Neshaminy defeated Pennridge 2-0 to capture the District One 4A title. Game photos courtesy of Keith Clemens Photography. CLICK HERE for a gallery of photos.
PHOENIXVILLE – How does that old adage go?
Defense wins championships.
The Neshaminy girls’ soccer team can get behind that. They are now District 1-AAAA champions after defeating Pennridge 2-0 Saturday night at Phoenixville High School. The No. 1 seed heading into the district tournament did not allow a goal in its four playoff matches.
“Our back four was solid. They have been all year,” Neshaminy head coach Chelsea Lovelace said. “It’s really helped us out, definitely in big games like this. They had few errors and just played a solid 80 minutes.”
The Neshaminy defense never broke formation, turning away everything Pennridge threw at them. The Ram chances were few and far between, but at the end of each half, the defense that has allowed just 12 goals all season stepped up big with some clearances.
“It’s been the theme of the season,” Lovelace said. “There was a few times the ball landed and I don’t know how we cleared it out but they just kept following through.”
Senior captain Maggie Daeche is the backbone of the Neshaminy back four. She’s all over the field with her play and her voice.
“It’s been a big transition to step up, playing at this level as a freshman…then coming up,” Daeche said. “It’s been just awesome. I can’t even put into words how awesome it is to be in charge of all these girls.”
Joining Daeche in the back is junior Genna Obringer, who makes her impact with a huge leg and long throws. Obringer had a few of the clearances her coach likes so much and moved the offense forward Saturday night.
Obviously, the offense needs to score to win a match, and Neshaminy was able to do that with a pair of rebound goals in the title game. Jackie Ziegler pounced on a ball that popped out in front of the net after a corner kick by Riley Nyhus was headed by Daeche. Ziegler found the top left corner to put her team up 1-0 with 16:33 remaining in the first half.
“She’s scored a few like that this season,” Lovelace said about Ziegler. “She tattooed the ball and it went right in the back of the net. She was going to make sure it went in”
The goal that sealed the district title for Neshminy came from a freshman. Kristin Curley benefited from a rebound this time to make the score 2-0. The play was set up by a Nicole Palmer cross from the right side that was bobbled by the keeper.
“I was very timid in the beginning,” Curley said about her season so far. “As we started winning more I kind of just started getting more confidence and playing more with the team. Meshing together almost.”
Curley has scored multiple times during this district playoff run.
“Being a freshman she was getting settled into the team,” Lovelace said about her freshman scorer. “I think she’s starting to realize her role and her confidence has grown a lot. You can tell when she’s on the field.”
Pennridge coach Audrey Anderson tipped her hat to the Redskins.
“They’re a very strong and physical team,” the Rams’ coach said. “It was actually fun to play against them.
“It was hard to game plan for (Neshaminy) – we had never seen them play, but I think we knew enough about them to give it our best shot.
Anderson went on to credit her squad.
“I respect my team and the fact that when we were down 2-0 they kept pressuring,” she said. “They didn’t quit. That’s us – we don’t quit, we’ve never been quitters.”
The district champs will now roll into the PIAA state playoffs with all the momentum they could ask for.
“We have been telling them the whole season that we haven’t seen the best soccer that we can play,” Lovelace said. “We wanted them to put it all together in this game, which they did. You want to play your best soccer at the end of the season and we are.”
It also helps that a part of this team has seen success at the highest level. This year’s squad has seven seniors that were freshman when Neshaminy won it’s last district, and state, title in 2013.
“It’s my first (district title) and our senior’s second,” Lovelace said. “They know what it takes. We still have a few girls left over from that state championship team. They know what we need to do…I just see good things with this team.”
It’s hard not to with the way her defense is playing heading into the state playoffs.
“We just need to keep digging,” Daeche said. “We need to keep grinding out the games, keep getting the goals, keep getting the wins. If we play like how we played tonight I don’t see how we’ll have a problem getting far.”
For the Rams, the loss snapped a 19-game unbeaten streak dating back to Sept. 9 when they fell to Central Bucks South (1-0).
“We talked about using this game as a little bit of experience for us Tuesday (in the PIAA Tournament),” Anderson said. “It was good to get the experience under our belt.
“These are the kinds of teams we’re going to be facing from here out. We need to be prepared and be willing to work for every opportunity we get. I think our seniors wanted to get here so bad – on Monday, they’ll realize this game will help them come states.”
EXTRA SHOTS: In Tuesday’s opening round of states, Neshaminy will face Hempfield – the District 3 third place team. Pennridge will take on Stroudsburg – the second place team from District 11 – in an opening round game…In the district’s third place game, fourth-seeded Conestoga edged seventh-seeded Central Bucks South 1-0. The Titans will face the District 12 champion in Tuesday’s opening round of states.
About the Author
