After a long fight for their season, Pennridge women’s soccer had one more game to make their dreams come true. Since their first day of preseason in August, the seniors of the Pennridge Lady Rams soccer team have had one goal in mind: winning the state championship. With the new guidelines put in place regarding COVID-19, it was uncertain whether or not the Lady Rams would get a shot in the state tournament.

After PIAA released the news that there would be one team from District 1 playing in the state tournament, the Lady Rams knew that it was going to take strength and dedication from every player to accomplish their goal. Senior captain Lindsey DeHaven stated that “everyone was willing to give their all and if we weren’t going to play for ourselves, we were going to play for the seniors. Even the freshmen were on board with this.”

Senior defender Kera Dam said that “this team will always mean something to all of us. It is more than just a soccer team, it is one huge family that will last forever.” Fellow senior defender Cady McKean explained that “this team is more of a family than anything. We all have such a strong bond that we are willing to do anything for each other,” and this showed at Hershey Park on November 21^st.

It was a chilly fall night in Hershey, PA and the Lady Rams had the opportunity to accomplish their goal for the season. Both Pennridge and North Allegheny battled through 80 hard minutes of regulation time and 27 minutes of overtime.  It wasn’t until the second overtime that junior captain Leah Malone dribbled past 3 North Allegheny defenders and rifled a 24-yard shot past Tigers’ goalkeeper Julianna Werner into the top right corner of the net for the game-winner.

The Lady Rams stormed the field and tackled each other in excitement. Their dream had come true. The Pennridge Lady Rams made school history, winning the first ever PIAA 4A State Championship since any team since 1987.

The 9 Pennridge seniors explained that they have never felt something like that moment before.  Lindsey DeHaven said that “it still hasn’t even hit me. This moment is so incredibly special to all of us and we are just trying to enjoy it.” Agreeing with DeHaven, junior midfielder Riley Hepler stated that “it is so exciting to see how much our hard work has paid off. We all wanted to do this for the seniors. We were all so close this year and we weren’t going to let anything get in our way.”

The seniors of Pennridge described the end of their high school soccer careers as “bittersweet.” While they ended in the best possible way, they wished it could last forever.