Pennridge & Neshaminy were winners in Saturday’s PIAA 4A state quarterfinals. Pennridge/CB West photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for a gallery of photos. All SOS photo galleries for GIRLS’ SOCCER can be viewed by clicking HERE.
PIAA 4A quarterfinals
#1-5 Pennridge 5, #1-4 Central Bucks West 0
Liv Grenda was not going to settle.
The Pennridge junior midfielder could have let the ball run out for a corner kick as the first half came to a close. Instead, she chose to keep the ball in play and dribbled right into the 18-yard box where she forced Central Bucks West to foul her and set up a penalty kick.
Grenda didn’t want to settle and neither did any of her teammates as the Rams avoided the pitfalls that had cost them in the District 1 4A quarterfinals against the Bucks and powered into their fourth state semifinal in the last five years.
“We knew this game was do-or-die,” Grenda said. “It was our fourth time playing them, so going in to practice this week, we knew we had to adjust some things. Most important, we had to come in with energy and then just fine-tune some things and continue working as a team, put crosses in the box and finish our opportunities.
In districts, the Bucks used a career day from senior keeper Jules Broskey to hold Pennridge scoreless for the first and only time so far this season. West committed to a defensive strategy in that game, packing the box and doing all it could to force Pennridge to take what was there and not so much what it wanted.
That plan worked, the Rams settling for long-range shots or subpar looks while not having the resolve to get into the box and either create a prime chance or force someone to foul them.
“We were settling for low percentage shots and scoring opportunities and that’s not usually like us,” Pennridge coach Audrey Anderson said. “We have one of the best dribblers in the state, if she gets into the 18, people are going to foul. That’s us in general, we want to penetrate into the box and give ourselves the best chance to score.”
Saturday, Grenda wasn’t going to settle. Neither was Casey Malone or Lindsey Balmer or Tori Angelo, Joey Tomlinson, Sophie Craig or anyone else who got the ball with an opportunity to run at the West defense.
On Tuesday, the Rams accomplished exactly what they needed to in their state opener against District 12 champion Central – they won, and they got out of there with everyone in one piece. They also scored seven goals and the coaches carried that over into Wednesday’s practice where Pennridge had an inter-team scrimmage with Anderson estimating five or six more goals coming out of it.
While those goals may not have counted officially, it put everyone in the right state of mind going into the quarterfinals.
“You have to want it,” Malone said. “Anyone can say they’re going to dribble or do all these other things, but it takes a lot of work to get in there and it’s super-hard to go through a good team like West. That’s why it’s so important to have those other players make the runs for you.”
As soccer tactics continue to evolve, the idea of a fullback playing a pivotal role in the attack has grown more and more popular. There aren’t many that can do it better than Malone, and the junior’s ability to make runs from her spot out of the backline opened plenty of channels on Saturday.
“We worked with our outside backs on dribbling forward and with our forwards on what they should be doing, like if they go out wide then the outside back should cut in,” Anderson said. “It was a lot of reading what each other was doing.
“Casey and Lindsey are so dangerous out there and Meredith (Blannet) had a great game today, and having to worry about defending that extra offensive-minded player is tough for any team.”
Malone wasn’t going to settle on Saturday. Pressing up at every opportunity, the fullback made a couple good runs early and had a determination to get the ball into spaces where one of her teammates would be able to put it away.
Pennridge’s coaches are big on training, such that a player who trains well usually gets a shot to play in the next game. Jessie Moylan has done well of late, and Anderson inserted the sophomore as a spark near the midpoint of the first half. So, when Malone cut in, carried the ball into the box and managed to slip it past a few defenders, Moylan was in the right spot to take a composed finish for the game’s opening goal.
Four minutes later, it was a case of same idea, same result. Malone was able to carry the ball in off the left flank, this time cutting in a little earlier and slipping a through ball to Hailey Primwhere, who set herself up and tucked in another neat finish for the 2-0 lead with 16 minutes to halftime.
“I was looking to dribble, keep my touch close and go with pace,” Malone said. “I knew I could find my forwards because they were always making runs. I just had to determine if I should cross around, take a shot or find them, it’s usually one of those three things I’m trying to do.”
Pennridge had three goals in the first half, but it was a stand by the Rams’ defense that may have been the most pivotal moment in the first half. With about four and a half minutes to the break and trailing 2-0, West drew a foul roughly 35 yards out on the right side.
Courtney Moylan powered the free kick into the six-yard box and the initial challenge led to a loose ball and a mad scramble. Ashley Lott got a foot to it, only to see Pennridge defender Anna Croyle clear it off the line while catching two teammates in the process.
Lott again got a piece of the ball, this the scrambling Seretha DeMoss helped Croyle keep it out and a third look, this by Alexis Castro, was denied by Blannett and DeMoss as the freshman keeper somehow recovered to make the dive to her right and allowed her team to finally clear the ball.
“That was huge, obviously if they score a goal, they get all the momentum,” Croyle said. “Being able to clear that was awesome, Meredith came up huge, she’s done so well filling all the roles we need her to and to get that save was amazing.”
Hannah Primwhere played well in relief on the back line for Pennridge, filling in after Lauren Murphy tweaked something and came out. Malone, Blannett, Croyle and DeMoss were able to take care of West’s chances and cut down any through balls that might have troubled the goal.
“I thought it was outstanding for our players to not take the easy road and think ‘we’re up 2-0, who cares if they score a goal,'” Anderson said. “That says a lot about who we are. You may have beaten us once, it’s not going to happen again.”
About four minutes later, Grenda decided she wasn’t going to settle when she could have let the ball go for a corner. Drawing the foul with 40 seconds left, the junior took the penalty kick herself, putting it away for a 3-0 lead that did a lot to lift Pennridge going to the break.
“Everyone always says 2-0 is the most dangerous score and going into halftime when a team can relax and recuperate and get back into it, that third goal made us feel more confident,” Grenda said. “It was a great way for us to go into halftime with the momentum.”
Trying to replicate the same outcome against Pennridge again was a tough undertaking but one the Bucks were up for.
With head coach Mike Moyer still overseas, assistant coach Victoria Bremer again guided the Bucks on Saturday. Bremer, a Spanish teacher at West, has not only been the team’s assistant for the last five seasons, she’s also had quite a few of the players in her class so this postseason has been a special one.
Knowing better than anyone the amount of resiliency her players – several of them playing through noticeable injuries – Bremer was understandably dejected to see their run end but had nothing but praise for what the Bucks had done since the start of the postseason.
“Us coming in (to districts) as the 26 seed, I didn’t think we’d be talking on November 12,” Bremer said. “We’ve been playing with I think 10 of our 11 starters have some part of their body wrapped or taped and every practice has been just trying to make it through to the next game.
“Everyone always says West has a lot of grit. We’re not the biggest school or the most talented as Mike always says but they gave their all and it’s been so fun to keep going and upset teams that were supposed to win so I’m just proud of their effort.”
As he did last round, Mike Moyer watched the game from Spain. The Bucks weren’t even sure they were in districts until the last day of the season and fully embraced their role as the underdog team.
“No one would have thought about this at the beginning of the season. Our last week of the season we were just fighting to make the postseason. It came down to our last game. We needed to win that game in order to make the postseason, and we did,” Moyer said. “It’s a credit to this group of girls. They were awesome this year. We don’t get into putting too much pressure on ourselves, but I just couldn’t be any happier with the season that we had.”
This was the deepest run a West team has made in Moyer’s five years at the helm. There’s a tax that a team has to pay for going this long into the season and if it wasn’t evident by the various wraps, braces, tape and so on that almost every Bucks player had on, Moyer could tell just by watching what his team had paid.
“Here we are in a quarterfinal game of the state, the final eight. We’re just not used to being here. We played 25 games this year, and that’s a lot more than we normally play, and it caught up to us. I just see some of my players struggling to make plays they would normally make if they were healthy. It’s a lot of the seniors. I feel bad for them because they’re giving 100 percent,” Moyer said.
“When you play against a team like Pennridge, we have to be 100 percent. We also have to get lucky. We just didn’t have it today.
“A credit to Pennridge – they took it to us. I’m sure they weren’t happy that we beat them the last time, and I’m sure that added to their fire. They’re a great program. Now I will root for them as long as they’re in it.”
At the break, the Bucks knew they had a long climb but made a few changes and were determined to make the most they could of the final 40 minutes. Even if they were a low seed and didn’t carry expectations of lasting this long didn’t mean the defeat hurt any less at the final horn.
“It’s crazy, no one thought we’d be here,” senior co-captain Ava Longo said. “It was a good run, we have something to be proud of even though we lost today.”
West’s seniors kept hoping it would all come together at some point. Broskey, who has been playing with a torn rotator cuff, never wanted to let that be a crutch and that persistence carried the squad from late September on.
“I don’t think we let our injuries really bother us, we’ve all been playing this entire season and to be able to come out here and show everyone we could make it to the last eight in the state is insane,” Broskey said. “For myself, I didn’t think I’d even be able to play this season at all so just to make it here and be with my teammates, I’m proud of everyone.”
Courtney Moylan, playing with her right leg heavily wrapped since injuring it in the district semifinals, noted the way the Bucks not only stuck together all season but never gave up on their season.
“It showed that every single one of us doesn’t play for ourselves,” Moylan said. “Even if we lost a game, we came back together to focus on the next one and that got us a really long way.
“We took this opportunity as one to have fun and we had a lot of people follow us. We weren’t supposed to be here, we were the underdog the entire time and that’s why I think this run was so much fun because we’re not expected to win and to make it this far is impressive.”
What stood out, aside from the desire to push for that extra touch and finish, was the versatility the Rams showed offensively. Pennridge had five different players score goals and three of them were from players who came off the bench as reserves.
“It was so encouraging seeing people filling into the roles we needed them to,” Croyle said. “It’s a huge momentum changer when someone can come off the bench and impact the game. Jessie Moylan did a great job getting us that first goal.”
Additionally, the team assisted all four goals that came in the run of play with Craig getting an assist when she put a ball in space for Tomlinson, the senior crushing a laser to the top corner with 25 minutes to play.
Pennridge sealed the scoring with a few minutes to go when Caitlyn Peace was able to turn the corner and serve in a cross that Kate Brashear met on a trailing run, booting a one-touch volley into the back of the net.
“The coaches came in feeling very confident if we came in and played like that, we’d be able to score,” Anderson said.
The more options a team has, the more difficult it becomes to defend that team. Conversely, that only works if all the parts are moving in sync, and Pennridge had that Saturday where even the players who may not have appeared in the scorebook still had an influence.
“Our team is really good at working together and knowing when we want to bring our outside backs or forwards up or keep them back,” Grenda said. “If I’m dribbling, if it’s any one of our backs or forwards, we’re always looking to support each other and work as a team and I think that makes the biggest difference between winning and losing.”
The Bucks (14-11, 8-8 SOL) will lose a senior class that has been a huge part of the last four seasons. Longo and Moylan were keystones on defense while Broskey has been a rock in goal since taking over between the posts. As much as this run was theirs, it should also tremendously benefit the team for next season.
West’s attack was young but took huge strides during the season and with captain Kate Weyer along with Castro and Eva Wierzbowski coming back, there’s still a foundation in place.
“Mackenzie Gausch is the first name that comes to mind, she started the season not in the top 11 but she’s really grown and she told me the other day’s she’s gained so much confidence just from being around these seniors,” Bremer said. “That’s really important to have those strong leaders who are building the team up and not tearing it down when we’re losing.
“Mike always says the postseason is a new season, we came in at 26 and we’re here today so I think everyone should take that mentality that grit and determination is what you need to succeed.”
Moyer couldn’t have asked for anything more from his team or staff.
“What a great ride for these kids, for our fans and the parents. I couldn’t be any more proud. I want to thank Victoria for stepping in and doing a heck of a job. The girls love her,” Moyer said. “She did everything right. I really didn’t give her too much input. She’s been with me for five years and knows how we like to play. Since I was gone, the program was in great hands. It was a tough one today.”
Courtney Moylan said she hopes the team’s younger players see the value in taking care of their bodies during the season, especially with the extra toll an extended playoff run can bring.
“They need to really take that into account but also play every game like it’s your last,” Moylan said. “I think the seniors this year did a good job teaching that to them while keeping a strong bond going. As long as CB West girls’ soccer goes on, they’ll keep that tradition up.”
There’s no easy way to end a season when it comes with a loss. West’s three senior co-captains felt the full gambit of emotions at the end of it Saturday, but in the end, it’ll be the run and not the final scoreline that they’re remembered by.
“I’ve played with Ava since I was like four and being able to play this last game with her means so much,” Broskey said. “I think it meant a lot to everyone, we’ve all been playing since we were really young. Having it be our last one, it’s tough but at the same time, I’m glad it was with all of them.
“We were scrappy, we had a lot of heart and that all brought us here.”
“We showed anything is possible, no matter what players you have on your team,” Longo said. “It doesn’t matter what rank you have or what record you have, we were underdogs this whole time and we didn’t let it stop us.”
Pennridge (22-2, 15-1 SOL) advances to its fourth state semifinal in the last five years (2018, 2019, 2020, 2022) where it will face Neshaminy, the sole team to have beaten the Rams this fall. Grenda, who wanted another chance at West, said it was a challenge she was eager to face and expects another extremely competitive match.
Croyle and Grenda both started in 2020 when Pennridge won the state title, and Croyle said that experience was invaluable navigating the postseason the past two years.
“‘Why not us?’ It’s what we said in 2020 when you weren’t allowed to lose a game after your regular season,” Anderson said. “We had to win six games to get to the state championship, somebody had to do it so I said why can’t it be us? To still have a majority of those players still here, it’s awesome.”
PENNRIDGE 3 2 – 5
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0 0 – 0
Goals: P – Jessie Moylan, Hailey Primwhere, Liv Grenda, Joey Tomlinson, Kate Brashear
#1-1 Neshaminy 2, #1-3 Conestoga 1 (OT)
Forgive Josh Van Reed if he was feeling a profound sense of deja vu early Saturday afternoon.
A week after a wild ending in the District 1 championship game against CB East and 12 days after an intense district semifinal against the same Pioneers, the Redskins were at it again. Conestoga scored late, erasing a game’s worth of hard work and putting the district champion’s mettle to test in extra time.
Sure, Neshaminy would prefer to avoid these endings, but they’ve now proven three times they know how to handle it.
“It did get crazy at the end again and that’s not fun,” Van Reed said. “You could tell they wanted to come out and beat us. It wasn’t just about winning this game – we had beaten them, and they were motivated to say the least.”
A windy day at Coatesville provided an extra challenge, and the Redskins were not able to capitalize having the wind as their ally in the first half. While they avoided giving up a goal, the attack wasn’t quite on pace out of the opening whistle as a fired-up Pioneers side that challenged for every ball.
“For us, you have to match their intensity and instead we came out a little bit flat,” Van Reed said. “I think that gave us some trouble. At halftime, we had to come in and talk about how we needed to clean things up a little bit and do so while playing into the wind, which provided us a few more challenges.”
When things either haven’t been going well or the team has gotten into trouble spots this season, Neshaminy has often found a way out of it by keeping the game simple and connecting passes. There’s a serious level of trust between any 11 players on the field, and the ‘Skins are at their best when the ball moves, finds feet and doesn’t stick in one place too long.
Saturday, the magic remedy didn’t immediately alleviate the issue, which Van Reed credited to a Conestoga team that continually applied a lot of pressure on the ball and challenged the defense. When Neshaminy could connect, it did lead to some good things.
“The nice thing about the players on our team, when we do get the ball and have the opportunity to play it to our feet, we connect passes really well and really quickly,” Van Reed said. “The one pass we had gotten in, we got a ball behind the defense really quickly – it came from (Mercedez Paino) to Kylie (Maxwell) and it ends up played through to Bri Garyah.”
Garyah, a freshman forward who has played some important minutes this postseason, was taken down in the box, although the call wasn’t immediately made.
“She was deep in the box and taken down around the PK spot but when they blew the whistle, at first they were going to bring it outside the box,” Van Reed said. “One of the other referees came over, they talked and called the right call. She was clearly in the box, it was definitely a foul and they did a good job to figure out where it was at.”
Maxwell was the choice to step to the spot and the sophomore did her part, hitting the ball past the diving save attempt for a 1-0 lead with 25 minutes to play.
For all the challenges they had faced, the ‘Skins had a lead.
“I think we played for each other. In our huddle we talk about fighting and playing hard for one another,” Neshaminy senior co-captain Carly Fox said. “We also tried to keep each other up and no negativity.”
Neshaminy dropped an extra player back to try and handle the expected return pressure from Conestoga, and the team emphasized being sound on defense and not giving anything up easily.
“That worked pretty well until with two-and-a-half minutes left, a ball had come out on their right side and the girl put one up from about 30 yards out,” Van Reed said. “It was one where they float one up on frame and hope it goes in. This one got the back corner over Hannah (Labadie), just found that top corner and it’s like ‘here we go again.'”
It was an unfortunate moment for a defensive unit that had done a terrific job handling the Pioneers pressure. As tough as it was to concede, the Redskins stayed together and got the game to overtime.
“I was really proud that we didn’t put our heads down after the goal because it was obviously disappointing, but we went right off the tap and had a scoring opportunity,” senior defender and co-captain Alexis Ocasio said. “We went into overtime with more energy and a mindset that we weren’t losing no matter what.”
Van Reed and the other coaches echoed that it wasn’t new ground for this team.
“We have players, anybody at any moment can step up and score goals, we just needed the opportunity,” Van Reed said. “When we have an opportunity, we can finish.”
Saturday, it was Allie Ortman’s turn. The sophomore did not have a great experience the last time Neshaminy faced Conestoga, having to leave the game with a concussion that sidelined her until Tuesday’s state opener.
“Kylie got the ball, took it down the sideline and cuts it back toward the 18 and puts a left-footed ball toward the back post,” Van Reed said. “Bri was running in, she one-timed the ball back across the frame and Allie Ortman came running in and made sure the ball was in the back of the net.
“I was happy to see the girls crashing the goal when we did get that one opportunity.”
Ortman was in position to claim the glory but credited her teammates for all their work putting the ball in the right spot.
“We were under a lot of pressure knowing it was the golden goal rule, and as a team, we had to put our best effort out on the field until we had the perfect combination to put it home,” Ortman said. “It was a great cross from Kylie to Bri who placed the ball to me where I was able to one-time finish it in the corner.”
Winning a game like Saturday’s takes a full effort from everyone and that was what Neshaminy got.
“It was one of those days where we waiting for us to have a moment,” Van Reed said. “Bri did a good job for us up top on the wing. Allie came in off the bench and aside from scoring the winning goal, she did a lot of work on the field playing a lot of different positions.
“Our midfield – Carly Fox, Cedez, Abby Collins – had their work cut out for them because (Conestoga) had an extra girl in there a lot of the time.”
Kylie Maxwell has been terrific all season but it’s safe to say Neshaminy isn’t this far into the season without her twin sister Taylor’s play on the back line. The entire defense of Ocasio, Carly Hock-Smith and Paige Borkowski held their own and Taylor Maxwell was there providing a lot of cover if needed.
“She cleared, I couldn’t even count how balls out of the back and served plenty of good balls into the box,” Van Reed said. “She came back to stop a girl when she got in behind the defense and started running toward our goalie, Taylor tracked her down and put in a nice, clean tackle. Honestly, she has so much speed like her sister but sometimes in the defensive position it doesn’t get the credit and wow, it literally saved a goal.”
At this point of the season, nothing is supposed to be easy and a team that can stay together and weather the challenges often finds a way through. It wasn’t Neshaminy’s sharpest game but all that mattered was that the ‘Skins were able to get the winning goal and play on.
It was the type of performance they’ve been used to all year and one that didn’t surprise their senior captain in the midfield.
“I thought we all played hard and fought hard for each other. We did good at winning the first and second ball,” Paino said. “I think we had many scoring opportunities, but we just couldn’t finish the ball. I liked how we had energy even though we were playing in overtime.”
Neshaminy (23-0-2, 14-0-2 SOL) will face Pennridge in an All-SOL semifinal on Tuesday. The ‘Skins topped the Rams 2-1 in September, Pennridge’s sole loss this season.
“We know they’re going to be dangerous and able to score a lot of goals,” Van Reed said. “We’ll have to play really tight defense and find our opportunities. It’s the team that makes the least amount of mistakes that’s going to come away and it should be this time of year.”
NESHAMINY 0 1 1 – 2
CONESTOGA 0 1 0 – 1
Goals: N – Kylie Maxwell, Allie Ortman
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