There’s no heartbreak in soccer that compares to the helpless feeling of a penalty-kick shootout slowly slipping away.
The Northwestern Lehigh girls soccer team watched more than a shootout slip away as a 54-game winning streak and the prospect of becoming the first District 11 soccer team to win back-to-back state championships came crashing down in a 3-2 – 3-1 on PKs – loss to Archbishop Wood in the PIAA 2A girls soccer semifinals at Upper Perkiomen High School on Tuesday night.
“We just lost in the worst possible way you can lose a soccer game, but they battled until the very end,” Northwestern Lehigh coach Jordan Smith said. “They were down a goal twice and battled back. They just showed a lot of resilience. A lot of grit. I’m super proud of them.”
Paige Eckert, Brinley Miller and Kylie Wiest converted from the penalty spot as Catherine Gabel saved three of Northwestern’s four penalties to clinch a spot in the state championship for the first time since 2012.
“It means everything to me,” Gabel said. “Especially with these seniors, my best friends throughout this [season]. They took me through high school pretty much, and I really wanted this for them, and I know they wanted it to, so I’m really happy.”
It was a moment of redemption for the junior goalkeeper who failed to save a single penalty kick in the Philadelphia Catholic League championship game against St. Hubert High School.
She wasn’t going to allow that to happen again.
“In our PCL division, we made the championship, and I didn’t save any, so this really means so much to me and my teammates. I wanted this more than anything. I’m so happy,” Gabel said.
Eckert, who earned PCL MVP honors during the season, stepped up first and buried her shot into the roof of the net to get the Vikings a crucial early lead. After Northwestern Lehigh junior Sophia Schaffer skied the next penalty over the net, Mia Kosmin failed to capitalize as Olivia Reinhart came up with a big save for the Tigers.
Dylan Ritter leveled the score after two rounds before Reinhart delivered another pivotal save against Molly McConnell.
As Kherington Yezik, a TCU commit, stepped up for the Tigers, Gabel used some film study to her advantage to keep the shootout on level terms.
“I did watch film on a few of the girls that take penalty kicks, so I kind of went off that, but it really just comes down to that moment and kind of just picking a side,” Gabel said. “[Kherington is ] one of the girls I watched penalty kicks on the Internet, and I was ready for that.”
Another kick save to deny Amelia Glassberg set the stage for Wiest to put an end to the drama following Miller’s conversion that put the Vikings ahead. The senior forward confidently slotted the shot to Reinhart’s left to continue the team’s dramatic turnaround from an 0-4-1 start to the season.
While both teams showcased significant talent across the field, the most captivating aspect of Tuesday night’s contest was the showdown between arguably the top two players in the state in Eckert and Schaffer.
Eckert, an NJIT commit, opened the scoring with a sensational one-time finish from outside the box with 22:33 on the clock to stun the defending state champions and put them on the back foot for just the second time all season.
As they did in that only other opportunity against Abington Heights, the Tigers responded.
Juliet Snyder earned a free kick from just outside the penalty box on the left wing, and Schaffer stepped up with a terrific and powerful finish into the top of the net to erase the first of two deficits on the night for her team.
A perfect through ball from freshman forward Avery Miller sent Eckert off for a breakaway midway through a hotly contested second half and the star midfielder didn’t waste the golden opportunity with a composed low finish past a charging Reinhart and into the bottom left corner.
It looked like that goal was going to be enough to send the Vikings to their first state championship appearance in 13 years until Schaffer pounced on a misread by an Archbishop Wood defender and blasted an equalizer into the bottom corner with 6:18 remaining.
Despite the outcome, Smith considered it a treat to watch the two superstars prove why they’re top Division I talents.
“We knew [Eckert] was really good coming in from what we saw and what we heard. I thought Lexi Kercher, who was on her, did a phenomenal job. She got open maybe twice all game and she just capitalized both times in front of net,” Smith said. “And credit to Sophia [Schaffer] doing what Sophia always does. I think she ends the season with 57 goals, she already has 112 as a junior, so just a phenomenal player.
“It was fun to watch.”
Smith will graduate five seniors – Sofia Sikora, Kiersten Klein, Mykaela Yanders, Marlyse DeLillo and Reinhart – who captured four league championships, three district championships and a state championship throughout their four years with the program. And, not to mention, helped anchor a Pennsylvania record 54-game winning streak while reaching the state semifinals on two other occasions.
There’s plenty of reason for optimism surrounding the returning core of players, but Smith recognized the importance of his five seniors with an emotional response to what they meant to this program.
“Five just really good kids, you know? I get emotional just talking about them,” Smith said. “I’m certainly going to miss them, but this game doesn’t define anything in their careers … [They’re] phenomenal soccer players, but they’re going to go off into life and their chapter is not done yet. They’re going to be great human beings, and that’s what I’m most proud of.”
Derek Bast is a freelance sports writer who can be found on Twitter/X at @derek_bast or reached by email at derekbast11@gmail.com.
