SCH junior Emily McNesby (white jersey) had the full attention of the GA defense, but proved very difficult to contain. From left to right are Patriots players Brynn Skelly, Riley Axenroth, and Shannon Hill. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

In girls' soccer, whatever records exist of a victory by Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (or the old Springside School) over Germantown Academy certainly predate the digital era.

At home for their 2016 Inter-Ac League opener last Friday afternoon, the SCH Blue Devils broke a drought of undetermined length when they engineered a 4-3 win over the Patriots, the defending Pennsylvania Independent School champions.

Junior Emily McNesby, who has verbally committed to the University of Tennessee, scored twice in each half for the Devils, giving the hosts an early 2-0 lead, and then lifting them out of a 2-2 halftime tie with her next two goals. The Patriots completed the final tally by depositing their third goal with a little under seven minutes remaining in the second half.

GA had several late chances to tie, but SCH sophomore goalie Sena Houessou-Adin refused to give up the equalizer, completing a 10-save

performance with some very dramatic stops.

While this match was the league opener for Springside Chestnut Hill, the Patriots had faced defending Inter-Ac champion Episcopal Academy three days earlier, losing 1-0 on the road after a promising late shot hit a goalpost. At week's end, GA had an overall record of 7-4-1 and was 0-2 in the league, while SCH had improved to 5-0, 1-0.

Earlier last week, SCH had drilled Shipley School in a non-league match, 5-0, while the day after GA battled Episcopal, the Patriots handled Hill School, 5-2, as junior Mackenzie Pluck produced two goals and two assists.

During the school day on Friday, the Blue Devils' McNesby related, her team had eaten lunch together and focused on the challenge they'd face that afternoon.

"We got each other gift bags and we wrote little notes to each other to get up for the game," she said. "We walked onto the field together, because we knew we really had to play as a team today."

That intention drove the action in the early minutes of the game, when SCH launched the initial attacks and had McNesby and fellow junior Grace Rorke get off the first shots of the afternoon. After GA served the ball into the box at the other end and Houessou-Adin grabbed it, the Blue Devils went back on the attack.

One-on-three, McNesby still managed to get off a shot that was saved by GA's freshman keeper, Meaghan Toscano, then the SCH standout sent a long shot from the left wing past the far goalpost.

GA had some numbers coming upfield a little later, but the Pats' last pass toward the 18 was hit too hard and the ball was pocketed by the SCH keeper. A little short of the 15-minute mark, the visitors survived another scare at the opposite end when SCH sophomore Mo'ne Davis delivered the ball inside and McNesby banged it into the left post.

The junior would eventually find the netting between the uprights with 22:30 left in the opening period, scoring from close range with an assist from sophomore Kylie Quinn.

Just over three minutes later Springside Chestnut Hill led 2-0. On one throw-in from about 30 yards up the right sideline, GA knocked the ball out of bounds, then SCH freshman Abbie Rorke (sister of Grace) made another attempt. This time she delivered the ball into the near side of the box, where McNesby settled it, spun, and fired into the bullseye.

"We've been struggling to get out of the gate in a number of games," noted GA head coach Chris Nelson. "We're playing from behind a lot."

The second SCH goal stirred the Patriots to generate a more intense effort up front. Pluck, a junior national team selection who's decided to play for Duke, sent a direct kick inside with around 16 minutes to go in the half, but the Devils' Grace Rorke cleared the ball out. SCH transitioned and got a good shot from McNesby, then after Toscano made a difficult diving stop for GA the Pats went back on the attack.

Sophomore Ally Clark dribbled through three defenders to free herself for a shot, but Houessou-Adin advanced to block the ball.

With 10:23 to go in the half, GA got on the board when Pluck volleyed in a ball bouncing in the middle of the box. The remaining minutes of the half constituted one of the few periods of the game when the Blue Devils let themselves get outhustled.

Eventually, this resulted in a tying goal for the Patriots, courtesy of senior co-captain Brynn Skelly. She knotted the score with just 2:37 remaining in the opening stanza.

Skelly's classmate and fellow captain, Emily Williams, was away at a family event during Friday's game, while junior Rachel Villari, who can play midfield or defense, was sidelined for medical reasons. Still, GA had recovered from its early shortfall to come back and level the score.

GA's Nelson agreed that the two markers late in the first half sent his team into the halftime huddle with some momentum, but he noted that early in the second period, "they took the momentum right back from us."

During the intermission, the Springsiders had heard some sobering talk about giving up the early lead, and McNesby related, "GA is a great team, so we knew if we didn't come out hard we could end up on the wrong end of the game."

The junior said that early in the match, "GA was playing four in the back with one tight to me and the rest covering. I think maybe they didn't know about the strong freshmen we have, so I think that when the rest of our team stepped up it made them change things around a bit. It helped open things up for me."

SCH sophomore goalie Sena Houessou-Adin is seen tipping a shot just clear of the goalcage early in the second half. Later, she would make two similar saves to preserve the Blue Devils' one-goal lead. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

SCH applied a good deal of pressure in the third quarter of play, but Toscano and the GA defense kept the 2-2 tally in place, and on the sidelines the league's overtime rules began to be discussed.

The issue would be decided in regulation, though; with 16:38 and 6:59 showing on the clock McNesby rang up her third and fourth goals of the day (giving her 17 in her five outings this season). For her third marker, she penetrated in along the left endline and gunned the ball over inside the right post, and for number four she maneuvered in the left side of the box to split a GA double-team and shoot into the net.

As in the first half, a two-goal deficit sparked GA. From outside the box a little to the right of center, Skelly turned with the ball to deposit her second goal of the contest, closing up the score to 4-3 with five minutes left to play.

Propelled by Pluck, the Patriots pushed hard for the tying goal down the stretch, but on two strong shots that seemed about to rise up just under the crossbar, SCH's Houessou-Adin tipped the ball up and out of danger.

"I thought she won the game for them in the second half," GA's Nelson said afterward. "She had two outstanding saves at the end."

First-year SCH coach Maria Kosmin also praised freshman Madison Niebish for her marking of the dangerous Pluck throughout the game.

McNesby felt persistence had been a key attribute for her squad.

"Our team never gave up, our defense never gave up, even when they were really on us at the end," she remarked.

As Springside Chestnut Hill's primary offensive weapon, McNesby came in for kudos from GA mentor Nelson.

"She did a great job - we didn't have an answer for her today," he summed up. "Even when we had her marked up well, she was able to do just enough to get some space and get off her shot. She played a fantastic game."