MaryKate Sitko scored Upper Perk's first and last goals in a 14-8 home loss to Upper Merion on Tuesday. Sitko's sixth goal of the day, with 2:49 left in the contest,

Upper Perk's Payton Bettys and MaryKate Sitko fight fo the ball in the air at the goal in Tuesday afternoon's game against Upper Merion.

was her 100th career point.   

           Sitko describe hitting the century mark as "very meaningful," and she hopes it is part of "try[ing] to be a leader on the field. Setting examples for  freshmen and sophomores is important."

            Sitko's standout day was not enough, however, to offset Upper Merion's balanced attack as five different players registered goals, including six tallies by Ashley Evitts.

            The Tribe took a 1-0 lead on Sitko's goal, just 2:32 into the game, but the visiting Vikings (3-1 in the Frontier Division of the Pioneer Athletic Confernce, 3-4 overall) scored the next three to take the lead for good against freshman goalie Angelina Glackin who was making her varsity debut due to an injury to MacKenzie Bettys.

            Upper Perk head coach Catie Sobotor called the loss of Bettys "a big hit and blow to our team" but praised Glackin (six saves) for stepping into the breach.

            "I'm so, so glad she stepped up for her team. Everybody was very grateful. She did a pretty good job today."

            After Julianna Callison scored the goal that gave Upper Merion the 3-1 lead, Sobotor called timeout, but the Vikings seemed to benefit more from the break.

            Viking head coach Angie (Steinman) Yanocha, a 1993 Upper Perk graduate and former Indian lacrosse player, told her team that they needed to calm down and get back to fundamentals.

            "Then they sort of settled in and pulled everything together," Yanocha said. "Overall, I was happy with the game, minus the first ten minutes or so."

            Upper Merion used its superior speed to pressure the Tribe's defense for good stretches of the game and tallied four more goals before the half, two by Olivia Smith, to take a 7-3 lead.

            The Vikings deposited three more goals, one by Evitts and two by Sam Walmsley, in the first 4:35 of the second half to essentially put the game out of reach at 10-3.

            Abby Orsini scored two late goals to join Sitko as the only Upper Perk goal-getters.

            Both Sobotor and Sitko were on the same page about what ailed the Tribe (3-2, 5-4) on Tuesday.

            "What hurt us today was possession of the ball in the attacking end," said the coach.

            Sitko concurred. "I think we really need to step it up on attack, and just score like we were in the beginning of the season."

            Last week the Tribe dropped a 13-3 non-division contest to Methacton. Sitko had two goals in that game. Cassidy Bush score the other. Bettys made 13 saves.

            With second half of the season starting with a rematch with Pope John Paul II on Thursday, Sobotor is confident her team can rebound.

           "We just got to go out there and beat everybody in our Frontier Division. The pressure is to beat those teams, I get it. But this team is very talented. They just got to get out of their heads and know that they can do it."

            As for Upper Merion and Yanocha, the coach took her team for some pizza at one of her favorite Valley haunts back in the day, Chiaro's, before making the long bus trip home.