MECHANICSBURG — A year ago, Pennridge made a promise.
Devastated at losing the PIAA 4A title match, the Rams players drew a proverbial line in the sand that they’d not only be back at Cumberland Valley’s Eagle View Middle School to play for a state title, they’d win. It was a lofty goal, but if there was a team that could do it, it was this Pennridge team.
The Rams kept their promise, defeating Conestoga 4-1 to win their second state title in four years and finishing the mission.
“It’s surreal,” Pennridge senior Anna Croyle, who got the game-winner, said. “Looking back, obviously last year I was devastated that we lost but now I realize that we needed that loss to push us to come back and win in our senior year.
“It’s good to go out on top and I’ll remember this moment forever.”
Hailey Primwhere scored twice, and Liv Grenda added one more highlight goal to her reel as Pennridge captured its second state title as a program, its first coming in 2020. Pennridge finishes the season 25-0-1 and with an incredible 131-6 goals for and against total, including a 39-1 aggregate in the postseason.
In 2020, it was an overtime goal by Leah Malone that brought a shocking and sudden ending but this year, the Rams could savor it.
“It felt final, it felt very emotional. People see the scoreline of our games but they don’t see what they do day in and day out,” Rams coach Audrey Anderson said. “I feel like it was such a relief for them to know all their hard work paid off with a state championship.”
The loss ends a tremendous season for the Pioneers at 21-4. Any other season, the Pioneers easily could have been celebrating their own District 1 and PIAA 4A title double but they just ran into Pennridge both times.
Still, it was ‘Stoga that became the first team to score on the Rams all postseason and when Janie Lofland scored to make it 2-1 with 35 minutes to play, it was a new game. Pioneers coach Deane Mariotti had nothing but praise for her team both on Friday and the season at large.
“You have to strike the balance of fun and seriousness, this is high school soccer, it’s supposed to be fun,” Mariotti said. “If it’s not fun, we’re doing something wrong. We talk a lot about working for each other and started the season talking about what it means to be a good teammate and the seniors took ownership of that.”
Primwhere scored Pennridge’s lone goal in the state final last year. The senior, who was playing with extra motivation to bring home a title for her twin sister Hannah who missed the postseason due to injury, outdid herself on Friday.
Flanked by burners Tori Angelo and Lindsey Balmer on the wings, Primwhere brings a different dimension with her effort. Both her goals came directly as a result of not giving up and she struck Pennridge to a 1-0 lead with 29:33 left in the first half when she hammered a free ball off a Balmer cross in.
“It has more to do with the team and who I play with,” Primwhere said of her state title match proficiency. “Last year, we wanted to win and obviously didn’t. This year, we worked our whole season for this exact moment and we’re never going to play together again, so we knew what we wanted.”
A minute later, the lead was doubled. Corner kicks have been a strength for Pennridge all season and another prime ball by senior Sophie Craig found Croyle at the far post, the Syracuse recruit heading in a 2-0 lead.
“I have no clue what changed but since our first district game, it all started to click,” Croyle said. “I’m really glad it did when it did, because that got us here.”
Conestoga’s back line has been resilient all season and senior Greta Steege made a couple terrific saves to keep it at two goals. Mariotti made a change, dropping a fourth defender back near the midpoint of the first half and it certainly helped the Pioneers get some things going.
The Pioneers had a couple chances in the first half, Keira Kemmerly forcing two saves and Lofland hitting a ball that prompted a save off the bar and Stoga knew it wasn’t done yet.
“We benefited from having played them in the district final and we walked away from that game feeling like we had chances and there were spaces we could take advantage of,” Mariotti said. “There was an opportunity that would have tied us up and not scoring that and them scoring right after that, the momentum shifted.”
‘Stoga stayed on the front foot to open the second half, Keira Kemmerly getting past the back line and sliding a ball across that Lofland put on target. Not only had Pennridge’s scoreless streak been snapped, but the Rams now faced significant pressure.
Croyle, the anchor of the back line at center back, said it was something Anderson had warned the team about at halftime, noting that ‘Stoga had come back to win earlier in the state playoffs. After surviving a corner kick defense, the Rams went back into the attack where Primwhere’s trademark tenacity would change the game.
The senior forward refused to give up on a ball, applying pressure as a defender collided with the keeper and left the ball free in front of goal.
“In my head I was thinking, we do not want the same outcome as last year and I wasn’t letting anything stop it,” Primwhere said. “The rush, it’s just so exciting. The goalie still almost got her hand on it, but I was able to take a touch then it was just me and the goal.”
Primwhere made it 3-1 with 30:45 to play and eight minutes later, Grenda scored the 66th goal of her career with a long-range blast.
Conestoga went unbeaten in the Central League this season and with Keira and Kate Kemmerly along with Lofland among a large number of returners, the Pioneers have a bright future. At the same time, they also wanted to pay their seniors proper due including defensive anchors in Steege, Marisa Francione, Ava Stagnaro and Harley Karbiner.
“They created an amazing culture in the program while also being significant contributors,” Mariotti said. “We’re going to be really sad to see this group, particularly the seniors, go. The cohesion and commitment to each will be hard to replace. They fought so hard and that’s what matters.”
For the Rams, it soon became a matter of getting to the final whistle. The team’s 12 seniors stuck together through four years, some of them starters from the beginning as freshmen, others earning a role or battling through their own challenges over the years.
As thrilling as the win was, after all it was keeping true to their promise, the Rams also felt a bit of sadness. Some are off to play in college, but after Friday, they’d never play as the same team again.
Hailey Primwhere wasn’t on the field at the final horn, instead standing next to her sister Hannah. In the final moments, all that mattered was their team’s promise coming true.
“We were counting down the seconds, screaming and clapping out of excitement,” Hailey Primwhere said. “It’s a memory I’m going to have and remember forever because we worked so hard for it.
“I’ve never been a part of anything like this before. We never stopped, we never gave up.”
PENNRIDGE 2 2 – 4
CONESTOGA 0 1 – 1
Goals: P – Hailey Primwhere (Lindsey Balmer), Anna Croyle (Sophie Craig), Primwhere, Liv Grenda; C – Janie Lofland (Keira Kemmerly)
