BY JEREMY GOODE
(PHOTOS BY PATTY MORGAN & BJORN BECK FOR PSD)
FORT WASHINGTON - Down half a game to the Haverford School in the Inter-Ac standings with one game left, William Penn Charter’s mission against the Germantown Academy Patriots was simple: win, and hope for a Haverford loss at Episcopal Academy for the Quakers to retain the Inter-Ac title.
In Penn Charter’s way? A capacity crowd of hundreds of fans celebrating GA/PC Day at Germantown Academy. It did not matter that the Patriots only had one conference win at that point. The homecoming-like environment really propelled the home team.
After 80 minutes of regulation and two five-minute overtimes, both teams ended with as many goals as they started with – zero. The tie left Penn Charter needing Haverford to lose outright at Episcopal to share the conference title. A win and or a tie for Haverford would give the Fords the conference championship.
“This is not just your regular Inter-Ac game, this is PC/GA where it’s the most important day of the year of everybody involved,” Penn Charter head coach Bob DiBenedetto said. “I thought we showed up to play, I just think they did too.”
During the first 15 minutes, the Quakers came out firing. Senior Noah Amankulor was able to hook up his teammates, including Willem Van Beelen, down field with several through balls, many resulting in strong shots on goal. Amankulor was also aggressive himself, tallying a few shots on net that either just missed or were saved by the goalie. In addition, he also forced a few corner kicks by his aggressive play.
Even with the game scoreless at halftime, both teams certainly had their chances, as they each fired many shots on goal.
“You have to be mentally ready; mentally tough, and you have to want the ball,” Penn Charter goalkeeper Miles Lynch said. “And help from my teammates. Defense helped me lock down and have a couple good slide tackles.”
The second half was a lot of the same type of play as the first. It was competitive soccer; the play on the field was consistent and strategic. There were just few real moments of execution or opportunities to reward the offenses.
Miles Lynch on Being Able to Keep GA Scoreless and his first time playing on GA/PC Day. (Video/ Jeremy Goode)
For Penn Charter, that style is their bread and butter. You could say it is the DiBenedetto way. You just are not going to score on the Quakers.
Problem: the Quakers needed a goal themselves, and while they perfectly executed their defensive game plan, they would not be as successful offensively.
“I think we had a little too much confidence,” Amankulor said. “We had a strong game overall. Defense played really well; all the defenders really did their job, but I think what it comes down to is being able to put a couple away and we were not able to do that.”
With its defensive background Penn Charter had an advantage from their backline and goalie play. But given the tightness of this game, they still had to guard carefully against any goal, whether flukey or not, which could put Penn Charter against the wall for the remainder of the game. The Quakers had to play carefully, especially during both overtime sessions.
After a scoreless first five minutes of overtime, DiBenedetto had to check in with his team during the quick two-minute break to make sure they considered the bigger picture at hand. A tie extended their season, even if it would allow Haverford to simply tie at Episcopal for the title. A loss for Penn Charter would eliminate them on the spot.
“We knew going into overtime we wanted to take advantage of the win in the first five and score” DiBenedetto said. “If not, we definitely wanted to be conservative in the second five. We had to give us a chance at winning the league, still.”
GA/PC boys soccer game highlights by Jeremy Goode for PSD
A quiet last five minutes of overtime made it official, a 0-0 draw. Coming into the game, Germantown Academy was last in the Inter-AC. With festivities going on to celebrate GA/PC Day, the 1-8 Patriots very much took advantage of their home field advantage. Thousands of people showed up on campus, while hundreds watched the game from the stands.
It was a great celebration of the fall sports teams from both schools, which included a moon bounce, food trucks, pop up stations for purchase of school apparel as well as an alumni tent.
“It’s incredible; you see fans everywhere, it’s an amazing day,” Amankulor said. “It’s unfortunate that we were unable to capitalize because obviously, it’s a lot of guys’ last time doing this, including mine.”
Noah Amankulor despite not winning today about the significance of this historic day of competition. (video/ Jeremy Goode)
In terms of records for GA/PC Day, you might as well throw them out. It just does not matter what has happened before on this day.
DiBenedetto also acknowledged how much more difficult it is to battle in the away environment on GA/PC Day.
“They’re home for PC/GA Day, it’s a big deal. I do think that helps the home team every year, no doubt about it,” DiBenedetto said. “Two years ago, we came in here and had to win 1-0 late in the game. It seems like a game similar to this.”
Regardless of what happens in the Haverford game at Episcopal, Penn Charter looks to remain competitive for next season. Lynch will be going into his junior year, which feels like a major advantage with him in net for the next two years.
Until then, Lynch was pleased that he was able to step up and help his team against GA, knowing that a loss would have eliminated the Quakers instantly.
Lynch’s reaction to the tie was positive, “It’s big. We locked it down and we have to hope that EA beats Haverford. The goal was to finish; try to score a goal, but obviously, it did not happen and that’s how the game works.”
Now, Penn Charter waits. Needing a Haverford loss to Episcopal to share title honors, any other result finishes with the Quakers in second place.
Whatever happens, it has been a great season for the Quakers, one that defied the odds from the beginning. After losing 16 seniors from the year before DiBenedetto knew his team would compete, but he was pleasantly surprised by their overall success, finishing with 13 wins in total and seven in conference.
“There’s a lot of things to be proud of,” DiBenedetto said. “If you had asked me in August, I would not have told you we would be in first place for a little and had an opportunity to win this league, so I think they overachieved and I think it says a lot about their character.”
