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Bear, Del. —
Alexis I. duPont High School received one goal each from junior midfielders Lauren Davis and Maddie McCormick en route to a 2-0 victory over archrival Charter School of Wilmington in the DIAA Girls Soccer State Tournament championship Friday night at Caravel Academy.
And the Tigers' defense, led by goalkeeper Anna Bradley and a defense/midfield of Cynthia Hagerty, Morgan Figliola, Stephanie Swain, Natalie Stanek, Maria Pinto and Stephanie Davis stymied Charter's offense.
"We shut out every single team in this tournament and you did a great job," A.I. coach Megan O'Donnell told her team as they celebrated. This was A.I.'s first girls soccer state championship since 2004 and sixth since the tournament began in 1995.
"It was a great game, fast paced," said O'Donnell, who won a state championship as a senior with St. Mark's in 2000. "It was a total team win. Every single player helped get [us] here. It's something special for us."
Charter's defense, led by Natalie Rinschler, Rachel Fry, Natalie Medlock and goalkeeper Kristi Jackson, also did an admirable job in keeping a close game tense until DIAA player of the year McCormick scored in the 75th minute to pretty much ice the game for the Tigers. Rinschler, just a freshman, just about matched McCormick, a junior, in speed, one of her strongest sutis. But McCormick's goal came on a free kick from the left side that sailed into the right side of the net to complete a perfect ark from 27 yards out.
A.I. duPont's first goal came in the seventh minute of the first half after Davis took a cross field pass from A.I. junior Katie Parks with her chest and then drilled the ball in -- also from 27 yards out, amazingly enough.
"I just kicked it as hard as I could," said Davis, of Hockessin. "At first I was like, this could be one of those shots that go over. But I knew it was in."
Shortly after Davis' score, McCormick was threatening again on a breakaway that was thwarted when the Charter goalie, Jackson, came out of goal to smother the ball.
Charter forward Catherine McNicol, defender Vanniesha Bennett and forward Simone Jabbour tried to develop some movement upfield, but A.I.'s Hagerty disrupted their plans with a steal.
Just before the half ended, A.I. was threatening again as McCormick battled with Rinschler for the ball in the left corner. McCormick got off a strong shot that Charter's Jackson batted away after leaping to her left.
Alexis I. duPont High School received one goal each from junior midfielders Lauren Davis and Maddie McCormick en route to a 2-0 victory over archrival Charter School of Wilmington in the DIAA Girls Soccer State Tournament championship Friday night at Caravel Academy.
And the Tigers' defense, led by goalkeeper Anna Bradley and a defense/midfield of Cynthia Hagerty, Morgan Figliola, Stephanie Swain, Natalie Stanek, Maria Pinto and Stephanie Davis stymied Charter's offense.
"We shut out every single team in this tournament and you did a great job," A.I. coach Megan O'Donnell told her team as they celebrated. This was A.I.'s first girls soccer state championship since 2004 and sixth since the tournament began in 1995.
"It was a great game, fast paced," said O'Donnell, who won a state championship as a senior with St. Mark's in 2000. "It was a total team win. Every single player helped get [us] here. It's something special for us."
Charter's defense, led by Natalie Rinschler, Rachel Fry, Natalie Medlock and goalkeeper Kristi Jackson, also did an admirable job in keeping a close game tense until DIAA player of the year McCormick scored in the 75th minute to pretty much ice the game for the Tigers. Rinschler, just a freshman, just about matched McCormick, a junior, in speed, one of her strongest sutis. But McCormick's goal came on a free kick from the left side that sailed into the right side of the net to complete a perfect ark from 27 yards out.
A.I. duPont's first goal came in the seventh minute of the first half after Davis took a cross field pass from A.I. junior Katie Parks with her chest and then drilled the ball in -- also from 27 yards out, amazingly enough.
"I just kicked it as hard as I could," said Davis, of Hockessin. "At first I was like, this could be one of those shots that go over. But I knew it was in."
Shortly after Davis' score, McCormick was threatening again on a breakaway that was thwarted when the Charter goalie, Jackson, came out of goal to smother the ball.
Charter forward Catherine McNicol, defender Vanniesha Bennett and forward Simone Jabbour tried to develop some movement upfield, but A.I.'s Hagerty disrupted their plans with a steal.
Just before the half ended, A.I. was threatening again as McCormick battled with Rinschler for the ball in the left corner. McCormick got off a strong shot that Charter's Jackson batted away after leaping to her left.
A.I. kept the pressure on as forward Daidra Ciroalo's shot hit the crossbar on the right side of the net.
Charter finally invaded Tigers territory to allow a nice shot on goal by forward Michelle Lonergan, but A.I. defender Swain blocked the shot, literally taking one for the team.
Charter came out firing in the second half as midfielder Libby Amer's shot was blocked by A.I.'s Bradley. Then, Wilmington's Jabbour and midfielder Jantje Schelp tried to develop another opportunity only to have A.I.'s Stanek break it up.
Charter midfielder Sam Procak ended some of the frustration by getting off a shot that sailed wide right.
And Charter's Maddy Lang, Lonergan, Jabbour and Procak tried to keep the pressure on. But a flag on Wilmington gave possession to A.I., which promptly sent midfielder Haley McNulty downfield for two consecutive shots blocked by Charter's Jackson.
This back-and-forth between the Red Clay school district rivals continued for a spell until McCormick nailed the shot that would prove to be the nail in the coffin.
"I've taken free kicks a lot for the team and every time it's gone over [the goal post]," said McCormick, of Hockessin. "I went up there and said, 'Calm down Maddie; just take your time.' And it went in. I was so excited.
"We came out in the second half thinking it was 0-0," she added. "We knew they were going to come out twice as hard. This is the best revenge. They can beat us in the season, but we want the state championship."
Charter coach Jon Gillespie, whose team beat A.I. 3-0 during the season, gave A.I. credit for earning a well deserved win. As for his team, injuries caught up to the Force. Charter lost three key players in forward Tyus Walker, left back Vanniesha Bennett and center mid Nathalie Torres in the tournament.
"I told the girls that we just ran out of gas," Gillespie said. "We had a tough road to the finals. I give [A.I.] credit, though. They deserve it."
