Adams, Hoppert lead Bishop Walsh girls past Fort Hill, 6-1

Sep. 7—CUMBERLAND — If there were any questions about how Bishop Walsh would replace the production of Area Player of the Year Ale Puerto this year, the Spartans answered them on Tuesday.

Four different Bishop Walsh players found the back of the net against Fort Hill, and Brooke Adams and Autumn Hoppert led the way with two goals apiece to guide Bishop Walsh to a 6-1 victory at Greenway Avenue Stadium.

"After last year, everybody thought that we wouldn't do as well without Ale, and now we just spread it out," Bishop Walsh head coach Whitey Hoppert said. "We play team soccer, there isn't that one 50-goal scorer. I like to keep teams guessing. Who's it coming from?"

The Spartans, who improved to 2-0 on the season with the victory, dominated play before halftime to take a 4-0 lead into the break. Fort Hill evened the action during the second half, but BW scored the game's final two goals to cement the win.

Four different Bishop Walsh players combined for the Spartans' four first-half goals: Autumn Hoppert, Adams, Lydia Vassilidi and Cathy Cessna.

Adams notched the game's first goal a little more than six minutes into the contest. Madeline Brown sent a corner kick to the back of the box, and, after Fort Hill keeper Lindsey Ternent saved one shot attempt, Brown muscled the ball across the goal line for a 1-0 lead. Hoppert was credited with the assist.

Fort Hill followed the early score with a period of scoring opportunities of its own, as the Sentinels took the game's next three shot attempts.

Nevaeh Bunbasi made a nice run to generate a scoring chance, and Carly Bennett displayed skill in the midfield, notching Fort Hill's first shot on goal of the contest at the 30-minute mark. Bailee Greise came up with the save.

Two minutes later, Bennett had a look at a free kick from around 30 yards out, but Greise again made the stop.

However, the rest of the half was all Bishop Walsh. Hoppert found Vassilidi on the counter-attack in open space, and she made the most of the chance upping the score to 2-0 with 25 minutes left.

Adams generated another chance off the counter-attack with 13:59 left in the half, beating the Sentinels' back line before being dragged down to earn a penalty kick. Cessna stepped up and placed the PK in the top-left corner for a 3-0 edge.

Hoppert tallied the half's final score with 10:50 left. Hoppert corralled a high through ball, and the junior beat the Sentinels' last defender and Ternent with a low shot inside the far post.

Fort Hill erased the possible Bishop Walsh shutout at the 33:28 mark of the second half. Skyler Bennett made a physical run down the right side of the field, and a Spartans back brought her down to hand the Sentinels a penalty kick.

Carly Bennett calmly placed the low shot into the right corner to trim the Fort Hill deficit to three goals.

Fort Hill nearly made it a 4-2 game when the Bishop Walsh keeper failed to clear a long shot, but Bunbasi's shot was just wide left.

"First half we looked really good," coach Hoppert said. "Passing was good, communication was good, first to the ball was good. We came out in the second half and played flat. ... I told them, 'We have to play like it's 0-0.' Our defense held up, one penalty kick, but we'll correct that."

Bishop Walsh eventually regained control. Autumn Hoppert cemented the result with a long strike from the left side of the box that was too hot for Fort Hill's keeper to handle with 12:37 left.

Adams found her second goal four minutes later, as Fort Hill couldn't clear the ball and Adams slotted another shot through the goalmouth.

Bishop Walsh ended with a 15-6 advantage in shot attempts and a 9-1 edge in corner kicks. Ternent made 14 saves in net, and Greise made six.

Fort Hill (0-1) is at Allegany on Tuesday at 5 p.m. Bishop Walsh hosts Mountain Ridge on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

"We're young, I've got three girls that haven't played before," coach Hoppert said. "We work hard in practice, mostly working on passing drills and stuff, and it pays off in games. ... We're really not a kick and run team, we like to control the ball."

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.