PW wins, 4-0 vs Upper Dublin

With 23:27 remaining in the first half, Maddie McGuckien goal (Maddi Lazaroff assist)
With 12:31 remaining in the first half, Maddie McGuckien goal (Maddi Lazaroff assist)

With 10:57 remaining in the game, Keira Whelan goal (Molly McEvoy assist)
With 9:48 remaining in the game, Maddi Lazaroff free kick goal

2-0 Halftime

Comments:
Tonight, PW Girls Soccer clinched an outright league title for the first time since 2014. It is what this team wanted and specifically what this senior class wanted when I met with them in May. It wasn't easy. We had a really tough loss last night at Abington. We had to pick ourselves up off the ground today. We somehow turned last night's loss into maybe our best performance of the season tonight against a very good Upper Dublin team.

We played about as complete of an 80 minutes as you can play. And to do that, in Game #18, in a back to back night game situation - with the league title on the line...I'm just so proud of what they accomplished and how they did it tonight.

Senior Maddie McGuckien started off the scoring with a header goal off of a really nice Maddi Lazaroff corner. 11 minutes later, Maddie McGuckien doubled our lead with.....yes - a header goal off of a really nice Maddi Lazaroff corner. Those two goals were Maddie's team-leading 11th and 12th goals of the season. 12 goals all while playing centerback and helping us earn our 11th clean sheet of the season. Massive credit for that goes to senior keeper Olivia Bragg, senior defenders Kaiane Jayo and Maddie McLaughlin, and freshman defender JJ Lafferty. Sophomore Harper Reilly - currently injured - deserves a lot of credit for that accomplishment, as well.

Those corners were Maddi Lazaroff's 11th and 12th assists of the season - just a massive number in high school soccer.

The first time we played Upper Dublin, we went up 3-0 at half and they came out of halftime and really controlled play. We were lucky to leave there with a 3-1 win. So, we cautioned the team that they would throw numbers forward in the second half. We adjusted our set-up a bit, inserted senior Liv Budin in midfield at the half and she along with Maddi Laz really helped us control play for the last 40 minutes.

Those halftime coaching adjustments and all coaching credit this season goes to assistant coach, Steve Slack. Coach Slack was the head coach of the last league title winning team in 2014. I was really lucky to recruit him back to the staff in 2024. He is an incredible soccer mind, an excellent teacher and coach, and I'm fortunate to get to work with and learn from him on a daily basis.

Senior Keira Whelan continued the scoring when she put away a Molly McEvoy cross in the second half, with a nice, tidy finish. That was Keira's third goal of the season and Molly's fourth assist. Keira and Molly continue to do so much of the hard work for this team, along with senior Maite Jayo and junior Liv Patete. Maite, in particular, had a brilliant second half.

One minute later, we earned a free kick and Maddi Lazaroff scored an incredible goal to cap off the night. I'm really proud of Laz and how she played tonight. She wasn't at her best last night and she was absolutely terrific tonight. Our team is at our best when she is at hers. It's a lot of pressure but we have a high standard for her and I'm so proud of her for continuing to work to meet that standard everyday.

Senior Marleigh Burton and freshman Lori Flannery were dangerous all night going forward. On that note, I want to shout out senior Mia Baron - currently injured - as she was a huge part of this team and us getting to this point of 14 wins and a league title.

We look forward to taking a breath tomorrow and playing in a home playoff game Tuesday night.