BY JEREMY GOODE
(PHOTOS BY ZAMANI FEELINGS & RYAN ZATS)
PHILA.,-- Senior Willem Van Beelen had been putting the ball in the back of the net all year for William Penn Charter.
So, another goal by him with nine minutes and 46 seconds remaining, which was the difference in beating Germantown Academy on PC/GA Day, was hardly a surprise.
Except this game winner had another meaning for the team as a whole.
His shot erased a nine-year streak of Penn Charter ending its season trophyless in the Inter-Ac conference, as the 2-1 win against GA on Sat., Nov. 8 gave Penn Charter sole possession of the 2025 Inter-Ac championship. Van Beelen also won MVP of the game and has recently been named the 2025 Inter-Ac's Most Valuable Player.
“Winning this game and winning this league is all that matters to me,” Van Beelen said. “A few of my classmates and I have been close so many times. To go first is the most important thing. I don’t care about this trophy [MVP], it’s really just winning the Inter-Ac for the first time.”
The last time Penn Charter boys’ soccer hoisted the league trophy was nearly a decade ago in 2016.
For the past two years, they have been close. Each year they finished second to Haverford, missing the trophy on the last day of the season both times.
This year, a loss against Germantown Academy and a Haverford win against Episcopal would give Haverford a share of the Inter-Ac championship with Penn Charter.
The third time was the charm.
Game Highlights
While Haverford did beat Episcopal 1-0 in the early afternoon of the 8th on Haverford/EA Day, Penn Charter had already taken care of business at home against GA, making the Haverford/EA game only relevant for pride.
Maybe it was just Penn Charter’s year. They had been so close for a few years, it felt fitting for them to finally get over the hump.
It is a nice idea, but nothing comes by fate in this sport. You have to earn everything in the Inter-Ac. Nothing is handed to you. You do not get rewarded for just getting close. Ask Penn Charter.
“We’re come close a lot,” Penn Charter head coach Bob DiBenedetto said. “The last three years we have come in second by less than one game. That’s why I pushed them to go over the top this year.”
PC's Willem Van Beelen talks about Winning an Inter-Ac Championship as a Senior
PC Head Coach Bob Dibenedetto lauds his team and Presents Van Beelen with MVP Award
The 2025 season was the difference. They did not lose a league game until the end of October, and they just needed one tie between their last two games to win the league outright. Their two early season wins against Episcopal and a tie at Haverford really set the tone, and they held onto first place for most of the season.
And never gave it up.
But during PC/GA Day, they did almost give it up after allowing a goal to GA 20 minutes into the game. The score remained 1-0 GA heading into halftime.
“During halftime, we realized we were getting the chances, we were just not finishing them,” senior co-captain Will Adair said. “We just had a shift in mentality in that second half… and were able to finish those two crucial chances.”
Jak Kreamer and Van Beelen had delivered all season, and they would do so again when the team needed them the most. Quickly too. Kreamer scored six minutes into the second half off an assist from Van Beelen, changing the momentum instantly.
PC Senior Will Adair addresses the unique relationship with his team.
It was all Penn Charter after Kraemer’s equalizer. Eventually, with just under 10 minutes remaining, Kraemer got the ball to Van Beelen, who took it on the left side and scored, putting nine years of heartbreak on pause.
“I knew Jak could play me a good ball. That dude plays perfect balls,” Van Beelen said. “Once I beat the first guy with a cut, I knew I wanted to go straight to goal.”
Van Beelen was not able to break down his thoughts; it was all a blur to him. But after a four-year career of missing out on the league championship, and then scoring the league championship goal, it is easy to understand the significance and joy he and the team felt.
Before their game against GA, Penn Charter had lost two games in a row, the first at Malvern Prep and the second hosting Perkiomen in PAISAAs.
They ended their last game of the season with a win and an Inter-Ac championship. It is especially noteworthy for a team with 27 players, and 14 of them being seniors, including Adair, Alex Brown, Dylan Fuscia, Justin Generals, Liam Haines, Kraemer, Rainer Malhotra, Andrew Marrone, Tiernan Perkins, Bodin Snyder, Liam Stewart, Van Beelen, Luke Wilmerding, and Raja Etjeke.
PC Junior Miles Lynch Reflects on the Season and Winning the Inter-Ac
Goalkeeper Miles Lynch made sure of that, playing like he did all season and staying strong in front of goal.
“Winning outright; that’s the thing I’m going to remember forever,” Lynch said. “I felt like it was coming too. We battled all year long… we knew we wanted it more than any other team in the Inter-Ac.”
