EAST ROCKHILL – Audrey Anderson got the not-so-subtle hint.
After Tuesday’s win at Pennsbury, a comment from her husband Rob let Anderson know she was on the verge of a milestone. Her players knew about it too, wanting to make sure they delivered that large round number into Anderson’s career win column sooner rather than later.
Thanks to a hat trick from Tori Angelo, the Rams did just that and delivered Anderson her 200th career victory with a 5-1 result over Neshaminy on Thursday night.
“I don’t pay much attention to it, because you have to have the players who are willing to work hard and without them, you aren’t going to get very far,” Anderson said. “It’s a funny feeling to know 12 years ago I had a totally different group of girls and for these seniors, I just told them they were a part of so many of these 200 wins.”
It did feel fitting that Anderson, who has been the Rams’ head coach since 2012, would accomplish the feat with this particular group of seniors. With 12 total seniors, it’s a sizable group that’s been at the forefront of arguably the best run in program history.
Angelo, Anna Croyle, Sophie Craig, Liv Grenda and Casey Malone are all four-year starters and as freshmen, they helped bring the program its first-ever state title with a 1-0 double overtime win against North Allegheny in the 2020 PIAA-4A final. They also won a District 1 title that year and led the team back to the state final last year and have been a part of three straight SOL titles.
“It’s the culture she’s built,” Croyle, who has committed to Syracuse, said. “When you’re here at the high school, it’s always so intense but she’ll tell you when you do something wrong then help you fix it. She’ll also lift you up when you do something good and encourage you to keep doing it.
“Even with the little girls that come to our games, she builds up the program so they look up to us and are inspired by us.”
Anderson, a Pennridge alumni, had an inauspicious debut leading the Rams. In 2011, she filled in as head coach in the PIAA title match, but Pennridge ultimately fell short of bringing home a title.
Her first season in 2012 finished with a 15-4-2 overall record and an SOL Continental title, the first of 10 SOL league, conference or division titles she’s led her teams to win including the last seven in a row between the old Continental and current Colonial.
At 8-0-1 overall and 7-0-1 in the SOL Colonial, the Rams are trying to make it eight but only have a one-point edge in the table on Central Bucks East midway through the crossover slate of games.
“It’s great to get to this milestone with this group of seniors because I’ve known them for so long,” Anderson said. “Anytime you reach a milestone, the people around you make it that much sweeter and certainly with the girls here this year, it’s a great feeling. When they were little, they’d come up and watch this. I’m sure they watched the 100th win and now they’re a part of the 200th win.”
Pennridge reached the state title match in 2018, 2020 and 2022 – winning it all in 2020 – and has played for District 1 titles in 2016, 2019 and 2020 while winning the latter two.
Anderson’s big emphasis is that it’s all due to the players she’s had and that’s even evident on this year’s roster. There’s more than one last name that’s been a mainstay on a Rams roster and a good number of sisters have played a part in the 200 wins.
Angelo, who shared one season as teammates with her older sister Maddie, noted it’s like growing up into the program.
“It’s the idea of being part of something that’s so great and so different from anywhere else,” Angelo, who will play at Seton Hall next year, said. “Even the little girls who come up here, they’re so excited to be us and would do anything to be with us. They stay up late, they come after practice just to talk to us and it’s something special that not a lot of people have in their program.”
Thursday’s match was a rematch of a PIAA 4A semifinal from a year ago. Neshaminy (3-4-1, 3-4-1 SOL Patriot), the defending District 1 champion, is a different team this year with a new starter in almost every position but is still quite capable.
Angelo opened the scoring, after getting caught offside a couple times, by latching onto an Ava Kiwak through ball and finishing eight minutes in. Hailey Primwhere made it 2-0 late in the first half before Neshaminy’s Bri Garyah pounced on a ball the Rams couldn’t clear to slice the lead to 2-1 at halftime.
“One of the main things we changed in the second half, especially for Tori, was playing the long ball through so they didn’t have the chance to step,” Croyle said. “With Tori and the other forward’s speed, it really led to some success for us.”
Sophomore Caitlyn Peace also gave Pennridge a huge spark in the second half, her energy and willingness to drop back and win the ball started to open some lanes against Neshaminy’s high back line. Peace got rewarded with a goal when she followed an Angelo shot into the box, cashing in on the rebound.
Angelo bagged the next two goals to ice the game, the first coming off a great long ball out of the back from senior Lindsey Balmer and her second by following up a rebound when Neshaminy keeper Alexis Barnes saved a header by Croyle off the bar and back into play.
“We knew the through ball would be the key to our goals,” Angelo said.
Anderson also had the opportunity to coach both of her daughters, Gillian and Maddie, in her tenure and has since added following Maddie’s career at St. Joseph’s to part of her balancing act each fall. While she and assistant Jason Lollar put a lot of time into each season, it’s things like the annual Community Night and the experiences off the field that have kept Anderson eager to keep coming back each fall.
“I joke around with people that I don’t do anything but high school soccer during high school soccer season, as much as I feel like I do,” Anderson said. “It means a lot to me, I played here, so it’s personal to me. I love these players, they’re the kids who grew up at Deep Run and the local clubs I would go watch and think ‘I can’t wait for them to get to the high school.’
“I wouldn’t change it for anything. If I leave Pennridge, it won’t ever be for another high school, this place has meant too much to me.”
Pennridge 5, Neshaminy 1
Neshaminy 1 0 – 1
Pennridge 2 3 – 5
Goals; P – Tori Angelo (Ava Kiwak), Hailey Primwhere (Jessie Moylan), Caitlyn Peace (Angelo), Angelo (Lindsey Balmer), Angelo (Anna Croyle)
