PHILADELPHIA-- What a season for the Springside Chestnut Hill Academy Blue Devils girls’ soccer team.  A remarkable road to the PIASAA final championship game.  

Talk about fairytale endings, though this one may not be a victory of norm by a scoreboard, but a season of triumphs through determination.

For the Blue Devils making it to the final game was, you may say, just a dream…. a dream strong enough to come true.

With an overall record of (13-9-1) and a league record of (4-7-1) the road to that final game came with a first PIASAA round 3-0 win against George School. A second-round win against Friends Central, which went into two five minute OT periods and a 4-1 victory in penalty kicks, garnered the Blue Devils a spot in the semifinals against top seeded and Inter-Ac Champions Penn Charter. That, 1-0 victory against the Quakers, gave SCHA their first trip to the state finals in program history.

 We had nothing to lose, we were the underdogs all season long, and wanted to prove that when we come to play that we can not only stay with but also defeat the best in the league. The energy of the whole team, including the bench, was contagious and when Junior Emily McNesby scored on a perfectly placed free kick right before halftime, the energy of the entire team went to the next level. I told the team at halftime that they were 40 minutes away from making school history, and they did. I have seen shades of brilliance with the girls all throughout the year,” said first year head coach Maria Kosmin. “When they come to play, they can stay with and defeat the best. It is great to see that the girls are starting to believe this as well, and not just me as their coach.”

That belief propelled them to the state final championships on November 16th at Immaculata University against Westtown School.   The Blue Devils maintained their presence on the field and held Westtown to a scoreless first. But, it was a lone score by Westtown sophomore Relly Ladner in the second half that ended the Blue Devils' streak, but not their spirit.

Below is a video recap by PSD video journalist Steve Bonetz of the final championship game with an interview with SCHA junior Emily McNesby a University of Tennessee recruit and head coach Maria Kosmin. 

Congratulations on a great season!

“I am extremely proud of what these girls have accomplished this year. I really had no idea what to expect coming in as a first-year coach.  Our top goal scorer graduated, another top player was out with an injury as well as our GK from last year not returning,” said Kosmin. “The returning players who have stepped up tremendously as well as the freshman coming in really blended well together. Sophomore Sena Houessou-Adin stepped into goal and owned the position all year, making huge saves at crucial moments of the game. We had a mindset in the beginning of the year that we didn't have to outplay every team but we had to outwork them.”