Pennridge defeated Downingtown West in a shootout in Saturday’s District 1 4A title game. Photos provided courtesy of Gregory Powell. Check back for a gallery of photos.
District 1 4A championship game
No. 1 Pennridge 1 (4), No. 3 Downingtown West 1 (2)
The color pink is often associated with love, and there’s no doubt the Rams had plenty of love for the player in the pink uniform Saturday.
Time and time and time again, senior goalkeeper Cece DeMoss kept bailing Pennridge out as the defending state champions threw everything they could at her. DeMoss went low, she went high, she dove left and right all in the name of frustrating an extremely talented Whippets attack for 110 minutes of high-tension championship soccer.
It wasn’t just the Rams players who loved what they saw either, as DeMoss got the loudest ovation of all when it came time for her to receive her championship medal.
The Rams outlasted Downingtown West in a shootout, winning their second district title in three years, on Saturday at Haverford’s A.G. Cornog Stadium, and the pink-clad DeMoss was a significant reason why.
“I’d trust her with my life back there,” Pennridge senior defender and co-captain Avery Runk said. “She’s just Cece.”
DeMoss made nine saves on Saturday, and it would be hard to pinpoint which was the most important as every one of them came at a pivotal moment in a game where any mistake felt like it could be punished. Maybe it was the early stop on Downingtown West junior Ava Reddy, a Wake Forest commit, or the leaping snare she made after Paige Mackiewicz’s free kick bounced in the box or even the dive to her left to rob Maia Coyle in the last two minutes of the first half.
“I was super locked-in, I woke up locked-in this morning,” DeMoss said. “I felt like we were going to play against one of the best teams in the area so I had to be on my game so that was my mentality going into this.”
There were even more, like the stop on West junior and South Carolina recruit Camryn Bayly just after the Rams had scored or the quick-reaction grab on a redirect by Charlie Biles midway through the second half. They kept coming in overtime, DeMoss palming a rocket from Makiewicz over the bar for a corner, then again diving to parry away a follow-up in the chaos following the set piece.
“She’s just like a brick wall back there,” Pennridge senior center back Addy Mills said. “I trust her and every time she says something, we all listen. She’s been in such tough situations, she’s been in playoff games before so we all just put our trust in her.”
DeMoss was called on and delivered one more time with a minute left in the second OT when Reddy snapped off a shot in tight space that the senior knocked down then quickly gathered.
“Incredible,” Rams coach Lucas Kriner said. “The saves were amazing but also great positioning as the action was unfolding, one-touch shots and she’s in the right position, you have to have a real sense of the game to be in the right spot to just catch some of those attempts on goal. “Some of the diving saves, she’s incredible, she’s a veteran, she’s played all manner of high school soccer games and again, it comes down to trust in the players and we trust her between the pipes to clean things up.”
It’s not like this is anything new for DeMoss, a four-year starter in goal committed to Marist next year. She’s been between the posts for two state championship matches, has a state title and now two district titles to her name and has recorded 53 shutouts in her career.
Her teammates expect it but they still may struggle to put it into words.
“She…” junior midfielder G Howley started, “there’s numerous occasions where she’s come up big for us but that was really a great game by her.
“We knew the Downingtown West offense was good, but we had Cece. We just had to be strong on our part and finish”
There wasn’t much DeMoss could do on the game-tying goal, West’s Liv Primanti playing a sharp ball to Bayly who was able to fight through a challenge and rip one past the Rams’ senior with 13:50 to play.
To win a championship, sometimes a team needs to catch a break or two. Pennridge definitely got one when the Whippets had a breakaway with 30 seconds left in overtime, but their shot sailed high and over the crossbar.
DeMoss said she tries to keep her defensive third a positive area. She constantly props up her defenders and puts it on herself to make their jobs as easy as possible by calling out any opposing players who might be open.
Saturday, the Rams back line was challenged in many ways but kept coming through. Their efforts weren’t lost on their goalkeeper.
“I love how inspiring they were, they never gave up, not a second, not a point-second, they never stopped playing,” DeMoss said. “I felt today I could be off my line more because I could trust my defense and that’s just how the game was flowing today.”
DeMoss didn't make a save in the shootout, with Downingtown West missing on two shots that provided the difference. The Rams missed on their first attempt but went 4-for-4 down the stretch with Peyton Rabinowitz, Addy Mills, Madigan Posey and G Howley all converting from the spot.
Whenever her career ends, DeMoss will go down as one of the best players to have ever put on a Rams uniform - even if it was always a different color than everyone else - and her teammates don’t take for granted what she’s meant to the program the past four years.
“It feels so special, I used to play with her when I was little, I’ve known her for so long, I’ve known her family and it’s so special watching her play so amazing,” Buckman said. “Just to see the amazing career she’s had at this school and even outside the school, it’s special to watch her.”
Pennridge had a whole lot of love for their senior goalkeeper on Saturday and all of it was deserved.
“She played amazing,” Runk said. “She saved our butts so many times and I’m just so proud of her.”
DEFENSE HOLDS
Addy Mills knows better than anyone how good the Whippets attack is. The senior, a Duquesne recruit, plays for the elite Penn Fusion club and shares a roster with Downingtown West’s Bailey and Reddy so she was ready for a lot of action Saturday.
Mills couldn’t have quite imagined just how much she was in for as the Pennridge back line underwent quite an adventure all afternoon.
“It was definitely a hard one, we went up against some of the best players I know,” Mills said. “It’s definitely mentally hard but I just kept telling the girls to stay strong, there's only a couple more minutes so just lock down and I was just always thinking 'get the ball out.’”
Pennridge started Mills and senior Avery Runk in the center of the line with junior Natalie Walter at left back and sophomore Harper Posey on the right. At halftime, junior Peyton Rabinowitz moved to right back as the Rams made some adjustments, but the line would still have more changes coming.
Runk, who is committed to Florida Atlantic, and Mills swept out a lot of threats with Mills clearing at least one ball off the line in the first half.
“We’ve been working really well together and going up against Wake Forest commits and South Carolina commits, it’s intimidating but I think the way we held back line down and got balls out quick was good and the outside backs were great too,” Runk said.
The SOL Colonial champions lost Runk with 30 seconds left in regulation when the senior was injured challenging for the ball and wasn’t able to finish, bringing Posey back into the fold. Then, with 2:32 left in the second overtime, Posey was called for a foul trying to disrupt a Whippets player from getting in alone on goal and then shown a straight red card in a rather harsh decision that left Pennridge playing with just 10 field players.
“That second overtime, we had to take a player off because of the official’s decision and I think identifying that as the most important part of this extra-time game is really, really important,” Kriner said. “We held it down while down a player and the character of the players to do that was really amazing to watch.”
Initially, the Rams kept just three in the back but it didn’t take long to add a reinforcement on the back line to make sure they could see out the end of the second extra period and get to the shootout. Kriner said it became a different game each time the back line lost a player, but the staff trusted the next person up to do the job.
“I was just telling everyone to settle down and we’d be fine,” Mills said. “I told Peyton and Nat to just help me tuck in, stay on your players and just calm down and we’ve got this because I believe them.”
BUCKY DELIVERS
Liv Buckman is by trade a goalkeeper.
The junior also knows that’s not a position that was going to be open this year, so if she wanted to contribute, it would have to be as a field player. She’s listed on the roster as No. 99/30, and if she really needed to, she could hop back in goal, but her main role this fall has been to provide a spark off the bench in the attack.
She gave her team a mighty big spark on Saturday, the keeper-turned-forward cashing in on the Rams’ first real opportunity of the day for the go-ahead goal with 36:30 left in the second half.
“It felt amazing, it was my first varsity goal and it came in a district final,” a beaming Buckman said. “I’m usually a goalie but Cece’s our senior goalie and she’s amazing so I’ve been coming out and playing striker this year so to get that goal felt amazing.”
At some point last year, Buckman became “Bucky” and the nickname carried over to this year. The junior thinks it started in keeper training but she said Kriner - who coached the JV team last fall before taking over as the varsity head coach this year - is the one who made it stick.
He’s appreciated the work the junior has put in, even playing a position that isn’t her natural spot, and Kriner used Buckman along with a few other forwards off the bench often on Saturday. In a long and exhausting match, having the ability to spell the starters with players like Buckman, seniors Cam Snyder and Erin Corbett and freshman Maya Howard was invaluable. With the Rams on their heels for a lot of the first half, Buckman, Snyder and Corbett went in as a trio and helped turn the tide a bit before the break.
“We knew we needed that, we were talking as we were warming up that we needed that spark, we needed to kick-start the offense because we hadn’t had much,” Buckman said. “(Kriner) was giving me advice to stay high because that’s what we needed to put the pressure on the center backs and I think I did that.”
Pennridge scored in a flash. The Rams defense was able to hold with West threatening then it was senior midfielder Emily Hensler firing a long through ball to Buckman, who broke in behind the Whippets’ back line and headed toward goal.
“Just put it away, you need this goal, the team needs this goal, just put it away,” Buckman said of what raced through her mind as she got into the open.
As a goalkeeper herself, the converted forward tried to think what she’d do if she were on the other end of it and figured she wouldn’t cheat to the far post, so that might be a good spot to place her shot.
“Wherever the goalie is, don’t shoot it there,” Buckman said.
As he watched the sequence unfold, Kriner felt plenty of pride in seeing Buckman deliver a big moment for her teammates.
“I’m so happy for her. She gives us a spark and she knows how to get forward. The ball through (by Hensler) was brilliant, the line was high and she just burst through,” Kriner said. “She maybe had a bit of a long touch but ultimately tucked it in the corner, she had a lot to do to beat that keeper and it’s just composure. It’s something we’ve been talking a lot about this week, and she modeled it for us: just tuck it in the corner. It’s nothing fancy, just all work.”
Buckman credited her mom, Megan, who is also her club coach with the Pennridge Yellowjackets, for instilling the confidence that she’d be able to deliver in that spot.
“Me and my mom had been talking before this, she said you just need to shoot the ball and you need to trust yourself,” Buckman said. “When I came out here and shot it, it felt like all of her hard work was with me because she’s my coach too, it all paid off and it was so special.”
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
It’s been a long season and it’s almost easy to forget the Rams started the year 0-2 and didn’t score their first goal until their third match.
“It’s crazy, if you asked me in the beginning of the season how we would be after losing those two games, I definitely would not have said district champions,” senior defender Addy Mills said. “I think we just work hard in practice, we’ve all gotten close as a team, and we just believe in each other and I think that’s so important.”
The goals haven’t necessarily always come easily either. Pennridge had eight one-goal wins in the regular season, plus two more in the postseason plus the pair of 1-1 double overtime games in the district playoffs.
Different players have also come up clutch at different times. Sophomore Mikayla Loux started strong offensively, the defensive combo of Avery Runk and Nat Walter combined on a few game-winners, seniors Emma Shaeffer and Erin Corbett scored clutch goals in their first extended time as varsity players and Kendra Palena’s goal in the second round proved invaluable.
Throughout Saturday’s game, Rams coach Lucas Kriner substituted often and every player who stepped on the pitch gave the team something whether it was box-to-box effort from Madigan Posey or even a few minutes from seniors Molly Fannon and Alexa Ayala.
“We had a good rotation going, when you play the extra minutes in soccer it’s nice to have a rotation, and players were in and out because of the injuries. We made some tactical changes, some personnel changes to start the game that was kind of a look we didn’t have previously and players were just playing all over the place,” Kriner said. “As a coach, you love that versatility in having players you can say ‘go here’ or ‘go there’ and they’ll execute their role and again, it comes down to trust.”
Junior midfielder G Howley, who converted the winning penalty kick in the shootout, knows she shares the pitch with a group of competitors.
“The major component in it is our grit, we’re willing to go all the way to the end,” Howley said. “Would we like to be playing extra time and going to PKs? No. But we’re ready for it.”
The Rams will begin the state tournament on Tuesday night at home when they host Central Dauphin, District 3’s third place finisher. CD was the No. 11 seed going into the District 3 tournament, upsetting the No. 6 and No. 3 seeds before losing to eventual champion Manheim Twp in the semifinals.
While it’s not surprising to see Pennridge back in a PIAA playoff bracket, this group knows how much work had to go into getting there after missing out last fall then undergoing an offseason of changes.
“Honestly, it’s insane. No one expected this from us, and I think we proved everyone wrong. Our grit is what carries us through,” Runk said. “We’re just gritty. We want to win and we’re showing that with our results and everyone works together.”
Scoring Summary
1st half
No Scoring
2nd Half
P - Liv Buckman (Emily Hensler) 32:49
DW - Camryn Bayly (Liv Primanti) 13:50
OT
No Scoring
OT 2
No Scoring
Pennridge coach Lucas Kriner on the match: “It’s really crazy, it’s usually in double overtime where I’m most nervous but when we get to the PK shootout, I have a lot of confidence in the players we pick. They have ice in their veins, whatever the right cliche is, but we do really trust our players in those situations.”
Halftime talk: “It was a message of ‘you can’t shoot if you don’t have the ball,’ and we talked about how we wanted to be opportunistic in how we pressured their back line and looked to take the ball away, so we want to be close to the goal when we get our takeaways to generate shots but we also talked a little bit about having composure on the ball to work it forward then start generating chances.”
Rams senior defender Addy Mills: “I just think we’re super gritty, we try hard, we work hard. This year, I don’t think a lot of people expected us to be as good as we are and it’s just that with all the grit, all that mixed in is what makes us great.”
Rams junior forward Liv Buckman on the team’s depth: “Knowing all your teammates have the opportunity to score a goal is amazing, it’s so much fun to cheer everybody on because you never know who’s going to score out there. We’ve had outside backs get goals, everybody scores on this team so it’s just so much fun to cheer for them.”
Rams junior midfielder G Howley on her winning kick: “I have trust in my teammates and trust in myself. We’ve been practicing PKS every day, I’ve been preparing for that moment. I didn’t have to shoot one last time but I was ready this time.”
--The team’s growth: “It’s crazy to imagine that we lost our first two games. The growth has been great, I think positivity, we changed our mindset after that Souderton game (Pennridge’s first win) and we knew that we could do this and I think positivity was a big part of that.”
Rams senior defender Avery Runk seeing her team pull through: “It was great, obviously giving up that goal, our spirits got a little low but just to see them come back, even though I wasn’t on the field, it was great to see our team working together.”
--Moving to center back this fall: “I really haven’t played it much, I started a little bit for club because of injuries but this high school season I’ve been playing it more and getting used to it. Anyone will play anywhere and that’s just how we are.”
PENNRIDGE 0 1 0 0 - 1 (4)
DOWNINGTOWN WEST 0 1 0 0 - 1 (2)
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