CB East advanced to Tuesday’s District 1 4A semifinals while Pennridge will be in a playback game. CB East/OJR photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for a gallery of photos. (Pennridge photos courtesy of Gordon Kocher/Pennridge soccer)
District 1 4A quarterfinals
No. 2 Central Bucks East 3, No. 10 Owen J Roberts 0
Qualifying for the PIAA playoffs in Class 4A is not an easily attained achievement.
Just to do it once is an accomplishment, so going four years in a row is a testament to a program. It’s not just one class of players that are responsible for something like that, with each new season bringing a new team
with its own identity.
This year’s Patriots team did have a good amount of players back from a year ago, but they still had to go out and earn this one just the same as the last three.
“Very proud to see this group earn this result at home and get the program back to states. It’s an emotional moment for myself and the coaching staff just seeing what the girls and this group of seniors in particular have done up to this point and in their time in the program,” East coach Jake Nesteruk said. “Four (consecutive) state tourney berths is not easy, and to have the leadership we’ve seen this year across the program, especially from our seniors, to live up to the standards and then some has been really special to be a part of.
“We talk about it every year, the best teams are player led, and these kids took the keys from us coaches and have done the right things on and off the field, and it’s been a joy to be a part of.”
The Patriots didn’t need long to put the PAC champion Wildcats under pressure and not much longer after that to put the visitors on the wrong side of a deficit. Sophomore Mia Forney is a menace to defenses with her speed, tenacity and scoring ability, but she’s equally unselfish and tallied a pair of first half assists to give East a deserved halftime lead.
Madelyn Hill is the kind of players that allows a program to sustain success, so it was fair that the senior turned a pass from Forney in the second minute into the opening goal before adding an assist on the second half insurance goal.
East has locked up its place in states, now it focuses on getting another win that would secure a berth in the district title match for the second time in three years.
Scoring Summary
1st Half
CBE – Madelyn Hill (Mia Forney) 2nd
CBE – Keira Sleicher (Mia Forney) 25th
2nd Half
CBE – Ava Mignon (Madelyn Hill) 51st
CB East coach Jake Nesteruk on the win: “We got off to a strong start. Massive credit to Mia Forney for taking on her defender and getting to the endline, with all the marking and cover she gets, and Mads with the
one-time finish. You score one that early, it eases the pressure, and I’m happy with how we settled into a tough game against a tough opponent. OJR was well prepped going into this one and made this game cagey in pockets and it showed. Thankfully, 20 minutes later, Kiera gets on the end of a similar play from Mia, and we extend the lead. Kiera had a massive game for us with her work rate in disrupting the midfield at its highest point.”
–The second half: “It was back and forth, and though we started slow, we got ourselves back into a good rhythm. I thought (seniors) Stella Genin and Jessie Bernabe both had one of their best halves of the season, and it was great to see Ava Mignon continue a scoring streak from deep in the midfield. To walk out of a district quarterfinal with three goals and keeping another clean-sheet – our backline goes so understated – is huge. And so, the girls are eyes forward to getting prepared for our next game.”
Sophomore midfielder Kiera Sleicher: “I thought we had a great start with Mads and myself netting a goal, both with great assists from Mia. Going into the second half, it was a little frantic, but once we settled down, we controlled the rest of the game. Also, Ava’s goal gave us the insurance we needed to finish strong. Overall, I’m super proud of this team for coming together and doing what we needed to advance. This was a huge momentum builder going into the semifinal game. Also, I’m really proud of us for qualifying for states four years in a row; it is a huge accomplishment and well deserved.”
Senior defender Savannah Hayes: “Madelyn’s goal right off the bat definitely set the tone for the whole game. We were able to move the ball well once we had that confidence and stayed organized until the end. Two games in three days was a tight turnaround, but we pushed through and pulled out a great team win. Super proud of everyone and excited to compete again on Tuesday.”
Up Next: CB East (19-1, 10-0 SOL) will host No. 6 Downingtown West at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the semifinals.
No. 6 Downingtown West 2, No. 3 Pennridge 1
Two minutes of chaos.
There’s a saying in soccer circles that the best time to get a goal is right after the other team has just scored. The Rams and Whippets took that to a new
extreme on Saturday, with all three of the game’s goals coming in a two-minute span late in the second half.
An energized effort by the Whippets, who have gone 3-0 against SOL competition in the district tournament, helped them move on to the semifinals.
Camryn Bayly started the scoring spree when she crashed the goal for a 1-0 Whippets lead. Cam Snyder scored for the second game in a row on her own goal crash, walking in the equalizer after the keeper couldn’t wrangle in a Caitlyn Peace cross 14 seconds later.
Unfortunately for the Rams, the tie only lasted another 88 seconds before Ava Reddy knocked in the winner with 9:54 to play.
Pennridge keeper Seretha DeMoss did all she could, making seven saves.
The Rams won’t be able to defend their district title, but they still have a way to play their way into states and try to defend their PIAA crown.
Scoring Summary
2nd Half
DTW – Camryn Bayly 11:36
P – Cam Snyder (Caitlyn Peace) 11:22
DTW – Ava Reddy 9:54
Pennridge coach Audrey Anderson on the match: “That’s the game of soccer, there
are momentum shifts all the time and it was something we had to deal with as coaches, we liked how we responded after they scored on us; we went right down the field and scored but couldn’t find another opportunity to score after that. It was a lot of back and forth, it was a fun game with a lot going on but just an unfortunate ending for these girls. I think they put a lot of pressure on themselves to always be the best team on the field all the time, and we’re trying to make sure they know we don’t always have to be that team.”
Moving into playbacks: “We’ll learn from what we felt were mistakes and try and correct them before Tuesday. We’d like to see more finishing opportunities, but we were resilient. One game at a time, our ultimate goal is to get back to states, and there’s one thing I know about this group, they like to take the hard way but they’ll be ready.”
Up next: Pennridge (16-3-1, 7-2-1 SOL) will host No. 10 Owen J Roberts in a playback game Tuesday night with the winning team advancing to the state playoffs.
DOWNINGTOWN WEST 0 2 – 2
PENNRIDGE 0 1 – 1
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