Owen J. Roberts rises to top of PAC, outlasting Spring-Ford on penalties

BUCKTOWN >> All year long, Owen J. Roberts’ girls’ soccer team heard about everything they were not.

“We heard that we were carried by our seniors last year,” said senior captain and defender Sabrina Marks. “We heard that we were nothing without them.”

For all last year’s Wildcats were, on Thursday night the 2023 squad became something the 2022 team wasn’t – PAC champions.

The No. 3 seed Wildcats converted all three of their penalty kicks and defeated No. 1 seed Spring-Ford, 3-1 on penalties after the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

“It’s great to prove everyone wrong,” added Marks.

Marks, Fiona Sanders, and Meryn Primanti converted their penalties for OJR, while a snake-bitten Spring-Ford missed or hit the woodwork on three of four kicks, sandwiched around a make from Lena Ackerman.

The game and two ensuing overtime periods were tightly contested, an appropriate third installment for a rivalry that was too close to call all year.

Spring-Ford was a 2-0 winner at OJR on September 6 before the Wildcats returned the favor at Coach McNelly Stadium a month later by a 1-0 final.

“After the loss early in the season, it was nice to get that second game,” said Marks. “But we knew they’d come out hard after losing [the second matchup].”

A pair of set pieces provided the regulation scoring.

A relatively uneventful opening suddenly bolted to life in the 23rd minute, when OJR earned the game’s first corner kick off a long shot deflected over the crossbar.

Emerson Storti’s effort found the head of Marks at the far side of the six-yard box. Marks crossed to an unmarked Fiona Sanders and with 17 minutes to half, the underdogs and third-seeded Wildcats found themselves ahead in what promised to be a low-scoring contest.

“That set the tempo,” said Storti. “They came out strong, but we came out stronger.

“We worked our asses off to win this game.”

Spring-Ford managed only one first-half shot on goal, a 25-yard effort from Meg Kurian gloved by OJR keeper Abigail Smith.

The ‘Cats had an opportunity to double the lead about 10 minutes before half when a loose ball went just wide from only a few yards out.

But it was Spring-Ford who’d fire the next salvo, a lightning bolt of a free kick from sophomore defender Erin Buckley from 35 yards out that found the top of the net just seven minutes into the second half.

The sudden swing seemed to awaken the Rams, who evened possession through long runs by Ackerman and Kurian throughout the physical second half, but they were unable to solve OJR keeper Smith (four saves).

Spring-Ford survived close calls in each of the overtime period, Marks striking the crossbar with a minute to play in the first extra session and a deep free kick bouncing perilously through the goalmouth in the second. Olivia Neild finished with eight saves in the contest.

OJR inserted junior Cheyenne Theakston as their keeper for the penalty shootout, and the Wildcats’ work on penalty kicks paid off as they buried all three of their chances.

“Definitely not!” responded Fiona Sanders when asked if OJR was glad to see the game go to a shootout. “Obviously, when you give up a goal what you want is to get it right back. But we practiced for this, we were willing to do what it took to get it done, and today that was penalty kicks.”

A season ago, OJR advanced all the way to the PIAA semifinals before falling to Central Dauphin. Their loss in the PAC semifinals, however, left the 2023 squad with something to prove.

“We’re young, we’re learning,” said Ashley White. “But we built chemistry. People who didn’t get as much playing time last year worked hard in the offseason. Now, we’re coming together.”

“Last year, we felt like we were starting at the top, and this year we started from the bottom,” said Marks. “We didn’t start off great, but we worked hard and got to where we wanted to be.”

The title wasn’t the only milestone for OJR this season, as head coach Joe Margusity became the first girls’ soccer coach in Pennsylvania to reach 500 career wins.

But win number 503 – Thursday night – was extra special.

“This is a great way to get a winning tradition instilled in young players,” said Margusity, who’s overseen 15 PAC championships in his storied career.

“This is a highlight, for sure, but we’ll keep an even keel and make a run in Districts. Anything can happen.”

The hard-luck loss does little to dull the accomplishments of a Spring-Ford side that found themselves without a coach just days before the start of preseason camp.

Jeff Kushner stepped into that role and built a team whose hallmark is smothering defense with opportunistic scoring.

Now 15-2-1, Spring-Ford stands at No. 4 in the District 1-4A bracket to be officially unveiled Saturday. With a first-round bye looming and six teams qualifying for the PIAA tournament, the Rams stand just two wins away from a chance at a state title.

Meanwhile, victorious Owen J. Roberts (14-6) is currently No. 15 in that same 4A bracket, and the Wildcats expect to host an opening-round matchup Tuesday.

The ‘Cats are the healthiest they’ve been all season and loom as a dangerous sleeper, primed to pull an upset or two in their own quest to return to states for a third consecutive year. Are the Wildcats the classic ‘team no one wants to play’?

“That’s for other teams to decide,” said White. “We just need to play our game. Now the real season starts – the postseason. We just want to win, keep advancing, keep playing.”