Under pressure: Pennridge speeds past Parkland in PIAA-4A first round
ALLENTOWN >> It didn’t matter where, how or why.
Any time a Pennridge player lost possession of the ball, it took all of a half-second before they were immediately hounding whichever Parkland player had the misfortune of having taken control of it. Most nights, the District 11 champion Trojans are the team giving the opponent fits with their on-ball barrage but even on their home field, they couldn’t seem to keep up with the Rams.
Pressuring the ball right to the final whistle, Pennridge battled past Parkland 1-0 to open their PIAA Class 4A title defense Tuesday night, also ending Parkland’s season for a second straight year.
“I definitely feel like they hadn’t played a team like us yet,” senior midfielder Riley 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.”
In back-to-back losses to Downingtown East and Conestoga, the Rams started to show some adverse effects of the attrition that’s slowly whittled away their depth this fall. With several key players still out as districts turned to states, the only way they could keep the season going was to reignite that will to relentlessly pursue the ball over every inch of turf.
Hepler, who didn’t play against Conestoga but gamed it out through a knee injury on Tuesday, was everywhere against Parkland and her teammates fell in line behind her. Pennridge needed that kind of effort because as flustered as Parkland seemed to be at times, the District 11 champions were far from being a bystander in the match either.
It was just a matter of too much speed, too much pressure and too much time to start adjusting to it.
“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.”
A state playoff meeting between the programs is become standard fare. In 2018, Pennridge outlasted the Trojans in penalty kicks and just last year, won a 4-3 epic clash in the state semifinals under the COVID-19 modified brackets.
Rams coach Audrey Anderson wasn’t excited about yet another meeting with Parkland, but at least she and her team knew what they were in for against a quality opponent.
“Club soccer is great because a lot of our girls knew a lot of their girls and it makes the scouting piece a little bit easier,” Anderson said. “I was very, very happy with how we played defensively. If they don’t have the ball, then they’re not dangerous so if we can keep them from getting the ball and dribbling at our backs, we’ll be ok.
“We knew they were dangerous on set pieces the last couple times and with the same coach, he’s going to coach the same way, so we knew to be mindful of that as well.”
Leah Malone, who scored the game winner, knew it was going to be a battle as soon as she saw the pairing on the state bracket. The forward played in the other two meetings with Parkland and on Tuesday, felt the Trojans’ defense was a formidable opponent.
“They were doing a really good job just keeping us out of the 18,” Malone said. “We had to find ways to start penetrating the gaps and I thought our midfield had a lot to do with that, making sure we could take our space, open up gaps and give our forwards time on the ball.”
Pennridge nearly took control four minutes into the game off a corner kick. Casey Malone’s service found Hannah Primwhere, who crushed a perfect header right on frame, only for Parkland’s Madison Bowman to get her body in the way to clear it off the line.
The Trojans defense wouldn’t give up much the rest of the half, but between the Rams pressuring them all the way down the field and the Pennridge backline, neither did the visitors. Center backs Anna Croyle and Lauren Murphy, plus Casey Malone and Lindsey Balmer on the flanks, all but erased Parkland’s top forwards from the match but had to work hard to do so.
After giving up three goals to Conestoga in the District 1 third-place match, a return to form was welcomed for the backs and senior keeper Sierra Sheaffer, who also played very well.
“Winning first balls out of the air and connecting with our midfield was huge,” Croyle, a sophomore co-captain, said. “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.”
Just over 10 minutes into the second half, a foul set up a Rams free kick a few yards over the halfway line. Croyle stepped over it, looking to give her team a chance if she could put it inside the 18.
“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.”
It wasn’t a highlight goal, but they all count the same in the state tournament. Croyle absolutely crushed the service, hitting it to the far post where Murphy was able to bring it down out of the air. It stayed loose for a second, with a Parkland defender trying to kick it away only for the ball to find Malone’s left foot.
With a touch to settle it, that same left foot drove home the only tally Pennridge would need with 29:15 left in the game.
“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.”
Pennridge still had to survive the finish. A long shot by Parkland’s Demi Olatilo that materialized from nowhere put a scare in the Rams by hitting the crossbar and slamming straight down, forcing Murphy to hit it – and a little more of the bar – away from danger.
The Trojans drew a late free kick that led to a scramble the Rams just couldn’t seem to clear before Olivia Kunz was able to get a shot off that Shaeffer made a huge diving save on with two minutes left.
With limited substitutes and playing an all-out style the entire game, Pennridge had to lean on its will to see the game out.
“We worked so hard the entire game and to lose it in the last five minutes would have been too much,” Croyle said. “We built off each other’s energy and it helped us make sure we wouldn’t give up those final few minutes.”
Anderson has jokingly referred to her team as trophy hunters and with only one more up for grabs this season, the Rams have locked in for the final push. Their win on Tuesday has granted them a rematch with Conestoga on Saturday in the state quarterfinals.
“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, Parkland 0
PENNRIDGE 1 0 – 1
PARKLAND 0 0 – 0
Goals: Pr- Leah Malone
