We’re not a cocky team. I’m working on our confidence. They were intimidated and expecting the worst today. I want them to think, when we take the field, we’re going to attack the other team. If you lose firing your best shot, oh well, you took your best shot.”