West Chester Henderson girls’ soccer edged in district opener
West Chester – Minutes after the No. 16 seed West Chester Henderson girls’ soccer team lost to visiting Quakertown, 1-0, in the PIAA District 1 4A tournament opener at J. Oscar Dicks Stadium Tuesday evening, Warrior senior goalie and co-captain Sara Lieffrig reflected on the sudden end of the season for the Ches-Mont National Division champions.
“Just knowing that I won’t be putting on this [Henderson uniform jersey] ever again, that’s a tough thing to take,” said Lieffrig, her voice choked with emotion.
“This was a special season for us [six] seniors. We had a new coach [Rachel Chupein] who was kind of like us [age-wise], and her new system united us.”
The Warriors (12-6-1) posted a 10-3 record in the Ches-Mont National Division this fall. It was a fun season for Henderson, one the Warriors were hoping would last at least one more game.
Chupein said, “All season long, our team showed so much heart, and we did again today. We have six seniors on the team, and they were such great leaders this season. I’m proud of them.”
The six seniors were Lieffrig, midfielder and co-captain Julia Wood, midfielder/defender Shannon Earley, striker Dayla Jackson, midfielder Nacera Gomaa and defender Katie Holmes. Lieffrig yielded only 1.17 goals per game this season, and the other five seniors were all among the Warriors’ scoring leaders this fall.
Lieffrig said, “When you’re a freshman, a sophomore, you look up to the upperclassmen, then when you’re a senior, it’s your turn to be looked up to, and you try to include everyone on the team, make sure they’re OK.”
Lieffrig, who has committed to playing soccer goalie at Carthage (Wisc.) College next fall, gave up only one goal Tuesday evening, a header by Quakertown’s Melina Jagiello into the left corner of the net just 10:50 before halftime.
The Warriors controlled the ball in Quakertown territory for much of the final 13 minutes of play, but couldn’t crack the Panthers’ defense enough to tie the score.
Chupein said, “Today was one of the few times this season that we’ve been shut out. I think maybe we had a little too much composure, a little too much patience, early in the game. Late in the game, when urgency forced us to attack, then our players just played, trusted their instincts and their talent, and that’s when we started to make our [offensive] move.”
Henderson had a tough nut to crack in Quakertown senior goalie Morgan Small, who is headed to either Clark University or Tufts University to play soccer.
“We knew that [Small] was solid in the air,” said Chupein. “While we try to impose our style on the other team, we share the ball, we have a number of solid scorers.”
Coming into Tuesday’s game, the Warriors’ top goal-scorers were sophomore striker Kate Gordon (eight goals, seven assists) and Wood (seven goals, four assists).
Behind those two top scorers, the Warriors featured a deep offense this season that included Earley (four goals, six assists), junior midfielder Kasey Coonan (three goals, seven assists), junior midfielder Natalie Miller (five goals, one assist), Jackson (three goals, three assists), Gomaa (four goals, one assist) and Holmes (two goals, three assists).
“We knew that Henderson had a lot of talent up top, that they were dangerous up top,” said Quakertown head coach Mike Koch. “I’m proud of my players, that we were able to stop them.”
The 17th seeded Panthers (14-5) advance to play top seed Pennridge Thursday.
Quakertown 1, West Chester Henderson 0
Quakertown 1 0 – 1
West Chester Henderson 0 0 – 0
Quakertown goal: Jagiello.
Goalie saves: Small (Q) 7, Lieffrig (WCH) 3.
