Abington defeated Wissahickon in SOL girls’ soccer action Tuesday. Photos provided courtesy of Josh Stelzer.
SOL Liberty Division
Abington 6, Wissahickon 1
There was no person better to sum up Piper McGinley's first goal Tuesday night then her twin sister Harper.
"Yo, chill Pipe," Harper McGinley yelled from midfield as she waited to sub in, then turning to the teammate next to her. "That was disgusting."
It was senior night for the Ghosts, but it was Piper McGinley who was the star of the show on the night, scoring twice, assisting two goals and indirectly creating a fifth when a corner kick she took led to an own goal. One of the few non-senior starters on Tuesday, McGinley knew the best thing to do was be herself.
The center forward on Abington's front line, usually playing between her sister and senior Lily Gray, McGinley has been an integral part of the Ghosts' potent offense. She's a finisher, but also gives the team someone able to hold the ball and wait to play the right pass.
"It was easier if I did my thing and let everyone else feel comfortable," McGinley said. "I fit in perfectly, I think. We have such great chemistry, and it only keeps getting better every time we play together."
The win keeps Abington right in the thick of the SOL Liberty title hunt. Abington now sits at 36 points, one behind division leader Hatboro-Horsham - the Hatters play Upper Dublin on Wednesday in their last SOL game - with two league games left, Wednesday at Quakertown and Friday at Upper Dublin.
Two wins would secure an SOL title for Abington, something McGinley said the team are definitely going after as it ramps up for the postseason. First, the Ghosts had to get past a Wissahickon team looking to get its form right for the playoffs.
McGinley barely needed a minute to get her night started, driving to the end line and whistling a cross through the box that senior Carley Slavin settled, turned on and ripped into the net for the opening goal.
"When they play the ball to my feet, I can hold it for them, lay it off for them, or beat people on the sideline to create crosses," McGinley said.
Abington kept the pressure on, with Maura Day and McGinley forcing saves until there were about 15 minutes left in the opening half. A corner kick gave McGinley a chance to serve a ball in, and it led to an own goal from the Trojans' defense to double Abington's lead.
Three minutes later, McGinley was at it again, playing a cross off the right side that Gray was able to punch in on second effort for a 3-0 advantage the hosts took to the break.
Wiss, which came into the game No. 11 in the District 1 4A rankings, poured on the pressure to start the second half with Lannah Werynski, Sage Stelzer and Margo Kasenchar all forcing Ghosts keeper Olivia Richards into saves before Emma Greenberg scored on a nice finish to make it a two-goal game with 28:58 to play.
The momentum was short-lived for the visitors, as three minutes later, Piper was scoring and Harper was telling her sister to chill. Receiving the ball in front of goal and in between several defenders, the forward managed to turn in a tight space and rifled a shot into the top of the goal that nearly took the netting off the frame.
"I don't know what was really happening," Piper McGinley said. "I saw the ball, I knew I was near the net, and I wanted to finish it, so that's what I did."
It was the start of a seven-minute knockout, as McGinley soon put away her second off a nice feed from Gray, who made the pass after taking the ball in on the endline. Less than 40 seconds later, Gray got in again and put away her second goal of the night.
"I haven't had a game like that this season," McGinley said.
Abington, which had the No. 7 spot in the District 1 4A rankings prior to the game, has now won five straight since dropping an overtime game to Lower Moreland on Sept. 22. The next two are big and the Ghosts are looking for two more wins to propel them into the postseason.
"We really want to win the league, obviously, I mean who doesn't? It should keep us pushing even harder into the playoffs," McGinley said. "We fell off for a little bit, but we're getting better and we're just trying to keep climbing that hill right now."
Abington (13-3, 12-2) travels to Quakertown at 7 on Wednesday. Wissahickon (10-6, 9-6) visits Plymouth Whitemarsh at 7 on Wednesday.
ABINGTON 3 3 - 6
WISSAHICKON 0 1 - 1
Goals: A - Piper McGinley 2, Lily Gray, Carley Slavin, Own goal; W - Emma Greenberg
BRAUER POWER
It seemed like an inconsequential moment in a game that was already well decided, but with eight minutes left, Abington's Neveah Brauer battled with a Wissahickon player along the right flank before winning the duel and coming out of the tackle with the ball.
Brauer, one of the Ghosts' seven seniors, isn't quite up to playing a full 80 minutes yet, but the fact she's on the field at all is a win in itself. It's also a testament to Brauer's determination and resolve to make sure she got back on the field as a senior after two years lost to injury.
"It's awesome, I honestly didn't even know how much I'd get to play at the beginning of the season because I got hurt yet again," Brauer, a defender, said. "It's been great to be back."
As a freshman, Brauer caught the eye of Abington coach Rick Tompkins, who felt he had found his center back of the future and a potential building block on the back line for the next three years. Instead, Brauer endured a two-year odyssey of pain, setbacks, questions, some ups but more downs and a season relegated to being team manager just to try and get herself right and back on the field.
What started as a seemingly normal pulled quad as a sophomore turned into an ongoing issue that would keep Brauer off the field for two years.
"Whatever that was, it centralized to my back and I had a bulging disc with sciatica so that persisted into my junior year," Brauer said. "My junior year, I was just the manager because I still wanted to be part of the team."
Brauer took junior year off from playing, but she was still working hard as ever trying to pin down exactly what was causing her all that pain and discomfort. Even serving as team manager, Brauer stayed in tune with what the team was doing and felt it was cathartic just to be around a sport she loves and teammates she counted as some of her best friends.
"No matter what she tried, and she tried everything, it wasn't working," Tompkins said. "When she came back and said she could play this year, I was overjoyed for her. She has a competitive spirit, she wants it in the worst way but she's also the nicest girl and she's having fun. It's nice to see her smiling."
Sciatica results from pain that travels the path of the sciatic nerve that branches out from the lower back and runs down through the hips and legs. It often results from a herniated or bulging disc in the lower spine or an overgrowth of bone putting pressure on the nerve.
As a result, it can be extremely painful and not always easily remedied.
"It depended on the day," Brauer said. "There were certain days where I couldn't stand up straight because it flared up and other days, I couldn't move my leg because of the sciatica. I did a lot of physical therapy and eventually it got better."
Having to separate herself from a game she grew up loving to play and just dealing with the day-to-day inconsistency in how she was going to feel or not knowing when a flare-up could send a wave of pain through her back or leg did become taxing.
"It took a lot from me, I tried to be as strong as I could and tried to keep a good mentality but there were days it just broke me," Brauer said. "The more I worked through it and the better I was getting, the better my mindset was getting."
There's not much more frustrating than trying to come back from an injury that doesn't really have a timetable or a way to measure healing, and the senior admitted there were times she thought her soccer career might have been over.
"With my back more so, especially those harder days, I didn't think that I would get back," Brauer said.
At the same time, Brauer said she had a fantastic support network around her including her parents, her friends at school and of course, her team.
Even after getting through all of that, Brauer still couldn't catch a break. She sprained her ankle twice, first in the summer and again in preseason, setting her back even further and delaying her long awaited return until a few games into the season.
"My best is whatever I feel like I can do when I'm out there," Brauer said. "Even if it's not what I feel is my best, as long as I'm doing something to help benefit the team, I still feel like it's good enough."
Brauer coincidentally made her comeback against Wissahickon the first time the teams played, starting the second half in a Ghosts' win. Tuesday, she started again on Senior Night and was the last senior on the field at the end of the game, playing like she'd been there the whole time.
"I was excited but also nervous at the same time, there was that constant fear I was going to hurt myself...again...but once I was on the field, that just shut off," Brauer said of her first time stepping on the field this fall.
"She didn't miss a beat from the psychological standpoint," Tompkins said. "It was just a matter of getting her right."
Brauer is looking at several colleges including Alvernia, Duquesne and Thomas Jefferson with plans to study occupational therapy. She knows missing two years, playing for a college soccer team is a longshot, but she wants to stay involved in the game and will try to play club ball.
Tompkins said he wishes Brauer had another year at Abington because she's just rounding back into game shape. He hasn't hesitated to throw the senior in for spells against anyone and said if she wants to keep playing beyond this year, her best soccer is still to come.
"She's a smart player, she's not going to do anything flashy but she's also not going to give the ball away and she can get herself out of trouble," Tompkins said. "She's steady, she's calm no matter what the situation is and doesn't seem to feel any pressure.
"Some kids, they're impervious to it and they thrive on it. Maura, Carley and Piper, you can't get a game big enough for them and Nev's in that category."
The longer the season goes for Abington, the more opportunity Brauer will have to make an impact for her team. She's already been through the ringer the past two years, so there's likely no scenario the postseason could bring that will rattle her.
Even once her time at Abington is up, the senior knows she's stronger for having gone through all she has to step on the field again this season.
"Getting to the point I'm at now, I realized anything helps," Brauer said. "The people around me or me trying to build myself up over that time, I recognized a lot of different things."
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