BY JEREMY GOODE

(PHOTOS BY JAMES QUINN)

PHILADELPHIA-  Haverford School’s McKai Hiolett and Thomas Kaplan certainly have a thing for the dramatic. 

With 47 seconds left between the Haverford Fords and the Penn Charter Quakers, and the match tied at one, Hiolett would send a last-minute corner kick in front of the net, where Kaplan would settle the ball and shoot it through to the back of the net, as the Fords stole a win in East Falls by a score of 2-1 in the opening Inter-Ac matchup for both teams. 

“It is a huge relief for us… it obviously was not our best performance,” Kaplan said. “But Mckai put in a great ball, and I just saw I had to go win it [the ball].” 

Penn Charter would start the game off well. For the first four minutes they dominated possession and kept the ball deep on Haverford’s side. The Quakers’ Willem van Beelen would put a shot on net early off a cross from Jak Kraemer. During the 6th minute, Noah Amankulot would have a one on one with a Haverford defender and would lose the ball, but he just got another leg on it to poke it towards the net. Goaltender Connor Cresswell easily secured the dribbling ball. 

The Fords and Quakers would trade off offensive attacks and shots on net. Penn Charter’s Will Adair would drew a foul during the 9th minute going to a loose ball just outside of the 18 of Haverford.  The Fords defended the free kick nicely and cleared it into the Quakers’ half. 

Midway through the first half, Haverford was able to get on the board as they finessed their way to Penn Charter’s baseline. The ball was centered in front of the net and Luke Watson was able to score shooting at the top right corner. 

“I felt they started strong with the momentum,” Haverford School head coach Keith Cappo said. “We got some with the goal from Luke and throughout the first half.”

The rest of the half featured a bit of back and forth, with each team responding well to the other’s offensive attack. Kaplan stripped several Quakers while clearing the ball beyond midfield. Jake Zaretsky of Penn Charter would have a shot on net from the side that would strike the side netting for a goal kick. Hoilett would use his speed and have several runs into Quaker territory before ultimately being defended by backliners like Britton Armbrister. 

With just under a minute of the first half, Penn Charter drew a foul right outside the 18. After a skirmish for the loose ball after the Quakers free kick, Haverford’s Haven Hoilett cleared the ball to end the half. 

Penn Charter seemed to have listened to their head coach, Bob DiBenedetto, at halftime. A little over two minutes into the second half, Adair sailed a shot way over the goalpost. It had been their first real threat on net in over 20 minutes of game time. Less than two minutes later, Adair would execute, taking a baseline cross from a teammate and one-timing it to the back of the net right in front of the goal to tie the game at one. 

“We decided to pressure their backs a little bit where we were giving them a little bit of more space during the first half,” DiBenedetto said. “In the second half, when we started putting some pressure on them, they were playing balls right back to us.” 

The Quakers would see another scoring chance shortly after, as Armbrister had a strong 40-yard pass downfield to Amankulor. Amankulor was able to take the ball to the baseline and cross it in front of Haverford’s net. There was no one there to put a shot on net. 

Haverford would go on a cold spell offensively until 15 minutes to go, where the Ford’s Preston Swei got the ball 20 yards out from the goal, dribbled a bit to give him some room, and fired a shot that went just over the crossbar. 

After a bit of chippiness from both sides and swallowed whistles by the referees, Haverford would capitalize after forcing a corner kick with just over a minute left in the contest. 

McKai Hoilett took the corner, and Kaplan posted up by the goal. Hoilett’s kick would eventually get to Kaplan, who was able to bury the game winner with a header, giving the Fords a 2-1 win. 

“They played a good game; they played really well defensively, their keeper played great,” DiBenedetto said. “Soccer is a game where you can be strong for 39 minutes on one end, and then there is one minute for the opponent and they get the goal. We did not finish our opportunities and they did.”

“Especially for my first time taking corner kicks for the team, that felt pretty good,” McKai Hoilett said. “Honestly, it was not really a big deal. I just put it in there, prayed that someone got on it. So, I don’t give myself that much credit for that goal.”

McKai Hoilett is humble and so are his teammates. So much so that many of their comments reflected the need to improve and perform better going forward with their Inter-Ac schedule. 

“Normally we are a little crisper on the ball… a little better at tackles,” Kaplan said. “I think we were just a little slow today, definitely some improvement going forward.” 

Cappo as well knows his team can get better. After all, they are Inter-Ac defending champions. 

“We did not work as hard as they did,” Cappo said. “We have to put them under a little bit more pressure. They were easily winning the 50/50 balls and they were able to start a lot of second chance opportunities off of that.” 

Nonetheless, it was still a strong win for Haverford, starting off conference play 1-0 on the road against a strong Penn Charter squad. Kaplan did not want that lost in processing the game as he reflected on the whole. 

“It is great to get three points on the road against a solid team in Penn Charter,” Kaplan said. “Anytime you get three points on the road in the Inter-Ac is always a big deal, so we are just happy to get it done.” 

It is rare that high school athletic teams get so many contributions from any of their freshmen. But Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (SCH) girl’s soccer does. Freshman Deus Stanislaus recorded a hat trick against Academy of Notre Dame de Namur, as the Blue Devils rolled the Irish, 5-1, in Inter-Ac play. 

“We really wanted this game; as a team we wanted to play better,” Stanislaus said. “I wanted to do what I had to do for the attacking part and score my goals. We played really well in the attacking half and defensively.”

As to wanting to perform better, Stanislaus was referring to earlier in the week when the defending Inter-Ac champions and State champions traveled to Episcopal Academy and were shut out 2-0. The Blue Devils were anxious to get this outcome out of their minds. 

And they would. It would take nine and a half minutes. 

After recording several shots early on, the Blue Devil’s Jillian Major took a loose ball on a corner kick and shot on net. Her shot was deflected by Notre Dame, in which Ryleigh Bakley got the ball below the 18 and passed it to Stanislaus, who found some space and buried a lower left corner ball through the net with 31:34 left to play in the first half. 

That would be all of the scoring for the half. The final 31 minutes featured opportunities for both sides, especially SCH, but both schools were unable to capitalize. 

SCH had a lot at stake for their matchup against Notre Dame. Besides the three league points to be won, the Blue Devils sit in third place in the conference standings as they begin to turn the corner and play Inter-Ac teams for a second time. 

“Today was ending the first half of our season so we could group and come back for the second half,” SCH head coach Maria Kosmin said. “So, we wanted to end on a good note [against ND], especially with the loss on Tuesday.”

Notre Dame was able to hold SCH to a one goal advantage for the first half of the second half. A little over six minutes into the second half, the Blue Devils ran a play where Stanislaus sent the ball down the sideline to Isabella Simaku, who would cross it over to Alexandra deBeaulac, who just shot the ball wide left. SCH's Cali Smith and Ella Thomson would put strong shots on net that Notre Dame goalie was able to reach high enough to punch the ball over the crossbar to force corner kicks. The Blue Devils would ultimately not take advantage of these opportunities. 

It would not be until 19:59 where the Blue Devil’s Lida Goloveyko would steal the ball on Notre Dame’s side of the field and dribble one on one on net to eventually get fouled in the box, forcing a penalty kick. Stanislaus would take the shot, burying it to the left side where the goalie was leaning right, giving SCH a crooked number, a 2-0 led, and her second goal. 

Maybe that was a sparking moment for the Blue Devils, because 48 seconds later Stanislaus would drill her third goal after taking the ball the entire pitch, passing to Major who had her shot deflected. Stanislaus would retake possession inside the 18 and score from the right side, shooting across her body and hitting the upper left corner. 

“We really needed the second goal, it was a close game, and we really needed to separate ourselves,” Stanislaus said. “Once we got that second goal, we felt more comfortable, and then we really wanted as a team to get a third goal as well.” 

Notre Dame would make the game interesting with just over 12 minutes left after they were able to capitalize on a corner kick, scoring with a header and cutting SCH’s advantage to 3-1. The goal would come after the Blue Devils opened up their bench. Kosmin brought her starters back in to try to get something more going offensively. 

Both teams would have some more chances on net with three minutes left; Notre Dame probably even was outplaying the Blue Devils. However, SCH would end any threat with 2:26 left as the Blue Devils killed an Irish corner kick. de Baulac would take the ball from midfield, dribble in and score as Irish defenders chased her the entire way. Simaku would add another a minute later, giving the Blue Devils a 5-1 win. 

It's a strong bounce back for SCH. After a tough defeat earlier in the week against the conference leader, Episcopal, the Blue Devils needed to get back in the win column in a strong way. 

“Every time that we have a setback like a loss like with EA, we come back stronger,” SCH goalkeeper Gracyn Lee-Torchiana said. “I know that yesterday at practice and today before the game we were super hype… we were just really ready to perform well.” 

For Lee-Torchiana and SCH’s backline, it was another strong performance on defense, especially since the Blue Devils have had to move some players around recently due to injuries. 

“It is a huge part of the game; I’m so glad to have them,” Lee-Torchiana said in reference to the defense in front of her. “I am glad that I did not have too many shots on me today.” 

After the win, SCH sits in third place in the Inter-Ac conference behind Episcopal and Agnes Irwin. Kosmin noted that their improvement in finishing chances and team play as a whole helped against Notre Dame. 

She also mentioned that being able to maintain speed for a full 80 minutes and continue to put serious offensive attacks together in. the final 15 minutes helped fully separate themselves. 

With a newer lineup as of late, Kosmin is pleased to come out with a win, but she also is excited about the growth of the team midway through the season. She is hoping this will continue and pay off towards the end of the season.  

“Each game we just want to get better,” Kosmin said. “We won, and that’s great, but to see kids feel more confident and get better, it is just going to help us in the long run.”  

Agnes Irwin School would defeat Academy of Notre Dame and Germantown Academy. AIS would beat Notre Dame 2-0, scoring their first goal on an own goal against the Irish, as eighth grader Dylan Ohm would score the second goal, assisted by fellow eighth grader Olivia Bongiorno. AIS' defensive unit of Abby Ballinger, Liz King, Kelsey Young, Campbell Collins, Avery Jansen, and Bongiorno help strong in front of goal. Goalkeeper Claire Ballinger earned the clean sheet. 

Against Germantown Academy, the Owls were able to net four goals, beating the Patriots 4-1. Emma Watson and Payton Quinones scored a goal each, while eighth grader Colby Costa scored two goals. Jen Kelly, Gabby Bongiorno, Young, and Ohm were responsible for assisting a goal.