It was a big moment for Katie Szczypiorski.
And the Central Bucks East sophomore delivered.
Szczypiorski scored on a penalty stroke to give the Patriots a 1-0 win over host Central Bucks South in a Suburban One League Colonial Division field hockey game on Monday.
It was the first attempt at a stroke for Szczypiorski, a defender.
Szczypiorski lifted the ball into the cage with 9:46 remaining in the first quarter and that goal held up.
“I’ve never scored before, so it was really exciting,” she said. “I’ve really been working on my strokes, so I felt confident in my ability and when the coach (Emma Rosenthal) chose me to take the stroke, it was a big surprise but also a big lift for me that she had confidence in me.
“I didn’t think that lead was going to hold the whole game, but I’m really proud of how our defense played.”
CB East senior goaltender Audra Szymborski had a good feeling about that goal.
“I honestly did think that was going to be enough,” said Szymborski, who will continue her career at Wingate University, where she plans to major in nursing. “I have a lot of faith in our defense. When I saw that ball go in, I gave a sigh of relief.
“All the Central Bucks games are real rivalry games and even though we beat them already this year, we knew we couldn’t rest on that. We’re both different teams from when that game was played. They beat CB West and we had a rough game against West. We came into it with a clean slate, thinking anything could happen and we just had to play to our potential.”
Szymborski, who made seven saves for the shutout, was aided by defenders Szczypiorski, Avery McCann, Anna Daly, Maddie Mandia and Sienna Valenti.
The victory got the Patriots back on the winning track after consecutive losses to Central Bucks West and Unionville.
“This was important for us, to start the week off with a win,” Szczypiorski said.
The Patriots missed the postseason in 2022 for the first time since 2014.
“I feel really good about the playoffs this year,” Szmborski said. “We have a lot of new players but we’ve been able to bond on and off the field and that’s really helped us to connect. I feel like it’s all starting to come together for us at the right time.”
It was a frustrating loss for the Titans, who were coming off back-to-back losses to Souderton and Merion Mercy.
“We really needed to win this one,” said CB South senior captain Sam Thomas, a defender. “Clearly, we have some things we need to work on, mostly on generating some offense. We have to work on our passes and utilizing our mids more.
“We’re still in a good position for the playoffs and that’s our biggest goal right now, to make sure we get into the playoffs. I’m very motivated to get there and I think everyone else is, too.
“We only have four seniors. Our team this year is mainly freshmen and sophomores so that’s challenging because we don’t have that long experience of working together. But we are getting there.”
Thomas is the vice president of the National Honor Society and the secretary for the UNICEF Club at CB South.
CB East won the first meeting between the two programs this season on Sept. 18, 2-0.
Emma Kraft made four saves in goal for CB South.
CB South held a 7-4 advantage in penalty corners.
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