“It was just great,” Waelchli said “This is my first year on varsity so it was just amazing. When I scored, it was just like, wow, we are going to win. Maybe that’s not the best mindset, but that’s what I thought when I saw the ball go in.”

Waelchli was right. Her goal near the midway point of the first quarter opened the scoring and ignited a wildfire of four straight goals as Academy of the New Church defeated top-seeded Shipley, 4-1, to win its ninth Friends School League title and first since 2018.

Shipley had won the last two FSL championships and had just defeated ANC, 4-2, one week prior. All bets were off once the championship game started. 

“I think we came out here really hungry looking for the win and we all just really put it all out there,” said freshman Olivia Sweigard. “We all had this positive energy.”

Swiegard made her positive presence felt in the second quarter as she scored twice on fast break goals, both on fantastic passes from sophomore teammate Molly McCabe. On both instances, McCabe carried the ball down the right side and found a streaking Sweigard down the middle.

A three-goal lead is nice, but with 30 minutes to go against a potent Shipley team, there was still plenty of time to chew down fingernails. It wasn’t until the Lions got that fourth goal, until nerves were finally eased. The Lions struck with 1:59 left in the third quarter as junior Ellery Johns sent a shot towards the cage that appeared to be tipped by McCabe on its way in.

Either way, it was 4-0 and the hill became much too steep to climb for the Gators.

“I think there was a lot of hesitation on our end,” Shipley coach Eva Winiarski said. “It’s a big day and there was a lot of build up and lead up to it and when that first whistle went, we were on our heels and hesitant. When you hesitate in the first five minutes, that can kill for the rest of the game.”

It broke the shutout but it did little to derail the Lions’ confidence in closing out the final four minutes.

“With a three goal lead, I felt not panicky,” ANC coach Sarah Waelchli said. “And at four I felt comfortable. I can’t remember, it might have been with five or six minutes left, I said we’re going to win this game. The girls really brought it today. They were just all on at the same time and trusted each other and played at their top level. This was the best game of the season. It was the perfect time to peak.”

For ANC, it was added revenge. Not only did the Lions avenge the regular season loss to Shipley, but they turned the tables on the exact situation from a year ago. Last season ANC defeated Shipley in the regular season and the Gators traveled to Bryn Athyn to defeat the Lions, 2-0, on their home turf in the championship. This season, the Lions followed the Gators’ 2022 blueprint. 

“Last year, we beat them and they beat us in the championship game,” Isabel Waelchli said. “So when it happened to us, It was kind of just thinking this is history repeating itself but in reverse.”

Academy of the New Church is already thinking about a run of success as it will return most of its team next year, but the contributions of its two seniors were certainly on display in the title game. Defender Teagan Henderson and goaltender Zarah Synnestvedt held down the fort each time the Gators came crashing.

“It’s super exciting because this is the first time I’ve won a championship in my four years here,” said Synnestvedt. “Senior year, kind of the most important one. It’s been an absolutely incredible season and I’ve loved every minute of it.

The same can be said for Henderson, who didn’t play last year but returned as a steady presence on the Lions’ back line.

“I’m really really happy, really proud, really lucky,” Henderson said. “It’s unreal. I really don’t have any words right now.”

Henderson took a year off for her junior year but remained as a team manager. 

“I just wanted a break,” Henderson said. “But I missed it. I was still the manager so I was still part of the team, but I wanted to play senior year. I wanted to go for it and have fun.”

The Lions are sure glad she did.

They had already moved captain Yvonne Prue to the back line from offense and they did the same with freshman Sadie Hasen after the season started. And Henderson’s defensive experience helped solidify a perfect trio in front of an outstanding goalie.

ANC assistant coach Caitlyn Irwin would appreciate the above softball reference as she coaches the Lions in the spring. But, with the field hockey championship, Academy of the New Church has now tied Shipley for second all time in Friends School League field hockey championships with nine. 

Germantown Friends still holds the top spot with 14 titles, although the Tigers have gone 20 years without one. As long as all of the current rostered players have been alive, it’s been a battle of ANC and Shipley, which have won a combined 16 of the last 18 championships.

On Thursday, Moorestown Friends played its final Friends School League game in defeating Germantown Friends, 1-0, in the Quaker Cup, which is a mini tournament for the four teams that didn’t qualify for the Friends League playoffs. 

Savannah Obermeier recorded the lone goal of the game in the third quarter to give the Foxes their first Quaker Cup championship since the tournament started in 2015. Obermeier stayed hot by scoring the Foxes’ lone goal in their state tournament loss to St. Joseph’s Hammonton the following day.

The Foxes depart the Friends League with three FSL championships (1987, 2007, and 2019) and will play next year in the Burlington County Scholastic League in their home state of New Jersey.