BRYN MAWR, PA-- It has been an amazing season for the William Penn Charter School Quakers’ soccer team. That momentum continued on Friday, October 19, 2018 at the home of the Agnes Irwin Owls in Inter Ac League action.
Through a total team effort and unselfish play, Penn Charter upset Agnes Irwin in a 4-1 decision.
“We were spreading the ball quickly, sharing it and everyone was getting a piece of it,” said junior Sara Shipon who finished with two goals. “It was a team effort.”
With this outcome, Penn Charter remained undefeated at 12-0-1 on the season. The Quakers tied one match on Sept. 14th against Springside Chestnut Hill but emerged victorious in all others. They are presently on an eight-game winning streak.
WPC junior Sara Shipon talks about her team's victory (video- Dan McCarty for PSD)
“They’re at the top of the league for a reason,” said Agnes Irwin head coach Mike Welsh. “They’re a good team.”
Agnes Irwin dropped to 1-7 in the league and 3-7 overall. It has been a year for the Owls to rebuild their program with only four seniors on the roster and several underclassmen stepping up.
Defenders and midfielders on both sides were especially dominant in the first half. Penn Charter sophomore Janae Stewart scored four minutes into the action. AIS junior Natalie Pansini answered back shortly after the midpoint of the half and the score was tied 1-1 for quite some time. The Owls managed to keep the strong kicking Quakers away from the net for the remainder of the period.
“I think our first half was really good because we were playing as a team,” said Pansini. “Once we scored that goal to tie it up, it just gave us confidence. We were really in the game.”
AIS junior Natalie Pancini (Princeton commit lacrosse) talks about how this season was instrumental as a building block for next year (video- Dan McCarty for PSD).
The second stanza was an entirely different story. Shipon took a 2-0 sprint of her own and Penn Charter sealed a permanent lead.
That was not all. Senior Emma Maley registered a goal with 17:45 in regulation and that was the game.
“Getting three more goals in the second half, we played as a team,” said Stewart. “It put us in the mood to keep going forward and put us back in the game.”
“The second half was tough,” said Welsh. “It was well played.”
Junior goalkeeper Amelia Leyden kept Agnes Irwin’s defense in the game.
WPC sophomore Janae Stewart, who scored the first goal against the Irwins, talks about their second-half surge (video-Dan McCarty for PSD).
“I think that in the first half our midfield played really well but in the second half changed the formation,” said Leyden. “They were definitely more of a threat in the second half when it was more difficult for our defense to handle them.”
It is back to league action Tuesday, October 23, with Agnes Irwin hosting Germantown Academy (4:00 PM).
Penn charter hits the road to take on Baldwin Friday, October 26, at 4:00.
Penn Charter vs. Agnes Irwin (video- Dan McCarty)