GA girls win soccer title, split in tournament

by TOM UTESCHER

Germantown Academy's booters ended their Girls Inter-Ac League campaign with mixed emotions last week. On Tuesday, a 4-1 victory over visiting Penn Charter carried the Patriots to their 15^th straight league championship. The title goes to the team which posts the best win/loss mark in the regular season, and with a 6-1 record GA clinched the crown over runner-up Baldwin, which finished 5-1-1.

The accomplishment also earned Germantown the first seed in the Inter-Ac postseason tournament, but after knocking off PC again in the semifinal round, the Pats were edged out in the final match, 4-3, by third-seeded Shipley School. The Patriots had defeated Shipley's Gators, 6-4, in their previous meeting, and GA's lone regular-season setback in the league had come against Agnes Irwin, the fifth-place team in the final rankings.

For all three of last week's contests GA lacked the services of junior defender Maura Cusick, who'd beeb injured in a club game on the previous Sunday. In the semifinals of the postseason tourney on Friday afternoon, Germantown went up by a pair with markers from senior Kris Guynn and sophomore Nicole McCurdy. It wound up 2-1 thanks to a late score by tenth grader Jorie Dugan of Penn Charter. Shipley, third in the league by virtue of its 5-2 record, received goals from Dakota Carroll, Rae Goldstein, and Jess Rosenbluth to upset second-seeded Baldwin in the other semifinal, 3-0.

Shipley was on the board just 98 seconds into Saturday's final, as Carroll's corner kick from the left side hooked into the upper right corner of the Patriots' cage. In the middle of the half, GA moved ahead with a pair of goals in a one-minute, 35-second span.

The first one was similar to the Shipley strike, as Jess Lipschutz put a corner from the left on-net, and the ball deflected in at the near post off of Gators goalie Caroline Feldman. GA went up 2-1 when a corner kick from the right, also by Lipschutz, was headed in by Guynn.

For most of the period, Germantown received solid defensive efforts from Danielle David, Anne Marshall, Heather Rittenhouse and Heather Sherlock, as well as hard work on the wing from midfielder Colleen Magarity. There was a breakdown in the box with two minutes to go, however, as Shipley's Goldstein dribbled through the middle around two Patriots backs to create an open shot that got the Gators even. It was still 2-2 at the half.

GA had begun the game with Kristen Haynie in goal, but for the second half she was replaced by fellow junior Taylor Test, the regular starter for the Pats (each finished with four saves). Germantown retook the lead with 9:22 gone in the new period. Shipley's Feldman came out of the cage to try and grab the ball out in front of the left post, but Guynn got there first and shot the ball by her.

This time, the Gators responded just over two minutes later, when Carroll crossed the ball from out along the right endline and Brooke Stokes closed in from the left to knock in the goal. With 25 minutes remaining, Shipley's Feldman tipped the ball up over the crossbar on a strong shot by Guynn to keep the game tied at 3-3.

The contest seemed destined for overtime, but the Gators negated the need for an extra session by firing a fourth goal with 6:15 remaining. They sent a through pass over the 18, and GA defenders couldn't get a firm foot on the loose ball when they tried to clear it. Shipley's Goldstein was more successful, popping the ball into the Germantown cage.

In the closing minutes McCurdy, Corinna Fleming, Caroline Doty and other Patriots made attempts to tie the match once more, but to no avail. Feldman, the Gators' goalie, made seven saves against GA, which outshot Shipley 21-14 for the afternoon.