Check out the previews for the 10 SOL girls’ soccer teams who will begin play in the opening round of this year’s District One AAA Tournament on Thursday.
With a new revised bracket in place, the District One AAA Tournament will get underway on Thursday. Teams have had to juggle their plans and their mindsets as seeds changed and matchups changed.
Pennridge was seeded fourth in the initial seeding but dropped to fifth and went from having a first round bye to hosting 28th-seeded Owen J Roberts in Thursday’s opening round.
A pair of conference rivalries will be featured Thursday with 12th-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh facing 21st-seeded Wissahickon for the third time this season and 14th-seeded Council Rock South hosting 19th-seeded Neshaminy for a third showdown. Sixth-seeded Council Rock North will now face 22nd-seeded Central Bucks South in an all-SOL battle.
Central Bucks West, the 16th seed, will host 20th-seeded Mount St. Joseph while 25th-seeded William Tennent will travel to eighth-seeded Spring-Ford and 26th-seeded Upper Dublin will travel to seventh-seeded Phoenixville.
Colonials share conference crown – Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Steve Slack wasn’t too sure how his team would rebound from its disappointing 5-1 season-ending loss to Spring-Ford in the opening round of the District One AAA Tournament last year.
He needn’t have worried.
The Colonials opened the season with nine straight wins on their way to a share of their first title since 2011.
“As soon as the season started, we hit it with both feet, playing well,” said Slack, whose squad shared the crown with Upper Dublin. “Early on, the wins just kept coming after one another, and we got into a nice position.
“There’s always the goal of trying to win the league, but we really didn’t know how we would match up against Upper Dublin, Wissahickon and Springfield, but we got ourselves in a nice position early on, and we worked hard to hold on. Sharing it – we’re still the top of the league, and it was kind of cool to have it go down to the final game.”
No one has been more instrumental in the success of this year’s squad than senior Nic Abbott, who scored 36 goals in 17 games during the regular season.
“We definitely relied on Nic a lot,” Slack said. “Even though the other teams know of her and they tried to defend her, she’s still a player that, on any given day, whether she’s being double teamed or whatever still can step up, hit the target and get us some goals.”
While Nic is a game changer on attack, her twin sister Carly Abbott is a standout defender. Both are four-year varsity players, and both will be taking their talents to East Stroudsburg University next year.
Also stepping up for the Colonials is goalkeeper Morgan Jerin.
“She’s played very consistent,” Slack said. “Maddie Berman and Jewel Terraces, who are both juniors, have performed well and hopefully will step up next year as well.”
In the revamped bracket, the Colonials will host conference rival Wissahickon in an opening round district game Thursday.
“We have a home game, which is good for the school because we’ll have a doubleheader with the boys playing as well,” Slack said. “Hopefully, there will be a nice crowd and excitement, and the girls will get pumped for it.
“We always tell them – on any given day, good or bad, anything can happen, so it doesn’t matter really what seed we’re at, what seed they’re at, we have to turn up and play, and the best team on the night will win.”
Rams continue tradition of excellence – Pennridge entered the season with a roster loaded with new faces and – although unspoken – the expectation to compete for a conference crown. It’s the kind of expectation that goes with the territory when your team has won five consecutive conference crowns.
“I don’t think Aud (coach Audrey Anderson) has that pressure on us, but I think we put that pressure on ourselves,” senior captain Jess Supp said. “We don’t want to stop that tradition because it’s such a big deal.
“I think a lot of people have that expectation of us from the community. That’s one of the things that Pennridge is really good at – their women’s soccer team is good. We have such a difficult conference. Any team can win it each year, so it’s such a big accomplishment to say that we won our conference.
“I have so much respect for everyone in our conference. Being able to win this year was just a major accomplishment for our program.”
The Rams graduated 11 seniors from last year’s squad, and this year’s conference title surprised even their coach.
“They’re such a new team, and my expectations this season were to get to the playoffs,” coach Audrey Anderson said. “I didn’t want to put too much pressure on them.
“I think everybody looks at Pennridge and says, ‘That’s the team we have to beat,’ and every year we have obstacles that we have to overcome. It’s that tradition that Pennridge has, and it’s a lot of pressure. I didn’t want to put that on my girls. I thought they could do it, but I wanted them to see it for themselves. They definitely exceeded my expectations.”
The Rams, who were 11-1-2 in league play, suffered their only conference loss at the hands of Central Bucks South (1-0) on Oct. 1. They responded with five straight wins to close out the season and clinch sole possession of their sixth consecutive conference title.
“It’s a team effort every single game,” Supp said. “It’s not just one person carrying the team – everyone contributes every game.
“We don’t have one person scoring all of our goals. A lot of people have been scoring. We all just connect so well together, and when we play well, we play as a team. Just knowing it’s not about ourselves and it’s a team effort is a key to our success.”
Supp is the lone senior on this year’s squad.
“We knew it was definitely going to be different because we were graduating 11 seniors and were going to be a very young team,” the senior midfielder said. “I knew that even though we had a lot of sophomores that they were all very talented, and a lot of them had played club together, so I knew they would probably be able to connect very well.
“Since we’d already won the conference (the last) three years, I didn’t want to be the class that stopped the tradition. We did it, and it was a great team effort.”
One of the sophomores who made an immediate impact was Kennedy Peace. If she felt pressure to perform, she didn’t let it show, contributing 12 goals and four assists.
“I feel like there’s always some pressure to live up to the standards of Pennridge, but I think that’s something we’ve built together as a team,” Peace said. “Having a team that supports you makes it so that there’s not as much pressure on you.
“I know people weren’t expecting it, but that made us want to prove them wrong and show them that we were just as good as all the other classes and we were going to live up to the legacy that all the other classes have left before us.
“Especially this year, we were all really close with each other. A bunch of us have played together, and I think that being able to be united on and off the field was such a big key to being successful. Knowing how each other plays and being able to connect with each other personally and on the field as well was a major factor in our season.”
For Peace and many of her young teammates, it’s been quite a rookie season.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” she said. “I look forward to every game, I look forward to every practice.
“I feel like being able to look forward to something like that is something that’s great about this team.
“This whole season has been exciting for everyone, knowing that at each game we’re one step closer to reaching our goal because this might not necessarily have been everyone’s goal.
“It’s a great bonus knowing we were supposed to be one of the younger teams, the ones who were not going to be able to continue this on. We were underestimated and possibly the underdogs, and I think sometimes that’s a great position to be in because then it surprises everyone.”
For Supp, this title feels a bit different than the rest.
“On Senior Night, I realized, ‘This is really the last time I’m playing high school soccer,’” the senior captain said. “It’s just been so special the chemistry we’ve had as a team, and just being able to keep winning this year has been great.
“This is something I’ll never forget. A lot of my friends have been coming out to support the team, so it’s just been a great season so far. I’m so excited to see how far we get to go in playoffs. I’m trying to wear my jersey as long as I can.”
The Lady Rams’ quest to keep their postseason alive begins Thursday when they will host Owen J. Roberts. They will go into the game with the same philosophy they’ve had all season.
“I think Rachel Velez said it best at our first game against Upper Dublin – ‘It’s soccer. Let’s go out and have fun,’ and that’s pretty much our goal was every game,” Anderson said. “We’re doing something we love to do, so we should do it because we want to play soccer, not because we have to.
“That was our motto the whole season – let’s have fun while we’re playing. If we win games, that’s even better.”
#1 PENNSBURY (Will host winner of #17 Unionville at #16 Downingtown West)
Pennsbury
- 15-0-3 overall
- 11-0-3 SOL National Conference champions
- Earned wins over #6 Council Rock North (2-0 & 1-0), #10 Conestoga (2-1), #11 Garnet Valley (3-1), #17 Unionville (1-0), #25 William Tennent (3-0 & 5-0).
- Defense has allowed just eight goals while posting 10 shutouts.
#2 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST (Will host winner of #18 West Chester East at #15 Downingtown East)
Central Bucks East
- 14-2-2 overall
- 10-2-1 second place in SOL Continental Conference
- Notched wins over #4 Bayard Rustin (1-0), #16 Central Buck West (1-0), #22 Central Bucks South (4-0) and #28 Upper Dublin (4-0).
- Defense has recorded 11 shutouts, including six in a row to end the regular season. Last goal allowed was on Sept. 29.
#5 PENNRIDGE vs. #28 OWEN J ROBERTS
Pennridge
- 14-1-3 overall
- 11-1-2 SOL Continental Conference champions
- Sixth consecutive conference championship for Lady Rams
- Wins over #2 Central Bucks East (2-0), #16 Central Bucks West (2-0 & 1-0) and #28 Upper Dublin (4-0).
- Pennridge went 1-0-1 against the district's No. 2 seed (CB East) this season.
- The Lady Rams’ defense helped secure 10 shutouts this season.
Owen J. Roberts
- 9-7-2 overall
- 7-5-1 third place Pac-10 Liberty Division
- Beat #9 Phoenixville (3-2) and #17 Downingtown West (1-0).
- Team has scored three or more goals on eight different occasions this season.
- Attack is led by Emily Kupsov (15 goals) and Mahogony Willis (nine goals)
#6 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH vs. #27 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH
Council Rock North
- 13-4-1 overall
- 9-4-1 second place in SOL National Conference behind Pennsbury
- Beat #10 Conestoga (3-2), #20 Mount St. Joseph (1-0), #25 William Tennent (2-1).
- Finished the season on a four-game winning streak, which included a road win over 10th-ranked Conestoga.
Central Bucks South
- 8-6-3 overall
- 6-5-3 fourth place SOL Continental Conference
- Beat #5 Pennridge (1-0), #18 West Chester East (4-3), #25 William Tennent (3-0) and tied #2 Central Bucks East (1-1) and #5 Pennridge (0-0).
- The Lady Titans have seven shutouts this season.
#12 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH vs. #21 WISSAHICKON
Plymouth Whitemarsh
- 14-2-1 overall
- 12-2-0 SOL American Conference co-champions with Upper Dublin
- Split regular season series with the Trojans, winning the first on Sept. 9 (3-2) and losing in the second on Oct. 1 (4-1)
- Regular season wins over #20 Mount St. Joseph (3-2) and #26 Upper Dublin (2-1 & 1-0).
- The Lady Colonials have scored a whopping 64 goals this season, good for an average of nearly four per game.
- Led by Nic Abbott with 36 goals.
Wissahickon
- 13-3-1 overall
- 11-3-0 third place SOL American Conference
- Win over #12 Plymouth Whitemarsh (4-1) after falling to the Colonials 3-2
- Tied #5 Pennridge 1-1
- Wissahickon's offense has been on fire recently as the Lady Trojans scored seven goals in three of the final four games of the regular season.
#14 COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH vs. #19 NESHAMINY (at Council Rock North)
Council Rock South
- 11-6-1 Overall
- 7-6-1 fifth place in SOL National Conference
- Split regular season meetings with the Redskins, winning the first on Sept. 19 (3-1) and losing the second on Oct. 16 (2-1)
- Regular season wins over #10 Conestoga (1-0), #16 Central Bucks West (2-0) and #25 William Tennent (6-1).
- Started the season 5-0, which included a shutout win over Conestoga while allowing just one goal over that span.
- Team allowed an average of exactly one goal per game in the regular season.
Neshaminy
- 10-5-3 overall
- 9-3-2 second place SOL National Conference
- Wins over #6 Council Rock North (2-1), #14 Council Rock South (2-1), #16 Downingtown West (1-0) and #25 William Tennent (3-1)
- Tied #1 Pennsbury (0-0) and #3 Bayard Rustin (1-1)
- Redskins were 7-0-1 since their last loss to CR South on Sept. 19 after opening season 3-5-2.
#16 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST vs. #20 Mount St. Joseph (at War Memorial)
Central Bucks West
- 12-5-1 overall
- 9-4-1 Third place SOL Continental Conference
- Beat #2 Central Bucks East (1-0), #27 Central Bucks South (3-2)
- CB West has recorded nine shutouts this season.
Mount St. Joseph
- 12-6-0 overall
- 9-4-0 Catholic Academies Association
- Won final two regular season games over St. Basil & Villa Maria by combined 8-2 score
- Regular season loss to #12 Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-2)
#25 WILLIAM TENNENT at #8 SPRING-FORD
William Tennent
- 11-6-1 overall
- 8-5-1 fourth place SOL National Conference (8-5-1)
- Regular season wins over #14 Council Rock South (1-0), #19 Neshaminy (3-1).
- Team has scored 34 goals this season.
Spring-Ford
- 14-3-3 overall
- 9-2-2 second place PAC-10 Liberty Division
- Regular season wins over #3 Bayard Rustin (3-2), #4 Boyertown (1-0), #7 Phoenixville (3-2), #18 West Chester East (2-1), #24 West Chester Henderson (1-0) and #28 Owen J Roberts (1-0)
- Gabrielle Vagnozzi leads attack with 12 goals
#26 UPPER DUBLIN AT #7 PHOENIXVILLE
Upper Dublin
- 12-6-0 overall
- 12-2-0 SOL American Conference co-champions with Plymouth Whitemarsh
- Beat #21 Wissahickon (1-0 & 2-1).
- Recorded 11 shutouts this season.
Phoenixville
- 14-4-1 overall
- 11-2-0 PAC-10 Frontier Division chamipons
- Regular season win over #8 Spring-Ford (1-0)
- Led by the PAC-10’s leading goal scorer Lauren Benner with 22 goals
- Dakota Graham (12 goals) and Cecilia Knaub (10 goals) are also dangerous offensive weapons.
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