Pennridge kept its season alive with a win over District 11 champion Parkland. (Pennridge/Parkland photos provided courtesy of Althea Tomlinson/Pennridge soccer) CB East & Springfield Township saw their seasons come to an end.
CLASS 4A
#1-4 Pennridge 1, #11-1 Parkland 0
Making some tactical adjustments with the final minutes winding off the clock, Rams coach Audrey Anderson looked to midfielder Riley Hepler.
“Riley, you’re going to have to do the work,” Anderson yelled to the senior co-captain.
As if she hadn’t done enough already, Hepler took the challenge on and poured what she had left into closing out a performance that would get her, her fellow seniors and the score of underclassmen following in their wake one step closer in their quest to return to Hershey. The ice bag wrapped around her ailing knee after the game said it all – the Rams may be shorthanded, but they’re not short on fight.
“You can always tell the competitors by what they do after the game,” Anderson said. “The ones that are truly leaving everything on the field are the ones who then look like they could pass out at any minute.
“We didn’t have Riley against Conestoga, it was a flip of a coin if we’d even have her tonight but she wanted to play. We go until she says no and for her to dig that deep shows how much she cares about this program that she’ll step up and play while she’s hurting.”
Hepler and the rest of the Rams who played Tuesday knew every one of their injured teammates would give anything to be out there with them.
“Knowing this could possibly be my last high school game and with a lot of our team being younger, we feel it for each other,” Hepler said. “Every single person on this team gave every part of their effort and I think they did it for us (seniors) knowing this could be our last game. Coming together as a team helped us push each other and that effort is what brought us together.”
Parkland, which continued its dominance in District 11 this fall, didn’t have an answer for what Pennridge brought to the table on Tuesday. Any time the Rams lost the ball, they were immediately on the player in possession of it, looking to cause a turnover and get it back.
Pennridge’s constant pressure had the host Trojans off their game from the first whistle.
“They were faster in every aspect of the game,” Parkland coach Al Haddad said. “Their thoughts, their technical skill set, everything was faster, so we have to get to that level. Our heart, we left it all out on the field, the energy and opportunity, I think of the shots on goal we had the better of them but this game was all about speed and they had it in bunches at every position.”
Hepler, along with midfield mates Sophie Craig and Hannah Primwhere, was right in the middle of it, challenging the ball on the ground and in the air.
“I definitely feel like they hadn’t played a team like us yet,” Hepler said. “I think one of our main strengths is our pressure as a unit and I felt that really helped us win this game tonight.”
The Rams back line also bounced back in a big way after a disappointing effort against Conestoga last Friday. The quartet of Anna Croyle, Lauren Murphy, Lindsey Balmer and Casey Malone all but erased the Trojans’ top attackers, including Mariana Aubele-Gonzalez, and responded to their worst game of the year with their 16th shutout this fall.
“Winning first balls out of the air and connecting with our midfield was huge,” said Croyle, a sophomore co-captain. “We’re all young, some of us aren’t even defenders normally so it was really important we kept our bond strong and stayed on the same page as a unit.”
Parkland’s defense was just as sharp, with a defender clearing a thumping header by Primwhere off the line just four minutes in for a pivotal early play. Leah Malone also noted how the Trojans were, for the most part, able to keep the Rams out of the 18-yard box, but the Pennridge senior credited the midfield for continuing to move the ball and get the forwards back into space.
Malone, a four-year varsity player, got her third crack at Parkland after edging the Trojans in PKs in 2018 and winning last year’s 4-3 overtime thriller in the state semifinals.
“We know they’re super-talented and were going to give us a really good game,” the forward said. “All their players are highly competitive, so we had to at the minimum at least match their energy if we had any hope of being successful. Coming in, we did our homework knowing what to expect, and coming off two losses, we knew we had things to fix.”
Among that list was better service on free kicks. Croyle, who takes most of the team’s longer set pieces, did not shy away from the fact she hadn’t been giving her teammates enough of a chance to make something of them in recent games.
The sophomore was able to turn that around in a big way early in the second half.
“To be honest, mine haven’t been great the past couple games,” Croyle said. “So, it felt pretty good to hit one that we finally scored on.”
Croyle crushed a serve from just past midfield into the box, where Murphy knocked it down and the ball found Malone’s left foot. From there, it was all about placement and the senior didn’t miss the easy poke from close range.
“Murph did a really good job reading the ball out of the air,” Malone said. “It gave me a little space, so I just took the shot. I was right in front of the goal.”
A goal is a goal, and it seemed a little extra fitting it was one the Rams had to scrap a little bit to get.
“That’s exactly what we were saying. It doesn’t have to be pretty, this is the postseason, people are injured, whatever the case is, we just have to get the job done,” Anderson said. “We have to fight for it, it doesn’t have to look pretty, just put the ball in the back of the net.”
The finish was still tense, with Murphy adding to her ledger with a crucial goal-line clearance after a rocket of a shot from distance hit the Rams’ crossbar. Senior Sierra Shaeffer came up with a massive save inside the final two minutes after a Parkland free kick bounced around the box and led to a close-range attempt.
Pennridge (19-5, 13-3 SOL) goes from one familiar foe to another, facing Conestoga in the state quarterfinals on Saturday.
It’ll take more than a sore knee to keep Hepler out of that game, especially with her team now two wins away from back-to-back trips to Hershey.
“It pushes you harder knowing we’re so close and almost there,” Hepler said. “I think I can speak for all of us when I say we want it again. We got the taste of it, and we want that again.”
PENNRIDGE 1 0 – 1
PARKLAND 0 0 – 0
Goals: Penn – Leah Malone
#3-1 Central Dauphin 1, #1-5 Central Bucks East 0
A resurgent season for the Patriots’ program came to an end earlier than any of them hoped on Tuesday.
“I’m always reminded in moments like this of a Mike Gorni phrase that I believe he got from legendary Radnor coach, Sam Holt – it’s not the number of big games you win, but the number of big games you are in,” East coach Jake Nesteruk said. “It’s all about the journey. Our group knew we could do something special this year, and we just knew that we’d have to own the role of the underdog and we did just that.”
The compressed playoff field kept the Patriots out of the postseason last year, but the signs were there for bigger things to come. Behind a large and strong senior class, East realized that potential this fall.
This fall, East claimed a share of the SOL Colonial title, didn’t drop a match at home and returned to the state playoffs for the first time since 2015. They also battled back from a district quarterfinal loss to secure the fifth and final state berth, setting up a road trip to Central Dauphin.
“Our mentality going into this game after seeing them play, we knew we’d have to make adjustments, but to be quite honest, either team could have won this game tonight with what they created and hats off to Central Dauphin – they have a fantastic group,” Nesteruk said. “Our focus is on the fact that so many good teams didn’t get the chance to extend their season and we don’t get the shot to play this game without all the work to get to this point.”
After a scoreless first half, CD broke the deadlock with about 12 minutes to play.
The Patriots, led as usual by senior Elise Duffy up top, tried all their tricks to find a goal but it wasn’t meant to be.
“Despite the fact that Elise Duffy was drawing a ton of attention and coverage, she was able to create a number of chances consistently throughout the game,” Nesteruk said. “(Our) best scoring opportunity came off of a corner play that saw its shot blocked multiple times in the box.”
East’s seniors were an instrumental part of the program’s rebuild and had their imprint all over the success this fall.
“I can’t say enough about our captains – Chloe Strawn, Courtney Curry, Elise Duffy, and Skylar Gash. From the back and as seniors as well, two kids that never get enough credit, Meredith Black and Liv Kallelis were just as commanding of leaders,” Nesteruk said. “It’s our group of seniors that have redefined what this program can do and how we do it.”
It took six years for East (18-6, 13-4 SOL) to return to states and for the players returning next year, the task is to make sure it’s not that long of a wait before the next trip.
“It was a special run and I’m glad our group has the chance to exhale and relax a bit, but the kids returning know they have massive, massive shoes to fill,” Nesteruk said.
CENTRAL DAUPHIN 0 1 – 1
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 0 0 – 0
CLASS 2A
Archbishop Wood 2, Springfield Twp 0
It was new territory for the Spartans, but they more than held their own in the state playoffs against the Philadelphia Catholic League’s champion.
Springfield hadn’t played since winning the District 1 title on Oct 27 while the Vikings had the benefit of a few more games – including their PCL title run – and two years of state playoff experience. It didn’t stop the Spartans from going all out in front of their home crowd.
”It was a really great game and I am just so happy with how our team performed on this stage,” Spartans coach Dan Malora said. “The season was certainly a grind, but that’s our story every year. This group of players have spent almost every day of the last three months together. From early morning workouts to late night dinners, these 38 student athletes bonded to accomplish a feat that the program had not yet achieved since joining the SOL.”
Wood scored once on each side of halftime but had to contend with 80 minutes of effort from the Spartans.
The smallest school in the SOL, Springfield Twp always has an uphill climb but kept working and broke through for a title this fall.
“A district title has always been just out of reach for the Lady Spartans. This season had all of the same snags that have held us up before,” Malora said. “Key injuries and tough losses can really knock a team down, but this group found away to take the hits and keep getting up. They did this by rallying together. The players know that they can accomplish so much more as a unit, and they used that mentality to push through the snags and stumbles that can end lesser competitors. I’ve said before that these girls are never done and they showed that spirit again tonight. Going down early didn’t deflate the effort and the Spartans fought for the whole 80.
“I would have been happy enough with just that. Nothing could prepare me for what the girls said during our postgame debrief. ‘Do we have practice tomorrow?’ These girls are ready to go again.”
ARCHBISHOP WOOD 1 1 – 2
SPRINGFIELD TWP 0 0 – 0
About the Author
