A goal by Megan Shenk on a corner kick propelled Pennridge to a dramatic 2-1 overtime win over Owen J. Roberts. The win vaulted the Rams into Saturday’s state title game. To view action photos of the game, please visit the Photo Gallery at the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
ROSEMONT - Sometimes lightning does strike twice.
Pennridge junior Megan Shenk scored the only goal of the game in Pennridge's state quarterfinal matchup against Strath Haven last Saturday on a stellar corner kick that curved its way into the net late in the first half.
In Tuesday's semifinal matchup against Owen J. Roberts, Shenk scored another goal from the corner ... this time in the fifth minute of overtime to propel the Rams to a 2-1 victory and their first ever state final appearance.
"The way I line, up, you wouldn't think the ball would even go inbounds," Shenk said, wiping tears of joy from her eyes. "It had a pretty good curve on it, and no one was there to hit it out. I was trying to curve it so I could at least get it where I wanted to, so that if it didn't get in the goal then someone could at least get a head on it."
"She's been working on that at practice," senior Stevi Parker said of the game-winning goal. "Our goal was just to get everybody around the far post so that if it didn't make it, we were all there, but Megan hit a perfect corner."
Though the celebration had to wait a few moments so the referees could confer as to whether Shenk, who entered the game to take the corner kick, was waiting at midfield to sub in, they eventually agreed that she had been in the right place at the right time, and the goal was allowed to stand.
"One of the things I started to notice in overtime is we were getting forward more than usual," said Pennridge coach Jorge Rodriguez. "I was hoping if we weren't going to get a goal in the run of play that maybe we'd get a goal on a set piece. One of the changes we were going to make was to get Megan in. We were making that change as the ball went out.
"We've been working on that with her the last three days. We've been tweaking her corner kick, and we realized she could score with it. When she got up there, I thought either she's going to score or someone's going to get the ball."
Shenk also had a hand in the Rams' first goal, despite not even touching the ball. On an indirect kick, Shenk, Parker and Maggie Butcher lined up by the ball and pulled a bit of trickery -- and almost tricked themselves -- to get the ball off.
"It wasn't supposed to happen like that," Parker said. "I play Maggie and Megan fakes the run over and then I run around Maggie and she backheels it to me for a shot. I guess we miscommunicated, and I had to hit the ball with my left foot."
Still, the ball found its way to freshman Marissa Sheva, who booted it into the goal in the eighth minute to give the Rams the 1-0 lead. But the Wildcats, the fourth seed from District One, battled back fiercely. And the Rams were faced not only with trying to stop two stellar attackers in OJR's Juliana Provini and Emily Morgan, but having to do so without Butcher, who left the game after a collision in the first half and did not return until the later stages of the second half.
"Owen J. is a great team," Parker said. "They're very physical, very aggressive. We're not the biggest team, we don't have much height. But with Maggie out, I think everyone rallied around each other and everyone fought as hard as they could. (Provini and Morgan) were key players we had to keep the ball away from. As soon as they got the ball, we were swarming them and I think that really helped us out."
After maintaining the pressure through the end of the first half and into the second, the Wildcats netted the equalizer in the 57th minute when Holly Sullivan fired in a centering pass from Maddy Cantello.
"I don't think we'd been on our heels this long," Rodriguez said. "And it was not just the players coming out (two Pennridge players were assessed yellow cards), not just the injury to Maggie. Give Owen J. credit, they know exactly how to play, they're a better team than what their record shows, they put us under a lot of pressure.
"At this stage of the game, you have to be organized, disciplined and lucky, and we had a lot of everything today."
"Defensively, it was really tough tonight," said junior defender Caitlyn Sheva. "(Provini) was so fast, it was hard to keep up with her, but we did a pretty good job. It was difficult, but we knew we could keep it together and not let anything slip."
In fact, the Rams had several good looks at the net in the final minutes of regulation. Natalia Pinkney broke free for three good shots at the cage, but the Rams weren't able to break the tie until Shenk's déjà vu heroics in overtime.
The Rams, who had listed a state championship among their preseason goals, will face Peters Township, the District 7 runner-up, in Saturday's state final to be played at 3 p.m. at HersheyPark Stadium.
"At the beginning of the season, I don't know if anyone really thought that we could achieve getting to the state championship," Shenk said. "Once we started the playoffs, we all started to think we could do this."
"Once we got the first seed in districts, it became, 'OK this is our year,'" Parker said. "One game at a time, one practice at a time. Nobody got ahead of ourselves. Every game, every practice, it was like, 'This can happen for us.'"
It has happened for the Rams, and just one win separates them from the ultimate prize – a state title.
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