ROSEMONT, PA- It was a beautiful day weather-wise for a change on the playing fields at Agnes Irwin School. The sky was bright the air was breezy and not a cloud in the sky. But the same could not be said about the storm that was about to hit the field Tuesday afternoon.
No. 1 seed Agnes Irwin faced No.4 seed Academy of Notre Dame in a PAISAA semifinal game. The Owls offense was unstoppable and their defense on fire holding the Irish scoreless for 50 minutes in an 11-0 victory.
The Owls opened up a seven goal lead in the first five minutes of the second half and did not look back.
Sarah Platt, Kate White, Brynn Smith, Emma Macaione and Alicia O’Neil denied the Irish of any net access.
Goalie junior Hailey Andress stopped eight shots, picked up two ground balls and one interception.
Lila Barker was top scorer with four goals on the board. Laura Pansini added two goals and two assists, Daniela Wright rounded off two goals and an assist. Emily Fryer hit the net for two and Maria Pansini scored one.
The Owls (16-5, 11-1) had a stellar season claiming their third consecutive Inter-Ac Title with a 17-4 victory over the Baldwin School last Wednesday.
Head coach Jenny Duckenfield has been at the helm of the AIS team for four years and attributes a lot of her team’s success to its strong senior leadership.
AIS head Coach Jenny Duckenfield commends her senior players
Senior Sarah Platt discusses her team's strengths in going into the PAISAA Finals
Senior defender Sarah Platt (University of Virginia) knows the hard work that has gone into this season.
“I am really proud of everyone. We have really pulled it together this year. It’s been really difficult because of all the injuries but we have done a really good job of coming together as a unit,” said Platt.
And it's not over yet...
AIS's junior goalie Hailey Andress talks about her strategy going into Thursday's Championship game
Agnes Irwin will face No. 2 seed Episcopal Academy, who won 17-8 over Penn Charter in Tuesday’s other semifinal game.
The two teams will play for the PAISAA Championship Title Thursday at Cabrini.
