"Chelsea [Rota] hit the ball across and it was just sitting there," Schneider said, explaining her fifth goal of the season. "Their goalie was right next to me, but I got it past her."
The win put the defending conference champion Redskins (7-4-1 overall) in a three-way tie for second place with Pennsbury and Central Bucks South. All three teams finished the conference's first round of play with 5-1-1 records. North Penn leads the conference with a 6-0-1 mark.
Neshaminy was happy to be home. Drainage work on the Redskins' field made it unavailable for practices and games until Thursday. Several tons of soil were put down to level the field before the sod was laid.
"It was definitely great to be playing at home," Schneider said. "We had more fans, and that was to our advantage."
Pennington said her team "needed to win this one."
"We've played 10 games on the road," the Redskins' coach, rattling off a litany of problems that developed with the field after the drainage work was done this summer. "Fortunately, we got the bounce today. We'll take it."
Schneider's goal came after the visiting Falcons (8-2-2 overall) couldn't get a bounce to go their way. In the closing minutes of regulation, Pennsbury had three penalty corner opportunities, but couldn't cash in.
All told, Pennsbury had a 10-7 advantage in corners.
Although early rains had threatened the game, both Pennington and Falcons coach Tracey Arndt were eager to play.
"There's so much emotion tied to this game," Arndt said of the rivalry. "We didn't adapt too well to playing on the new grass. We're used to playing on our Sahara field."
Contact staff writer Don Beideman at 610-701-7613 or dbeideman@phillynews.com.
