Congratulations to Episcopal Academy, your 2025 PAISAA Champions - PSD Photo by Kathy Leister
By: Jeremy Goode
Photos: Kathy Leister
GLENSIDE, PA - They say that revenge is a dish best served cold.
Just ask the Episcopal Academy’s girls’ soccer team. They were able to deliver against Westtown in 48 degree weather on Wed., Nov. 12 at Arcadia University, beating the top seeded Westtown 2-0 to win the PAISAA championship.
Westtown and Episcopal met in late September, when Westtown was able to escape at home with a 1-0 victory in one of the most anticipated matches in the state. After the match, Episcopal left feeling like they had been unable to leave everything they had on the field.
In the PAISAA championship, they would.
“Our first game against Westtown was a real turning point for us,” Episcopal head coach Andy Fraggos said. “We’ve gone 14-15 wins since that game. I think we went into that knowing how talented Westtown is and left that game thinking we should have won. So, the conversation after the game was, ‘we’ll see you in the PAISAA finals.’”
That prediction was met.
Episcopal also had another reason to be extra motivated during this PAISAA championship. Last year they finished second in the Inter-Ac to Springside Chestnut Hill and lost in the semifinals of PAISAA. It is rare that the program is not collecting trophies and banners every year.
Of course, it is hard to win titles, but Fraggos has built a culture and program at Episcopal where it is quite noteworthy when the girls’ team does not win their league or the state championship.
It’s a good problem to have, and they would use it as motivation.
“I think it just made us want it more this year,” co-captain Caroline Johnston said. “We had a whole new team, and everyone was ready to step up and fight.”
2025 PAISAA Game Highlights by Jeremy Goode:
Since Fraggos became the head coach, Episcopal has won three league championships and two PAISAA championships.
Make it three PAISAA championships.
And those titles do not account for the other talented teams he has coached that were trophy-worthy but barely missed out.
Episcopal swept their championship season with their Inter-Ac title and now PAISAA title. The last time they did that was in 2023. One of the reasons why this run was so special for the team was because there had been a lot of doubt and uncertainty.
The doubt was fair, according to Fraggos. They lost 15 seniors from the year before. But they did mix things around in preseason, realized as a team they were incredibly athletic, and players stepped up throughout the season to be where they are now: champions.
“It was a discussion of how to put our players in the right positions,” Fraggos said. “We felt really confident defensively, so now, we put new people in positions to score goals, and can that click? We were trying to avoid winning games 1-0.”
Episcopal was quite successful in that regard. They finished league play undefeated at 12-0, and they had only two single-goal wins, both times against SCH which finished second in the Inter-Ac. Of their 12 league games, they only won 1-0 once. They outscored their league opponents in the regular season 36-2.
It all adds up. And their in-season dominance led to nonstarter junior Maya Le taking the ball in on goal and scoring with 14 minutes left in the first half of the PAISAA finals to give Episcopal a 1-0 lead at halftime.
Co-Captains Caitlyn McCarthy, Sofia Gagliardi, and Caroline Johnston on Leading EA to Two Championsships in 2025
Maya Le on Scoring the Winning Goal
“It was unreal,” Le said. “I didn’t even know how to react. As a team, we love each other so much, so it was so awesome to have everyone celebrating with me.”
Defensively, Episopal’s backline was like a backstop, especially in the second half. Junior Anna Sturm and senior Caitlin McCarthy cleared everything that came their way, while completely sending it down to the other end of the field.
Westtown had a lot of dangerous scorers, so shutting them out might have been the biggest difference in the game.
“Our defensive unit is really good at communication, so when they threw up two strikers, we knew how to get around that,” Sturm said. “We’re very strong on the ball, and we’re not afraid to go into tackles.”
“We knew we had to play a really strong second half; they were going to come out hot from halftime and were going to be offensive,” McCathy said. “We were just trying to send it up the field and keep everything out.”
Junior Devon Stewart added Episcopal’s second goal with 24 minutes remaining that very much felt like a dagger.
The junior got the ball in front of goal with space and buried it in the lower right corner.
“Frags did say that they were going to sit off of us, so there were going to be gaps in the middle,” Stewart said. “Throughout the first half, I figured out the gaps and whether she was going to sit off me or go too high, so I was just trying to find space to get the ball.”
While Le’s goal in the first half ended up being the game winner, Stewart’s goal really felt like a game ender, even with 24 minutes remaining. It’s hard to score on Episcopal once, so twice in under 25 minutes? Forget about it.
Sophomore Goalkeeper Taylor Moore blocked every shot her way, including several free kicks in the second half that were close to going in.
Senior Sofia Gagliardi, Johnston, and McCarthy all took on the honor of being co-captains this year. They helped steer Episcopal back on track after a title-less 2024 campaign. They finished their high school careers with two Inter-Ac titles and two PAISAA championships.
Anna Sturm Behind EA's Elite Defense
Devon Stewart on Solidifying Win with Goal
“I love every single girl on this team, we love each other,” Gagliardi said. “It’s fun to come out here and play, and I think just showing EA girls’ soccer can dominate is the best feeling.”
When asked how proud of his team he was, Fraggos formed a big smile.
“I’m sure you can tell.”
“They earned it, it’s a great group of kids that you want to be around,” Fraggos said. “I think the culture that they built this year especially is going to trickle down to future years.”
