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A 130-Year-Old Tradition Continues As Longstanding Rivalries Amp Up A Weekend Of Inter-Ac Match-Ups

By Emilee Desmond, Marissa Fuller, Jenna Meissner, Kevin Murphy, Angelise Stuhl & Sal Tommassello , 11/22/16, 1:00PM EST

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Germantown Academy and William Penn Charter football met for the 130th time on November 12, 2016 - photo by Kevin Murphy

Each fall, Germantown Academy, William Penn Charter, Episcopal Academy, the Haverford School and Agnes Irwin School participate in weekend long competitions centered around sportsmanship and school spirit.

For the ladies of Episcopal Academy and Agnes Irwin, the 12-year tradition states that the winner of three out of four games (cross country, tennis, field hockey and soccer) will get presented with the coveted "banner.”

“This entire EA-AIS-Haverford weekend just shows the culture these schools have and the community it’s built upon,” said EA junior field hockey standout, Katie Crager. 


Episcopal Academy girls were awarded the 2016 rights of the “banner.”

The gentlemen of the Haverford School and Episcopal Academy compete for rights of the split-sweater. The school that “wins the day” claiming the majority out of the five events (golf, cross-country, water polo, soccer and football) will retain the sweater on their campus for the ensuing year. The football rivalry between the two schools dates back to 1889, with this year being the 107th meeting.

“The (EA-Haverford Day) tradition means everything for both schools, it’s something that we mark on our calendars at the beginning of the year,” said EA senior quarterback, CJ McAnally. “The fan support is unbelievable and it’s a great environment to play in front of and it’s something we will cherish forever.” 

The Haverford School retained the split-sweater by winning all five Haverford/EA Day athletic contests: (from left) Haverford School Athletic Director John Nostrant, Episcopal Academy Head of School T.J. Locke, Haverford School Headmaster John Nagl – photo: The Haverford School 

As part of the festivities, Haverford, EA and AIS participate in an annual “Can Drive” competition. The competition began after a kick-off assembly on November 7th and ran until November 21st. All of the collected cans are donated to the Life Center of Eastern Delaware County, St. Barnabas Mission, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church and Food Cupboard, and low-income senior citizens in Philadelphia through the Old Pine Community Church’s Saturday for Seniors program. 

Through the years, more than 1 million cans of food have been collected by the schools in to fight hunger in the community.

On the final day of athletics competition, the school not hosting EA/Haverford Day would host a “Can Dance” for students from all three schools to gather and celebrate as friends instead of rivals. 

To kick off the annual Can Drive, a service learning project collecting canned food for the elderly, needy, and homeless, Student Service Board Co-President Jeffrey Li and Project HOME resident Michael Oliveri addressed the Haverford School Upper School student body Nov. 7. By a “can” struction of The Haverford School “H” are (from left) seniors Chris Delaney, Jeffrey Li, and Henry Scarlato, with representatives from Haverford’s longtime hunger partner Project HOME, Michael Oliveri and Director of Service Learning Margie Winters.

This year instead of a dance, the students from Haverford, EA and AIS met at Episcopal and made 1,400 bagged lunches for Project HOME, St. Francis Inn, PALM (the Center for Positive Aging in Lower Merion) in Ardmore, and the ElderNet's Ada Mutch Community Resource Center (AMCRC) and Food Pantry. 

(Photo L to R) Front row: Charlotte Melter, Reagan Silvi, Cordelia Hare (AIS) Back row: Sydney Maple, Molly Giles, Kyle Virbitsky (EA), Christopher Delaney, Jeffrey Li, Henry Scarlet (Haverford)

Germantown Academy and Penn Charter celebrate GA-PC Day to pay homage to the longstanding rivalry between the two football programs. 

This year marked the 130th football game played between the two schools, making it the oldest consecutively played prep school rivalry in the country. 


GA’s Hall of Fame Inductee Tyler Stampone ’05 holds the awarded “Geis Trophy"”

Golf, tennis, cross-country, soccer, water polo and field hockey were added to the mix 20-years ago. The two schools compete for the rights of the “Competition Cup,” which is awarded to the school who scores the most points throughout the day.

AIS-EA Day

On Friday, November 11, 2016, AIS and EA’s cross-country teams kicked off the weekend, with EA pulling off a 27-28 victory. The Irwins managed to tie up the banner race winning 5-2 in tennis. Last year, the banner resulted in a tie, and it was clear that both teams made it a goal to be named outright champion. 

EA storms the field after girls soccer victory

After a scoreless first half of field hockey, senior Julianna Tornetta came to the rescue for the Irwins, to put her team up 1-0 with 13 minutes left in regulation. Just when AIS thought they had the game in the bag, EA forward Maddie Rehack tied the game 1-1 with 54 seconds remaining, sending both teams into overtime. Both teams left the field tied 1-1. 

“For me, this day is about being able to play and have all of your friends come out and cheer,” said EA senior captain, Corinne Zanolli. “At this game we get a lot of support from our students and it’s something really special when you have two team’s student sections here. It’s like playing in any great college sports rivalry.”

It all came down to soccer for this year's EA/AIS Day. For the past three years, Episcopal Academy's girl's soccer has lost to Agnes Irwin. It was time for redemption. 

Balloons, pom-poms, flags and face paint colored the stands as the aggressive game got underway. 

The rivals remained neck and neck throughout the first half, but not for long. With about two minutes left until halftime, sophomore midfielder Isabelle Rohr came in for a long range goal to put EA on the board. 

Five minutes into the second half junior midfielder Julia DePillis advanced the lead with a second goal. During the remainder of the game both teams showed how bad they wanted this win, but the Owls were not able to answer to Episcopal. EA sophomore midfielder Anna Salvucci came away with the team's third and final goal. 

EA’s head coach Andy Fraggos said this was his team's biggest day of the year

AIS head coach, Mike Welsh comments on his first AIS-EA Day

EA captain Molly O'Brien added that it was her final chance to secure the banner 

EA’s Devon Whitaker describes her favorite day of the year

EA-Haverford Day

For the 6th year in a row, The Haverford School was awarded the coveted split-sweater after sweeping Episcopal Academy in all 5 events.

On Friday, November 11th, the Fords golf team defeated the Churchmen by a collective score of 192-199 on the Merion Golf Club’s East Course. That Saturday morning, the Fords proved they could dominate on land and in water, taking a 12-5 victory in water polo and a 27-32 win in cross-country.

Knowing that the Fords already won the sweater did not hinder Episcopal’s intensity coming into the soccer match. With 16:32 left in the first half, Matt Freese put goal past Haverford goalie, Will Baltrus, off an assist from teammate Harrison Malone. Just before the half, sophomore Griffin Wada found Niklas Golz who sent both teams into the half tied 1-1. After 7 minutes of play, Haverford senior Carnel Walker was hit with a perfect cross pass from Nicholas Pippis to give the Fords the 2-1 victory. 

Carnel Walker talks about scoring the winning goal

Niklas Golz talks about the win and the EA-Haverford Day tradition

Final seconds Haverford vs. EA Football game

The final event of the day saw the Fords topping the Churchmen 21-19 in a highly anticipated football game. Quarterback CJ McAnally started things off for EA, throwing a short touchdown pass completion to Dan Baker. Nate Whitaker intercepted McAnally on back-to-back drives, which allowed Tommy Toal to connect twice with Malik Twyman to put the Fords up 14-7. McAnally took things into his own hands and ran into the end zone to tighten the gap 14-13 right before the half.

In the final 7 minutes of play, Toal and McAnally managed to lift the entire crowd off their feet. Toal ran in for a TD to put the Fords up 21-13. With 37 seconds remaining, McAnally spun past Haverford’s defense to find the end zone, making the score 21-19. The Churchmen decided to go for two for the win, but Kyle Virbitsky was denied by Ismail Morrison and Will Towle, who saved the day for the Fords.

Following the game, another emotional tradition occurred, which involved the seniors from Haverford passing down their football jersey’s to 8th graders who will soon find their place on the high school roster. 

Tommy Toal reflects on EA-Haverford Day & retaining the sweater

Toal gets emotional talking about passing his jersey to the 8th graders

GA-PC Day

The first event of GA-PC day took place on Tuesday November 8th at the Meadowlands Country Club, which saw the Quakers walking away with a 5-3 victory. The remaining 9 competitions took place throughout the day on Saturday, November 12th at host Germantown Academy. Penn Charter’s girls’ tennis team swept GA 7-0 on Saturday morning, giving the Quakers an edge in the race for the “Competition Cup."

The Patriots managed to take the overall lead winning boys’ cross-country 17-46, girls’ cross-country 17-40, boy’s water polo 12-10 as well as girls’ water-polo by a score of 9-6.

The boys’ varsity soccer squads battled on for their final match-up of the season.

Penn Charter Head Coach, Bob DiBenedetto, spoke on the importance of this historic rivalry saying, “Nobody was looking past PC-GA day, there’s nothing more important for our kids.”

Each team played a conservative first half, eager not to make the first mistake. Germantown Academy saw most of the possession, but their offense had failed to threaten Penn Charter’s backline. PC, looking to play on the counter attack, won their share of corners and free kicks in the first but were unable to connect on any of the dead-ball opportunities. Tied heading into the second, it would be the Quakers who opened up the scoring with less then 20 minutes remaining in the match. 

Penn Charter striker, Max Jacobs, made his way inside the box and found his teammate Jude Shorr-Parks wide open right in front of the goalie. Shorr-Parks took the pass and tapped it in, giving the Quakers a 1-0 lead. Coach DiBenedetto called Max Jacobs, “the most dangerous player in the league,” after his great performance.

Penn Charter senior, Christian Lemmo, scored his first career goal for the Quakers several minutes later off a keeper error to seal the win for the Quakers 2-0. With the win, the Quakers secured the Inter-Ac boys’ soccer title. 

After the game, Lemo talked about how special the day was for everyone.

“It’s a big day for both schools. Both are great academic institutions, and I mean, this goes back a long time,” he said. “There is a long history and tradition so it’s a great day…. it is more of an electric atmosphere because everyone gets together for one game, its almost indescribable.”

 “If you asked every one of them if they rather win the league, or the state title, they would all tell you that they would rather win the league right here today, and have a piece of this league, so that’s how important this win is,” said DiBenedetto.  

Girls’ soccer kicked things off at Carey Stadium at 10:45am.

“This is a great day, I think the players are really lucky to be able to play in these games. With the crowds and the alumni coming back, the emotions run high on this and it’s just a great day. It’s always a good game, every year,” said PC head coach Darci Borski.

The intensity and emotions were high from the second both teams walked on the field.

“It’s tradition, it’s legacy. With alumni back, it’s the biggest game we play all year,” said GA head coach Chris Nelson.

The Patriots took a quick 1-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game on the brisk, windy morning with a goal by senior captain Brynn Skelly. Shortly after, GA freshman Kiley Kergides scored a goal against the Quakers with 17:52 remaining, to increase the Patriots lead 2-0.

A somber Penn Charter team walked off to the side at the end of the first half and hoped to enter the second half with a new motivation.

Unfortunately for the Quakers, GA’s momentum continued in the second half. Within 30 seconds of returning onto the field, junior Mackenzie Pluck scored on the opening drive pushing her team even further ahead with a 3-0 lead.

The Inter-Ac Champs fought back and sophomore Emma Maley netted a huge goal to put the first score on the board for the Quakers. GA quickly responded Kergides headed to the net and kicked the ball right past the PC goalie. The score was 4-1.

With 27:02 left in the game, junior Gi DeMarco scored another goal off a penalty kick making the score 4-2 for PC.

The game continued back and forth with both teams fighting on offense and defense. At the 6-minute mark Mac Pluck passed a perfect ball to senior Jamie Hermance, who scored the Patriots fifth and final goal of the game.

GA beat PC 5-2 and Skelly walked away with the trophy after being named MVP.

“To play really well and to put everything together on a day like today, you know, I’m so proud of them,” Nelson said.

Germantown Academy’s field hockey team dominated the game with 26 shots on goal and 8 goals, 6 from center midfielder Sammy Popper. Although Penn Charter fought a long, defensive battle, they could not keep GA from walking away with the 8-0 victory.

Sophomore Sammy Popper, whose sixth goal of the game also marked her 100th career goal, explained the significance of the tradition’s impact on the teams.

“The tradition is such a school bonding moment, especially with the team breakfast and the pep rallies,” said Popper. “It’s also super important to celebrate our seniors and making this day special for them and everyone involved.”

GA head coach Matt Dence reflected on what it meant for him to coach in GA/PC’s 130th game

QB Kyle McCloskey talks about GA’s football program and earning the Inter-Ac title on GA-PC Day

McCloskey talks about the play that set up Mike Reilly’s 49-yard TD

Cue the main event: GA vs. PC football. It was a defensive first half, as the score was 0-0 at the end of the first two quarters. GA’s quarterback, Kyle McCloskey struck first with a 7-yard touchdown to put the Patriots up 7-0 with a little over 3 minutes left in the third quarter. Penn Charter sophomore running back Edward Saydee responded with his own touchdown to tie the game at seven a piece at the start of the fourth quarter. Patriot senior safety and wide receiver, Mike Reilly, scored a 49-yard touchdown but the lead wouldn’t last long as Saydee would score to tie the game 14-14 with four minutes remaining in the game. With just 2.4 seconds left, Patriots’ senior kicker Vincent Capone kicked a 22-yard game-winning field goal to mark the end of the game, officially awarding Germantown Academy the “Competition Cup”.

The 17-14 victory allowed Germantown Academy to capture a share of the Inter-AC championship with Malvern Prep. GA last won the league championship 12 years ago, a title in which they also shared with the Quakers and Episcopal Academy.

“To have this high school rivalry is special and so meaningful to so many people,” said GA coach Matt Dence. “Our kids are tough, they battle, they fight, they claw, they do whatever it takes to win games. We win a lot of games ugly, but it doesn’t matter as long as we’re up on the end.”        

Kyle McCloskey stressed the importance of the game and the teams’ long standing rivalry.

“It’s amazing. It’s the first time in 12 years that GA has won an Inter-Ac championship and to clinch it against our longest rival in such a heated game is amazing and will be something that I’ll be telling my kids about.”

Footage from the 130th game played between Germantown Academy & Penn Charter