PINE GROVE — The Pine Grove girls’ soccer team made their Schuylkill League playoff debut Thursday.
In front of their home fans, the Cardinals didn’t disappoint.
Freshmen Rachel Edge and Mariah Lesh both scored twice as Pine Grove rolled to a 5-1 victory over Williams Valley at Cardinal Stadium.
Emily Weaver got the night going for the Cardinals with a goal in the 9th minute. Edge, who added an assist,
scored twice in the first half, while Lesh got both her goals less than a minute apart early in the second half.
Faith Shiffer added two assists for Division I champion Pine Grove (18-1), which faces Division II champ Schuylkill Haven (15-4) in Saturday’s championship game at 7 p.m. at Alumni Field in Pottsville. The Hurricanes downed Division I wild-card Blue Mountain 3-2 in overtime during Thursday’s other semifinal.
Saturday’s game will be a rematch of last year District 11 Class A championship game, won by the Hurricanes 4-0.
Weaver, one of the three Cardinals seniors on the roster and the only one who starts, has seen plenty of disappointing endings for Pine Grove through her high school career. Thursday certainly was not one of them.
Weaver was a little emotional after the game talking about Pine Grove’s first trip to the league title game in program history.
“I came in freshman year and I wanted to walk away from this program with a gold around my neck,” she said. “Playing our last game at home with these girls, they are making so many things happen for me. I can’t thank them enough for giving me this season and the memory of what I’ve done here.
“I’ve been in last games and they have not ended good. We went home with nothing. I feel we can do something and I know this team can. I don’t want them to walk away with any regrets.”
Hannah Nestor had the only goal for the Division II wild-card Vikings (13-5-1), who lost an early-season meeting to Pine Grove 4-1 on Aug. 30, part of 1-3 start to the year. Since then, Williams Valley went 12-1-1 to the rest of way to earn its first league playoff berth.
But the Vikings, who entered averaging 4.67 goals per game, couldn’t get much going Thursday.
“You can’t take anything away from them,” Williams Valley coach Gary Fetterhoff said. “They have a lot of premier-level players there. They move the ball great. They did everything they needed to do.
“I think we played better in the second half, but they are such a quality program right now.”
The Cardinals have never been hotter.
Pine Grove came in on a 13-game winning streak to end the regular season, including two victories over Pottsville and another over Blue Mountain in three consecutive games to clinch the division title.
The Cardinals dominated Thursday, holding an 18-2 advantage in shots on goal while compiling 13 corner kicks.
“We were ready,” Pine Grove coach Jason Brown said. “They had the right mindset going in here that it meant something to us. Pride, you are here. They played with a lot of heart and pushed with every aspect of the game. They played together. It was one of the most definitive possession games we played all season, which is always a huge aspect to us.”
Weaver scored off a Mackenize Lesh corner kick as Weaver made a run to the ball at the far post and deflected it off her knee and into the net
“Ken was giving great corner kicks all night,” Weaver said. “It just slipped right through and I put it in.”
Edge’s first goal of the night came during the 15th minute and began off another corner kick. Williams Valley keeper Alyssa Schadle was able to deflect the ball away but the ball went to Edge, who blasted the shot into the back corner of the net. Edge struck again 7 minutes later, taking a through ball from Shiffer, taking a run a Schadle and beating her with a shot to her right.
Edge set up Mariah Lesh’s first goal during the 45th minute, while Mariah Lesh added an unassisted goal in the 46th. Edge now has 35 goals on the year and Mariah Lesh 20 as the two have given Pine Grove that goal-scoring punch that had been missing the past few years.
“They’ve come a long way,” Weaver said of Edge and Mariah Lesh. “You can’t expect anything more from two people who are just coming into the program. They do what they are supposed to do. They work well with us and you can’t ask anything more from them.”
Game Summary
Schuylkill LeagueGirls’ Soccer Semifinals At Cardinal Stadium, Pine Grove
Wms. Valley (13-5-1) 1 0 — 1 Pine Grove (18-1) 3 2 — 5
PG —Weaver (Mac. Lesh), 8:59
PG —Edge (Shiffer), 14:31
PG —Edge (Shiffer), 32:42
WV —Nestor (penalty kick), 39:44
PG —Mar. Lesh (Edge), 44:23
PG —Mar. Lesh, 45:39
Shots on goal: Williams Valley 2, Pine Grove 18. Corner kicks: Williams Valley 0, Pine Grove 13. Saves: Williams Valley (A. Schadle) 13, Pine Grove (Kaufman) 1.