CB East earned a convincing win in Tuesday’s opening round of the PIAA 4A Tournament. Andrew Robinson recaps all the action. Photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. CLICK HERE to view Suburban One Sports’ GIRLS’ SOCCER GALLERIES. Check back for a gallery of photos.
PIAA 4A opening round
#1-1 Central Bucks East 4, #3-3 Central York 0
Nobody would have blamed the seniors of Central Bucks East if they felt some kind of trepidation heading into Tuesday’s state playoff opener.
The last three years, the Patriots saw their season end in the first round of the PIAA Class 4A playoffs. This year was different.
For one thing, they weren’t playing Central Dauphin but Central York. Perhaps just as important was the fact they were playing on their home field and not somewhere in the greater Harrisburg area.
Still, East still had to go out and prove it could win a state game, and naturally, there would probably be some emotions to go with that.
“Jake (Nesteruk) always says to take the emotion out of the game,” East senior Stella Genin said. “Going back through the entire season, there are some of these games when you look at them, they get built up with so
much emotion, you have to take it out and play your soccer.”
Any jitters the Patriots might have had, they seemed to work out within the first five minutes. From there, it was largely one-way traffic as the Patriots continued to put attempts on frame. Their problem was that the majority of those were hit right to Panthers’ goalkeeper Brooklyn Shaffer, who tallied 10 saves and did not give up rebounds on those shots.
“We had to prepare for them to come out strong,” East senior Madelyn Hill said. “We realized our tempo had to be raised. We needed to cut some of the touches out, and we finally got to playing how we usually play.”
The Patriots could afford to take some extra touches and hunt the perfect chance offensively because their defense had them covered. Senior Mae Leedy only made one save, but the Shippensburg recruit controlled the box well and was a reliable outlet if the defenders needed one.
In front of Leedy, senior defenders Savannah Hayes and Sydney Ralph put together a terrific outing in their last home game. The center back duo erased a lot of potential threats, and both were strong in making their tackles and getting the ball going back the other way.
Midway through the first half, East got the breakthrough. Mia Forney wove through the midfield, then laced a perfect through ball to Hill, the senior slipping inside a defender and leveling a shot past Shaffer for the lead.
Yet for all the effort they put into it, the Patriots only led 1-0 at the break.
“We touched at halftime that we were looking for the perfect shot,” Genin said. “Mads, I was waiting for her to take it on her left when she kept going all the way in and wanted to dish it off. I just wanted us to start shooting and actually testing the goalie, not waiting for the perfect opportunity but taking those textbook opportunities.”
Genin didn’t mess around when her chance to shoot came midway through the second half. A miscommunication between Central York backs allowed the senior winger to reclaim the ball and rip one on goal, the shot clipping the crossbar on its way to the back of the net.
“I knew coming into the game this was going to be my last one here, and I was playing like it was my last one,” Genin said. “I wanted to leave it all on the field, do the best I could and try my hardest. I’m glad I got a goal to help us out.”
Genin’s blast was the key to the door. East would pile up three goals in a six-minute span with the senior starting things off and junior Magee Williamson bringing it home.
Williamson defines a super-sub, the forward able to play either wing or the center forward spot while letting Forney, Genin and Hill all rotate out and get a few minutes of rest each half. She’s also contributed some vital goals this season and whenever or wherever the Patriots send her in, they do it with confidence.
“(Jake) tells me to be the spark,” Williamson said. “I’m always really grateful for the opportunities I do get, so I try to fill the spot of the person who’s coming off to get a break and keep the energy as high as I can.”
Genin scored with 21:35 left in the match. It took 30 seconds for Williamson to get the first of her two goals, the junior crashing the goal on a cross by Taylor Roumy, knocking it off her shoulder and into the back of the net.
Hill has been a season-long standout, the forward elevating her game in her last go-around, and she had a memorable final home game. Four minutes after Roumy and Williamson had connected for the first goal, Roumy put another cross into the box
.
This one had a little more velocity on it and skipped to the far post, where it seemed ready to go out for a goal kick and Central York possession. Except, it never did thanks to Hill, the senior closing the gap and making a terrific save on the endline to flick the ball back across goal.
Williamson was there again, redirecting the flick with a nifty touch of her own for a second goal on the night.
“Taylor Roumy did that a few times before and I wasn’t there, so I decided I was going to get closer in,” Hill said. “I didn’t want another one to get away.”
Tuesday was a night for Williamson to shine late. She knows that may not always be the case, but if one of her teammates might be off, she can pick them up and vice-versa.
“No one has to be 100 percent every game because we’re always here for each other,” Williamson said. “You can afford to have players not have their best game because we’re so strong together.”
East finished the match with all eight of its seniors – Hill, Genin, Leedy, Ralph, Hayes, Jessie Bernabe, Joey Williamson and Mikayla Gray – sharing the pitch together. Genin called it a full-circle moment, the entire group getting to play out their final seconds playing on their home field collectively while also carrying the knowledge they aren’t done yet.
CB East (22-1, 10-0 SOL) will face Archbishop Carroll, the District 12 champion defeating Emmaus 2-1 in the first round, on Saturday at a time and site to be determined for its quarterfinal matchup.
“I’m grateful to keep playing with this team,” Genin said. “This year, we’re so connected as individuals. Even taking the soccer out of it, this team is such a family and I’m so excited we get to keep playing.
“Yes, we’re playing to score, playing to win but I think we’re also playing for each other to have another practice and have another game.”
Touch of Gray
It was nothing more than a routine pass, one that Mikayla Gray has made thousands of times.
What made the seemingly simple ball connecting from the senior’s foot to Mia Forney’s waiting feet a few yards away with a little more than four minutes left so special was that it happened at all.
While it may have looked like nothing more than a few minutes of playing time for a senior in her last home game, it was much more than that.
“It felt surreal, honestly,” Gray said. “Especially with our student section chanting, all the emotion came back. It brought me back to sophomore year when I was out there playing with everyone.”
Two years ago, Gray – or “MK” as she’s known within the program – was a key cog in the midfield for a Patriots team that advanced to the district title game. The next year, she was sidelined with a torn ACL that cost her the entirety of her junior season.
Still, she was a player college programs wanted and last October, Gray committed to play at the University of Maryland. Everything seemed in order until this summer, when the Terrapins coaching staff called Gray and then head coach Meghan Ryan Nemzer asked her not to play this fall.
“I’m signing in a few weeks in November,” Gray said. “They wanted to make sure I was healthy and ready for club (soccer) so I could get prepared.”
Aside from a ceremonial touch on Senior Night, Gray didn’t think she’d touch the field at all this year. Then on Oct. 10, Maryland announced it had parted ways with Ryan Nemzer while appointing assistant coach Michael Marchiano as the interim head coach.
During the day Tuesday, Marchiano, Gray and her parents had a phone call and the interim Maryland coach gave the senior the ok to make a real appearance.
“If we had played yesterday, I would have said I’m not playing,” Gray said. “It came along,and it was a good thing we were up a few goals so I could get in.”
Being told not to play was a crushing blow and Gray recalled having to break the news to East coach Jake Nesteruk feeling just as agonizing as the year prior when she’d gotten hurt.
“It brought me back to the conversation I had with him when I tore my ACL initially, it was really hard,” Gray said. “He was so supportive. He wanted me still to be in my captain’s spot, he wanted me to be a leader of the team and show up every day.
“His and my relationship is great, we talk like assistant coaches and help the team that way. The whole coaching staff has been amazing, all our assistants and Jake, you feel you can turn to them for anything.”
Nesteruk had nothing but praise for the way the senior has handled the challenges of her situation this year. Of course, having a high major Division I caliber midfielder sidelined while she could play is less than ideal, but Gray has managed to still impact her team without making a pass or scoring any goals.
Nesteruk says he knew the Patriots would be a stronger team with her presence no matter what form it took.
“It takes a really mature leader to influence a team without getting the opportunity to play, and that’s been MK for us. She brings an intensity to our sessions that elevates our environment and has found her own ways to push the group forward,” Nesteruk said. “I think she’s a representation of the commitment, focus, and ability level of the entire group; especially those girls who train and show up and might not see minutes. Ultimately, it takes a full roster to cultivate the environment you need to get through a long season, and we are lucky to have kids across the roster who are willing to take on any role they can.”
Even though she couldn’t play, Gray wanted to be a part of the program. The senior remained a co-captain alongside classmates Jessie Bernabe and Mae Leedy and junior Aralynn Patterson, and her role shifted to vocal presence on the sideline as a de-facto assistant coach.
Gray sees herself as a leader and even last year when she was out injured, the midfielder filled the same role as a vocal presence. She remembered when she was an underclassman how valuable the advice and encouragement from the seniors and upperclassmen was, so she wanted to pay it forward.
“With all the underclassmen stepping up, we didn’t know how it was going to go, but we’re all best friends on and off the field,” Gray said. “That’s really helped us, we all connect so well.”
Although she couldn’t play, Gray could train, and the senior was still in the mix with her teammates on a regular basis. While she might not be able to go a full 80-minute shift in the midfield right now, Gray figured she could go for a few minutes in the right setting.
When she spoke with Marchiano on Tuesday, the senior noted that thanks to winning the District 1 title over the weekend, East had gotten a chance to play one more home game. She wasn’t asking or expecting to start or play big minutes but if the right opportunity came, she hoped to get on the pitch.
“(Marchiano) said he would support me playing, just getting some minutes,” Gray said. “It was the final home game of our season and my career, so he wanted me to get that opportunity.”
During the postseason, Gray has been wearing her full game uniform – No. 9 jersey with captain’s armband included – but stopping short of putting in shin guards or lacing up her cleats.
That wasn’t the case on Tuesday, as the senior strode up to the pregame captains’ meeting alongside Mae Leedy, Jessie Bernabe and Aralynn Patterson fully ready to go.
With about five minutes left and the Patriots up four goals, Nesteruk sent Gray and senior Joey Williamson to check in. The crowd, which featured a very strong student section that had the team’s back all night, sensed the moment and welcomed the two in with a loud cheer.
Gray didn’t want to jump to any conclusions about potentially playing in Saturday’s quarterfinal, but if the opportunity comes again to get a few minutes, she won’t hesitate to take them. If Tuesday was it, getting to finish off the first state playoff win she or any of her classmates have experienced with all eight of them on the field together was more than enough.
“This year was definitely difficult, starting from when I found out I couldn’t play,” Gray said. “Still being a captain and still being able to lead the team, it’s a role I took seriously, and I wanted to be here for the girls.
“Getting my moment, being able to play on the field with my best friends again, it just meant the world. Those are my best friends on the field, and they’ve supported me through everything.”
CENTRAL YORK 0 0 – 0
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1 3 – 4
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