Neshaminy Girls' Soccer is 2013 Team of the Year

"That bothers me as a coach because we didn’t change anything," Clemens said. "We were still going at Spring-Ford. We had double the amount of corner kicks. When you play in a defensive formation or a defensive style, you don’t go to goal. You sit back and counterattack.

"I was playing with three defenders. My assistant had suggested moving a fourth defender back, and I didn't. I had confidence we were okay. When they scored a goal, it was on a corner kick. It wasn't on the run of play. I wanted to score another goal. There's no reason why we would sit back on a 1-0 lead."

The players insist they were unfazed by the sudden turn of events that saw the Rams tie the score.

"We were like, 'All right, there's two minutes left. We can still get a goal,'" Schafer said.

But that didn't happen, and heading into overtime, the Redskins had a singular mindset.

"We were just like, 'All right we missed some opportunities. This game should be over, but that's the past. This is new,'" Schafer said. "We weren't losing."

"No one was going to walk away being losers," Donahue said. "I feel like no matter how tired we were - it didn't matter. I was dead tired, but starting overtime, I got a huge burst of energy."

Clemens reminded her players they had been down the overtime road before, twice winning in OT during the regular season.

"I said, 'We know what we need to do. Let's try and take care of it early and not let this team hang around,'" the Redskins' coach said.

The Redskins took the field with a sense of urgency.

"Honestly, especially for us seniors, it was the last time we were ever going to be on the field together," Schafer said. "And going through your mind was every sprint, everything you sacrificed for soccer - every party you missed or just hanging out with your friends and you can't because you're too tired or say, 'Sorry, I have soccer.' It all comes down to - you were working so hard for this ever since you were little."

The Redskins carried that refuse-to-lose attitude onto the field, and 3:56 into the first overtime, junior Amy Mandia scored the game winner.

"I feel like in the end our team had a lot more heart," Donahue said. "We came out a lot harder than Spring-Ford.

"Even when they scored, I was still kind of calm. It was like, 'No, we're still coming back. I know my team. We're not going to stop."

***

The impact of winning a state title began to hit home when the Redskins’ team bus got off the turnpike and was greeted by an escort of emergency vehicles –not one but 24 emergency vehicles.

"It was the coolest thing in the world," Schafer said. "As soon as we got off the turnpike, they stopped all the traffic on Route 1. Everyone was cheering for us - even the traffic that was stopped.

"When we got back to school, there were so many people here. We thought some people would be here, but there were so many people. It was just crazy. We probably hugged a hundred people. They were like, ‘I’m so happy for you.’”

“I didn’t know half of them,” Suchodolski said.

“People would come up and say, ‘You played great. I watched you on TV,’” Donahue said. “You don’t even know them, but you’re like, ‘Thanks for coming.’

"I remember coming home we were dancing on the bus together for the last time. We were all so happy. When we got off the bus and they set off fireworks. It was one of the coolest things ever."

The crowd included more than just proud parents and community members.

"Our physics teacher told me he didn't have a chance to go to our game, but he came to the high school," Suchodolski said.

"He doesn't live around the corner," Schafer said of a teacher who made the trip from Willow Grove to greet the team. "Everyone wanted to make sure that we knew they were supporting us, and they were so happy for us. It was awesome."

The team capped the day with a celebration hosted by Suchodolski's parents.

"The first thing the girls wanted to do was obviously watch the game on TV," Clemens said. "We watched it on DVR."

The celebration didn’t end that night.

"We've gotten so many e-mails from the community," Clemens said. "About how these girls are role models for their young daughters.

"Obviously, I'm already proud of them for what they accomplished over the season, but when you get those e-mails from people out in the community that you don't even know, it brings a tear to your eye."

The players admit they were amazed at the response their state title run evoked.

"I have a couple of friends who live in Texas, and the one goes to Arkansas. He was like, 'I was watching your game on the computer. You guys were awesome,'" Schafer said. "I just think it's kind of cool just the impact we made.

"We didn't realize so many people cared about us, and just seeing how much of an impact we made on the community, it was an awesome feeling to know how much we represented our school, and for the last time wearing our jersey, we went out with a bang."

"People commented on my Instagram, 'You don't know me, but I watched your game on TV. You played great,'" Suchodolski said. "One of my friends said, 'I watched your game at Buffalo Wild Wings.' That's a Saturday when there's college football, and they put our soccer game on. All the local restaurants had our game on."

"It's crazy to think how a group of girls can bring a community together."

***

They say they have played together for a lifetime, and many of them had.

"My mom was actually our first soccer coach when we were four," Donahue said. "We've played together since then."

In eighth grade, Donahue, Schafer and Mullin were part of the CYO team that won the archdiocesan championship for Our Lady of Grace.

"It was kind of cool - her grandmom was like, 'Can we do a repeat of eighth grade when you girls were undefeated?'" Schafer said.

And perfection, usually impossible to achieve, was attained.

"Every single game we battled hard to get that record," Donahue said. "We couldn't take one game easily because just one blemish would make us not perfect any more."

"We always found a way," Suchodolski said.

"I think it comes from everyone's heart and desire to play for each other," Schafer added.

And more than three months after preseason began on August 12, the Redskins accomplished their final goal – accepting the challenge of their coach who sent her players a text the morning of the state title game that read:  “Today is the day of our final mission. Beat the Rams.”

Her follow-up text simply read: "Mission accomplished. I love you girls."

"It was our 96th day to complete our final mission ever wearing that Neshaminy jersey," Schafer said. "I think it was the perfect way to end our perfect season with our perfect team.”

The season may have ended, but the sisterhood the players formed will last for a lifetime.

"Everyone is different," Schafer said. "And sure we got annoyed with each other, but I wouldn't have traded anyone in."

Donahue added, "Honestly, the way we fought this season made me think we were truly sisters. We would bicker at practice, but we're all still best friends.

"Two seconds before the game, it doesn't matter what was said, it doesn't matter what happened at practice. You know you're going out on the field and playing for each other."

According to Clemens, there was very little drama this season.

"The things they would bicker about would be the score in a possession game at practice," the Redskins' coach said. "It wasn't anything noteworthy, and usually why it's a big deal is because whoever loses has to run sprints, and that’s why they would bicker."

Clemens, the driving force behind the team, admits she set the bar high for her players.

"They know when they don't live up to those expectations, I'm going to be disappointed and there's going to be some sort of fitness (read: sprints) involved,” the Redskins’ coach said.

The players acknowledge they did not want to let their coach down.

"It's like your mom being disappointed with you, minus the fitness," Suchodolski said.

"She expects so much of us, and we know we can give it to her," Donahue said. "She just wants us to do well, and she knows how well we can do."

Clemens, herself a former standout soccer player at Neshaminy, brought a unique perspective to the team.

"We had really a good soccer team when I went here," she said. “I look back on it now, and I think about the group of girls that were here.

"We cared about high school soccer, but at the same time, we didn't work as hard as we could have, and that's one thing I always regretted when I looked back. I just wanted to make sure they never looked back and felt the same way, and that's why I really did hold them to such high expectations. They have to stay grounded, they have to stay focused, and that's what I was here to do for them."

The players will forever treasure the state championship experience they shared, but what will they remember most about the 2013 season?

"The love the team has for each other," Suchodolski said. "The seniors - the way it developed over the last four years into a sisterhood.

"Even though in winter and spring, they're going to be playing basketball, running track or playing lacrosse - it's something we can always look back on and be like, 'They're still my best friends.' Not only in the fall, but forever they'll be my best friends."

The players admit they spent the season finding excuses to spend time together.

"There are other soccer teams that are like, 'You're still hanging out with your soccer team and practice was over two hours ago?'" Donahue said.

"We always wanted to be together," Suchodolski said.

And the 2013 Neshaminy girls’ soccer team will be bound together forever by a once-in-a-lifetime experience few athletes ever share – a perfect team and a perfect season.