Eleven seniors provide the nucleus of a Pennridge squad that is one of four SOL girls soccer squads competing in the District One 4A Tournament on Wednesday. Check back for recaps of all the games.
They have quite a history – the 11 seniors on this year’s Pennridge squad who have been together since their U10 playing days for Deep Run Sports Association.
During the Rams’ magical run to the 2011 PIAA Class AAA title game, they were at every game, both home and away, dreaming that someday it would be their turn to do the same. But after three straight early exits from districts, it seemed as though they might be destined for heartbreak instead.
“Freshman year playing varsity, the loss in the second round didn’t affect me that much,” senior Erin Stevenson said. “We had three more years, we’re a young team, and we’re still going to be good.
“The second year came and we lost again and that hit me, but it wasn’t that bad – we still had two more years. Last year was definitely the worse. We grew into a so much more mature team, and we definitely thought last year was going to be a better ride.”
It wasn’t. The Rams fell to conference rival Central Bucks South 2-1 in overtime.
“Just knowing we could have won is the worst feeling,” Stevenson said. “After the game, it was anger.
“Then you go to school the next day and people who aren’t at the game are asking – did you win or lose? Then you have to explain, and it’s just horrible.”
“That feeling has stuck with us through out the years,” Savanna Harrison said. “Last year is a year I’ll never forget the way it ended – going into overtime and CB South scoring on us.
“That almost fueled the fire. It was painful, but it got us pumped for this year and helped us get the wins we needed to get.”
Last week, the Rams got over the second round hump with a 3-0 win over Wissahickon and then punched their coveted ticket to the state tournament with a 1-0 win over Downingtown East in Saturday’s quarterfinal round.
“It was pure joy – I’ve not been this happy,” Stevenson said. “I can’t really describe it. It just feels so good.”
Added Harrison, “When we won our second playoff game, we felt so accomplished, almost as if we broke the seal. It was almost like a curse because it happened every single year, and we never thought we would get over it.
“It’s definitely a feeling we’re used to, a feeling as if we’re cut short, but this year was completely different. We were sick of that feeling, and we’re finally where we need to be. This year is different.”
The Rams will face Central Bucks South in Wednesday’s District One Class AAAA semi-final game, but the burden of disappointments past is gone. They can focus on the game at hand.
“We’ve seen ourselves have the heartbreak, and we don’t want it,” coach Audrey Anderson said. “We’re focused, we’re positive.
“This year it’s the same group of kids, but it’s a different mentality. They’re enjoying it, they want to be playing soccer where in the past there’s always been some sort of distraction.
“Instead of looking at the bigger picture, we’re focusing on the game in front of us. They’ve been very grounded and very disciplined, and they’re enjoying it. They’re having fun – they’re dancing and singing. I think because there are so many seniors – they understood how much it hurt every year to be knocked out. This is something they’ve never experienced, so we’re in new waters.
"They have always been so proud of Pennridge soccer. They were at the state championships game, and for that little bit of a dream we had – maybe someday this will be us, and we're on that road is realy exciting. It's a nice picture of Pennridge community soccer going full circle."
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A lot has transpired since the seniors on this year’s team began playing for Anderson’s 10U team, but through it all, they’ve stayed together.
“I came onto the team in fifth or sixth grade, and everyone just clicked right away,” Stevenson said. “They’re my closest friends.
“Coming up here, we watched all the high school girls, and just from watching when we were younger pushed us to see what we could do and want to do.”
“That’s definitely what makes it more special,” Harrison said. “We’re so familiar with each other because we’ve been with each other since we were U10.
“Aud has been our club coach for years, and now she’s our high school coach. She basically brought us up and made us the players we are now, and it’s so crazy for all of us to just come together and accomplish what we’ve been dreaming about since we were kids.”
The undisputed star of the 2011 state runner-up Ram squad that Stevenson. Harrison and their young teammates followed was Stevi Parker, who went on to excel at the University of South Carolina.
“Stevi specifically was my role model,” Harrison said.
These days Harrison has to look no further than her team’s sidelines to see her role model. Parker has returned to the area and is an assistant coach of this year’s squad.
“I looked up to her like I looked up to Alex Morgan, and I still do, so that’s why it’s so special to have her coaching me,” Harrison said. “She gives me coaching points, she has past experience.
“She is our inspiration, and it’s awesome to have her part of the team. She was a famous soccer player to us when we were little, and it’s awesome to have her coaching us now. We’ve been dreaming of this since we were U10. It’s crazy to think we were watching Stevi, going to every game, and now she’s here watching us.”
Harrison, Stevenson, Kaitlyn Moran, Rachel Velez, Olivia Fernandez, Dani Meenan, Katie Fischer, Carissa Manero, Piper Zimmerman, Melissa Lyon and Kennedy Peace are the heart and soul of this year’s Continental Conference championship squad.
“We definitely have a large number of girls, and every single girls is so skillful and we have so much talent,” Harrison said. “Not everyone plays, but everyone definitely has a job and contributes to the team in their own special way.
“If anyone was missing, that would factor in and maybe contribute negatively to the team because everyone has their job whether they’re playing or not.”
This year’s squad has captured the hearts of the Pennridge community.
“We’re such a small community,” Anderson said. “I go to the club that feeds into the high school program. I eat breakfast every game day at the diner down the street.
“It’s one of those things where everyone is on the same side. On Saturday, the waitress who serves me on game day came in, and it was her day off. It’s a great feeling that so many people are behind this team because they had so much heartbreak and disappointment.
“Every team does because only one team is going to win the state championship. To see this group of girls believe that it’s not going to happen again and to get past (the second round) Thursday, they were ecstatic. You would have thought they won the state championship. It was really fun to watch. I enjoy just watching them celebrate.”
#4 CONESTOGA at #1 NESHAMINY (7 p.m.)
Neshaminy
– 18-1-1 overall
– 10-1-1 SOL National, second place
– Regular season wins over No. 2 Pennsbury (1-0 Oct. 13), No. 21 Council Rock North (2-0 Sept. 20, 4-1 Oct. 14), No. 16 Council Rock South (3-0 Oct. 20), No. 7 Central Bucks South (4-3 Oct. 17), No. 9 Downingtown West (1-0 Oct. 8), No. 12 Unionville (5-0 Sept. 2), No. 20 West Chester Bayard Rustin (3-1 Sept. 3), District 3 AAAA No. 5 Cumberland Valley (2-1 Sept. 17), Philadelphia Catholic League No. 3 Archbishop Wood (4-0 Oct. 1)
– Brooke Mullin, Riley Nyhus and Alyssa Tobin have been mainstays in the attack with Mullin, a sophomore, scoring some of the team's biggest goals.
-Jackie Ziegler and Brianna Tobin provide a high work rate and consistent passing in the midfield.
– On the back end, dynamic fullback Genna Obringer and fellow defenders Maggie Daeche, Hannah Stonkus and Nicole Palmer have yielded just 12 goals all season.
How they got here:
– Redskins had an opening round bye.
– In a second round game, Neshaminy – using a goal by Jackie Ziegler (Maggie Daeche assist) in the 45th minute – edged 17th-seeded Central Bucks East 1-0.
– In Saturday’s quarterfinal round, Kirstin Curley pounced on a mishandled goalie stop of a Jackie Ziegler cross and buried it for a goal that propelled Neshaminy to a 1-0 win over ninth-seeded Downingtown West.
Conestoga
– 15-1-4 overall
– 10-0-2 Central League champions
– Remarkable turnaround under first-year coach Ben Wilson for a team that won just five games last year
– Defense led by first team all-league defender Hannah Morgan and second team goalie Colleen Baldwin. Freshman Caitlin Donovan, who earned second team honors, is a spark on attack.
– Lost to second-seeded Pennsbury (1-0) in regular season finale.
– Regular season wins over No. 11 Downingtown East (2-1), No. 13 Haverford (2-1), No. 16 Council Rock South (1-0), No. 22 Owen J Roberts (3-2), No. 23 Garnet Valley (2-0) and No. 24 Harriton (2-0). Regular season ties with No. 6 Strath Haven (1-1) and No. 9 Downingtown West (1-1).
How they got here:
– The Pioneers had an opening round bye.
– In the second round, Conestoga defeated 13th-seeded Haverford 1-0.
– In the quarterfinal round, the Pioneers defeated fifth-seeded Spring-Ford 2-0, thanks to goals from Caitlin Donovan and Ariel Loevy.
#7 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH at #3 PENNRIDGE (7 p.m.)
Pennridge Rams
– 18-1-1 overall
– 10-1-1 SOL Continental, conference champion
– Regular season wins over No. 17 Central Bucks East (1-0 Sept. 13, 1-0 Oct. 7), No. 14 Souderton (2-0 Sept. 15), No. 7 Central Bucks South (2-1 Oct. 7), No. 8 Quakertown (4-0 Oct. 11), No. 19 Wissahickon (2-1 Oct. 17)
– Senior midfielder Erin Stevenson has been a force all season, whether it be scoring, assisting, winning tackles or connecting passes in the midfield. Seniors Savanna Harrison and Katie Fischer, along with underclassmen Caroline Thomson and Ashley Groeber round out the unit.
– Up top, Pennridge has plenty of speed with Kennedy and Kouri Peace, Piper Zimmerman, Abby Groff, Melissa Lyon and Liz Cardie.
– The defense is a veteran unit with seniors Rachel Velez, Olivia Fernandez and Dani Meenan and junior Courtney Supp. Mary Kate Levush and Kaitlyn Moran shared time in goal.
How they got here:
– The Rams had a first round bye.
– In the second round, Kennedy Peace scored two goals and assisted on another while Kouri Peace added a single goal to lead Pennridge to a 3-0 win over 19th-seeded Wissahickon.
– In Saturday’s quarterfinal round, the Rams scored off a set piece in the 12th minute when Katie Fisher (Dani Meenan assist) found the net for a 1-0 lead over 11th-seeded Downingtown East that held until the final whistle.
Central Bucks South
– 16-3-1 overall
– 9-2-1 SOL Continental, conference second place
– Regular season wins over No. 3 Pennridge (1-0 Sept. 9), AAA No. 1 Villa Joseph Marie (1-0 Sept. 12), No. 17 Central Bucks East (1-0 Sept. 27), No. 14 Souderton (2-0 Sept. 29); draw with No. 17 Central Bucks East (1-1 Oct. 20)
– Senior keeper Sophia Boggs, a Colgate recruit, makes the routine and the remarkable saves. She commands the back line well, and works well with her defenders.
– Courtney Taylor, Nicole Wills, Mackenzie Ehresman, Laurel Gogel and Margot Centofanti have all been mainstays on the backline. The Titans defend as a team and as a unit.
– Midfielders Kylie Walsh, Morgan Hilton and Mackenzie Edwards and forwards Aleksa Peev and Brooke Steigerwalt use speed and tenacity to combine, build up and create scoring chances.
How they got here:
– CB South had an opening round bye.
-In South’s 2-0 second round win over 10th-seeded West Chester Henderson, the Titans were sparked by second-half goals from Margot Centofanti and Kylie Walsh.
– The Titans received a goal from Amber Steigerwalt in the 39th minute and a standout defensive effort led by goalie Sophia Boggs in a 1-0 upset of second-seeded Pennsbury.
Playback Game:
#11 DOWNINGTOWN EAST at PENNSBURY (3 p.m.)
Pennsbury Falcons
– 16-2-0 overall
– 11-1-0 SOL National, conference champion
– Regular season wins over No. 17 Central Bucks East (3-2 Sept. 2), No. 12 Unionville (4-0 Sept. 10), No. 1 Neshaminy (3-2 Sept. 15), No. 16 Council Rock South (3-2 Sept. 20, 3-0 Oct. 14), No. 21 Council Rock North (2-1 Sept. 22, 3-0 Oct. 18), No. 4 Conestoga (1-0 Oct. 21)
– Cara Thomas, Dani Cady, Meredith Webber and Whitney Roth are all capable of scoring. Hope Drewes and Jenna Peters have been frequent assisters all season long.
– Jo Tennant and Lizzy Kirk are impact midfielders, able to identify a role and fill it during a match.
How they got here:
– The Falcons had an opening round bye.
– In second round action, Meredith Webber (Hope Drewes assist) scored a goal in the first half, and that lead stood in Pennsbury’s 1-0 win over 18th-seeded Boyertown.
– In Saturday’s quarterfinal, Pennsbury fell to seventh-seeded Ceentral Bucks South 1-0.
Downingtown East
– 15-5-1 overall
– 11-2 Ches-Mont National Division second place
– Attack led by high-scoring junior Emma Steigerwald, a JMU commit
– Regular season wins over No. 10 West Chester Henderson (2-1), No. 16 Council Rock South (3-0) and No. 22 Owen J Roberts (4-2).
How they got here:
– In the Whippets 4-0 opening round win over 22nd-seeded Owen J Roberts, Olivia Lawton scored a pair of goals while Emma Steigerwald and Brenna Warren both added single goals.
– In second round action, the Whippets upset sixth-seeded Strath Haven 4-1, breaking a 1-1 halftime tie with three unanswered goals in the second half.
– In Saturday’s quarterfinals, Downingtown East – despite the 12-save effort of Courtney Dunlop – fell to third-seeded Pennridge 1-0.
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