It’s time for Round 4.
After three previous meetings this season, the most recent Monday, Blue Mountain and Pine Grove are set to get together one last time in 2015 when the two square off in the Schuylkill League girls’ soccer championship game at 5 p.m. today at Tri-Valley High School’s Bulldog Stadium.
The Division I champion Cardinals (19-1) reached tonight’s title game with a 4-0 shutout of Division II wild card Williams Valley in the semifinals Tuesday at Tamaqua. The Division I wild card Eagles (16-3-1) downed Division II Minersville 1-0 in Tuesday’s other semifinal.
The two split their regular-season meetings this fall, with the Cardinals winning 3-1 on Sept. 22, while Blue Mountain won 2-1 on Oct. 12. Both teams finished 11-1 in Division I play, forcing a tiebreaking game Monday at Pottsville, won by Pine Grove 4-3.
Tonight’s game features the league’s previous five championship teams.
The Eagles had dominated the title scene after the program switched to the fall and came into the league in 2010 and won four consecutive league titles from 2010-13. That streak ended in 2014 when Pine Grove won its first division, league and District 11 Class A titles in program history in a program-record 21-2 season.
The Cardinals came into this season with 10 starters returning and as the favorite to repeat as league champs. For the most part, Pine Grove has done what it was expected to do. Meanwhile, Blue Mountain, which is likely to start four freshmen and a sophomore tonight, is having its best campaign, record-wise, since 2011. The main reason for that is the Eagles’ 4-1-1 non-league record, a schedule entirely made up of Berks League programs.
Tonight should offer everything the previous three meetings had, with one exception: Don’t expect another seven-goal outburst similar to Monday when two of the league’s best defensive teams had a much more wide-open game. The four goals the Eagles allowed Monday were most they’ve given up a game this season. The case was the same for Pine Grove, which hadn’t allowed a team to score more than two goals on them until Monday.
Tonight’s game should be a much tighter defensive affair.
Blue Mountain comes in allowing 18 goals with 11 shutouts, while the Cardinals have given up 13 goals and also have 11 shutouts.
“It would shock me,” Blue Mountain coach Mike Burcik said if tonight’s game is a copy of Monday’s.
The challenge for the Eagles’ defense is stopping a Cardinals attack that has scored a program-record 125 goals (6.25 per game) this season. Pine Grove’s offense features four players with 10 or more goals, led by sophomore forwards Rachel Edge (23 goals, 16 assists) and Mariah Lesh (22 goals, 12 assists), along with junior midfielder Steph Aungst (23 goals, 17 assists), and senior midfielder Mackenzie Lesh (12 goals, 13 assists).
Both Mariah Lesh and Edge have three goals apiece this postseason, while Aungst has two goals and three assists.
Burcik isn’t a coach who is afraid to sacrifice some offense to focus on shutting down an opponent’s attack.
“I think we just need to continue to do what we’ve done, just try and match up with them the best we can,” Burcik said. “Offensively, they’ve got plenty of girls who can put the ball away, and I think that is where they give some teams problems.
“If you are able to mark up one or two and contain them, they’ve got others that can fill the role in just as easily. We will try to keep tight defensively. I think if we can possess the ball and move the ball around the field, I think hopefully we can get the chances we are looking for.”
The Eagles have scored 79 goals (4.0 per game) and are led by freshmen Sydney Riegel (15 goals, 7 assists) and Jacey Miller (11 goals, 4 assists), who had Blue Mountain’s only goal in Tuesday’s win over Minersville. Riegel set up the goal.
A focus for the Cardinals’ defense is stopping Blue Mountain opportunities off crosses. The Eagles’ first two goals Monday came off crosses, with Angelica Kaledas setting up Abigail Kramer in the 24th minute and Sam Puzzi doing the same with Riegel in the 28th that gave Blue Mountain a 2-1 lead.
Pine Grove coach Jason Brown showed Monday he can also follow Burcik’s defensive philosophy when he moved Edge to the back to help protect the lead after the Cardinals went up 4-2 in the second half.
“We need to make sure we keep the players and the ball in front of us,” Brown said. “Monday we were allowing them to actually get more of on our backside and when those crosses were coming across, we were doing a lot more recovering rather than being in the proper position to defend them initially.
“They have very skilled players,’’ he added. “If we keep the ball in front of us, moving when the ball moves, winning off the passes and rather than the player, I think we will be a lot more successful.”
Schuylkill League Girls’ Soccer Championship Preview Capsule
Who: Blue Mountain Eagles (Division I wild card) vs. Pine Grove Cardinals (Division I champ)
When, where: 5 p.m. today, Bulldog Stadium, Tri-Valley High School
Ticket prices: $5 for adults, $3 for students (no senior citizen discount)
About Blue Mountain
Head coach: Mike Burcik (18th season)
How got here: Beat Division II champ Minersville 1-0 in semifinals Tuesday at Tamaqua
Record: 16-3-1
Season totals: Offense — 79 goals scored, 4.0 per game; defense — 18 goals allowed, 11 shutouts, .90 goals per game
Previous league titles (4): 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Last league title: 2013 — Beat Schuylkill Haven 2-1
Probable starting lineup: Lianne Derrick (fr., GK, 41 saves, 12 goals allowed, 9 shutouts), Erin Ebling (sr., D, 2 goals, 1 assist), Angelica Kaledas (sr., D, 4 goals, 8 assists), Kylie Kutz (fr., D, 2 goals), Jacey Miller (fr., D, 11 goals, 4 assists), Abigail Fanelli (sr., M, 9 goals, 4 assists), Jillian Moyer (jr., M, 1 goal, 2 assists), Sam Puzzi (soph., M, 6 goals, 3 assists), Sydney Riegel (fr., M, 15 goals, 7 assists), Abigail Kramer (sr., F, 6 goals, 1 assist), Kelley Maberry (sr., F, 7 goals, 7 assists)
About Pine Grove
Head coach: Jason Brown (7th season)
How got here: Beat Division II wild card Williams Valley 4-0 in semifinals Tuesday at Tamaqua
Record: 19-1
Season totals: Offense — 125 goals scored, 6.25 per game; defense — 13 goals allowed, 11 shutouts, .65 goals per game
Previous league titles (1): 2014
Last league title: 2014 — Beat Schuylkill Haven 6-1
Probable starting lineup: Jennifer Kaufman (jr., GK, 45 saves, 13 goals allowed, 11 shutouts), Maddie Frew (jr., D, 1 assist), Carlee Conrad (sr., D, 1 goal), Faith Shiffer (jr., D, 1 goal, 6 assists), Cierra Geiger (jr., D, 3 goals, 3 assists), Mackenzie Lesh (sr., M, 12 goals, 13 assists), Steph Aungst (jr., M, 23 goals, 17 assists), Mackenzie Hasenauer (jr., M, 5 goals, 8 assists), Adrianna Tennis (jr., M, 6 goals, 9 assists), Mariah Lesh (soph., F, 22 goals, 12 assists), Rachel Edge (soph., F, 23 goals, 16 assists)
Game notes
Fourth meeting between the two teams this season. Split regular-season meetings — Cardinals won 3-1 on Sept. 22, Eagles won 2-1 on Oct. 10 — while Cardinals won Division I tiebreaker game 4-3 on Monday in Pottsville. Both teams finished 11-1 in Division I play. … Aungst scored twice in Monday’s tiebreaker, while Mariah Lesh and Edge scored other two goals for Cardinals. Kramer, Riegel and Olivia Benner had the Eagles’ goals. … Lesh and Edge have three goals apiece during the postseason, while Aungst has two goals and three assists. Edge also has two assists. … Riegel has a goal and an assist for the Eagles during postseason. … Cardinals have already clinched the top seed for the District 11 Class A playoffs. … Eagles are currently No. 2 in the District 11 Class AA power ratings. They would jump current No. 1 Saucon Valley with a victory. If the Eagles lose, they would drop to No. 3. Southern Lehigh, currently at No. 6, would be the top seed for the playoffs and Saucon Valley No. 2. The Spartans beat Northwestern Lehigh 3-1 in the Colonial League title game Thursday and would get the preferential seed for the district tournament.
— Complied by Mike Carnahan
Schuylkill League Girls’ Soccer Champions
2014 — Pine Grove
2013 — Blue Mountain
2012 — Blue Mountain
2011 — Blue Mountain
2010 — Blue Mountain
2009 — Millersburg
2008 — Halifax
2007 — Tamaqua
2006 — Mount Carmel
2005 — Mount Carmel
2004 — Shamokin
2003 — Shamokin
2002 — Shamokin
2001 — Shamokin
