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LOWER GWYNEDD – The moment will be frozen in their memories for a lifetime.
Neshaminy senior Dyana Henry stepped to the stroke line. 
Convert the penalty stroke, and the Redskins would win their first district title since 1983. Miss it, and Central Bucks South had life.
“I was nervous, but I kept in my mind that I couldn’t let my team down,” said Henry, the final of five Redskin strokers. “We all were working so hard. I knew I would be disappointed in myself if I let them down.”
When the whistle sounded, Henry – without pausing for even an instant – fired a shot into the left corner of the cage, giving the Redskins an electrifying win (1-1, 3-2 penalty strokes) and the coveted District One AAA crown.
“Oh my god, I was in shock,” said Henry, who was mobbed by jubilant teammates. “I was shaking, but it felt so good just to know after double overtime and going through strokes, everything we worked for - it paid off. I’m still in shock.”
This was a district final for the ages, and when 90 minutes of riveting hockey could not determine a winner as the two teams battled to a 1-1 tie, it came down to penalty strokes.
It was poetic justice of sorts that Henry took and made the final stroke. The senior defensive back spent the two overtime periods stymieing every Titan threat while goalie Alexa Bell turned away 13 shots in a glittering performance – two in penalty strokes.
“Alexa and Dyana kept us in the game,” Redskin coach Lisa Pennington said. “We were pressuring on offense a lot in overtime, which was great, but then we had trouble transitioning and getting back.
“Alexa and Dyana played very smart and played together. It’s only fitting that Dyana scored the winning goal in strokes, and Alexa played awesome.”
In one glorious evening, the disappointment of past playoffs – including last year’s second round exit – was erased for the Redskins.
“It means a lot especially because I’ve been here for four years, and this is what I have been hoping for,” senior Marlaine Schneider said. “C.B. South is a very good team. I play with a lot of these girls, and I know how they play. They’re a very skilled team.
“They knew how to move the ball, and they work with each other.”
While the Redskins celebrated, the Titans were left to deal with the heartbreak of losing a game in the most painful of fashions – in penalty strokes.
“When it comes down to strokes – it’s like a joke,” South senior Sarah Hasson said. “It’s all chance.”
“You can’t tell how good a team is from their strokes,” teammate Ally Bradley said.
In truth, there would have been no strokes and no overtime periods had it not been for the remarkable play of Bradley. 
With the timer on the field and South staring at a 1-0 deficit, Bradley – in a herculean effort while falling to the ground – somehow sent a reverse stick laser shot into the opposite corner of the cage, stunning everyone on both sidelines with a goal that knotted the score with 19.7 seconds remaining.
“When I was dribbling into the circle, my whole team was yelling, ‘Shoot. Twenty seconds left – shoot,’” Bradley said. “I’m like ‘Alright, if you want me to shoot, I’m going to have to reverse it.’
“I just reverse shot it, and I fell on the ground. I didn’t even think it went in.”
“No one was expecting it,” Redskin senior Chelsea Rota said. “Nineteen seconds left, and we’re up by one – alright, we got this, but they came back. Ally Bradley hit an incredible shot. “
The Titans appeared to have all the momentum heading into overtime. But the Redskins weren’t about to let one little setback stand in the way of their dream.
“We have worked so hard for this,” Henry said. “This is the greatest group of girls I have ever played with, and I knew we all wanted it, and we were not going to walk away today in second.
“No one expected it (Bradley’s goal), but we have come back to score with one second left on the clock (in a win over Council Rock North). When they scored, we were down, but it wasn’t a loss. We knew we still had it, and we were going to come back.”
“That just started the fire,” Rota said. “We wanted to get it back.”
There were anxious moments for both sides during two riveting 15-minute overtime periods. Henry wasted little time establishing herself as a force in the backfield, breaking up a potential fastbreak in the opening minutes of OT.
That was just the beginning.
The Redskins drew four corners but could muster very little attack. South threatened late in overtime, but Bell – who was impenetrable – turned away a pair of shots in a dramatic sequence.
“I just pay attention to the ball,” the junior goalie said. “I was so overwhelmed at that point because it was close to the end.”
In the second OT, the Titans were awarded four corners. They managed three shots, but came up empty. Late in the overtime, Goldsworthy came up with a big defensive play for the Titans, but another two-on-one was broken up as time wound down, setting the stage for penalty strokes.
Goldworthy converted a stroke while the Redskins came up empty to give the Titans a 1-0 lead. Bell turned away the next shot she faced, and when Jenny Hentz found the right corner of the cage, the teams were deadlocked 1-1 after two sets of strokes.
Bradley hit paydirt for South, but Moriah Allen answered for the Redskins, and it was 2-2. On the fourth set, both teams came up empty, and after Bell made a safe on a Titan shot, the stage was set for Henry.
Lost in the shuffle of the dramatic finish was a regulation that had its share of drama as well. It was Rota (Schneider assist) giving the Redskins a 1-0 lead when she scored on corner play with 3:35 remaining in a first half of limited opportunities for both teams.
An inspired Titan squad came out of halftime and dominated play, collecting eight shots and eight corners while the Redskins had none of either.
“In the first half, we looked scared, we looked intimidated, but truthfully, we weren’t,” Goldsworty said. “Nothing was connecting, nothing seemed like it was going our way, but obviously in the second half, we turned everything around.
“We were connecting our passes, and everything seemed like it was perfect. We had the momentum, we had the speed. We were outrunning them to every single ball. It’s unfortunate how it ended.”
One team’s heartbreak is another team’s joy.
“This is so meaningful,” said Allen. “We worked so hard since game one. We’re still undefeated, and we’re hoping to keep going.”
Not far away, Rota clutched the golden team trophy.“It’s incredible,” she said. “This was a dream.”
A dream that came true on a fall November evening when the district’s best put on a show fans in attendance will be talking about for a long, long time.
“You have two quality teams, and it’s a shame you have to have a loser and a winner,” Titan coach Meg Hutchinson said. “I’m really proud of them. We had the momentum going into OT. It was a hard-fought game through the whole game. We had our chances, but hats off to Neshaminy. They stopped it. They had saves, and they had chances against us.
“It was a great, great game. “
“We know we can hang with the best,” Bradley said. “If we can compete with the best, we should be able to beat the best.”
NESHAMINY 1, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 1 (3-2 penalty strokes)
Central Bucks South 0 1 0 0-1
Neshaminy 1 0 0 0-1
Goals/Assists: Central Bucks South – Ally Bradley 2-0, Julia Goldsworthy 1-0. Neshaminy – Chelsea Rota 1-0, Dyana Henry 1-0, Moriah Allen 1-0, Jenny Hentz 1-0.
Shots: CBS-16, N-5.
Corners: CBS-17, N-5.
Saves: Lydia Keener (CBS) 2, Alexa Bell (N) 13.
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