For the second year in a row, the St. Ed’s girls soccer team secured the No. 1 seed in the District 10-1A postseason tournament and squared off against Holy Trinity Episcopal for the championship. The Pirates all but dedicated their season to reversing the 5-2 defeat they suffered last year when Holy Trinity hosted the event.
St. Ed’s hosted this year but the friendly turf didn’t bring about the desired result. Nobody could dent the net in a 1-0 loss that gave second-seeded Holy Trinity the district crown. The good news for the Pirates was that they would still play on; the winner and runner-up in the tourney are guaranteed spots in the regional quarterfinals.
Both teams breezed through the district semifinals – Holy Trinity 4-0 over Pine School, and St. Ed’s 5-0 over John Carroll. Elizabeth Zoltak, Alex Marshall, Anabelle Greene, Avery Gerber and Mia Festagallo scored for the Pirates. At that point the stage was set and head coach Jaclyn Pancotti had her team poised for a run at the district title.
Last Saturday night was the moment everyone associated with the St. Ed’s varsity girls soccer team was pointing to for the better part of an entire year. Playing the tournament at home would have made a district championship that much sweeter, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“We were peaking right after we came back from the holiday break,” Pancotti said after her team dominated the final two regular-season games by a combined score of 13-1. “The holidays gave everyone a nice little break from soccer and competition. The girls meshed together really well. The passing was great and no one was being selfish. The girls were just anxious to get to the district championship game against Holy Trinity.”
The game was delayed for 24 hours by heavy rain. After a scoreless first half ,Holy Trinity rallied at the 28:40 mark of the second half on a breakaway that appeared to be stopped until the ball leaked into the net.
Defeats have been few in Pancotti’s two-year stewardship of the St. Ed’s girls team. Her first team went 12-2-3, and this year the Pirates will enter the regionals at 11-2. The lone goal given up in the title game was only the ninth allowed all season. Seven shutouts and 57 goals scored are indicative of the level of talent on this team.
The last game of the regular season was also the traditional Senior Night featuring honorees Alyssa Motta, Alexis Paul, Caroline Campione and Melanie Coppola. The coach had lavish praise for their contributions.
“Senior Night was really emotional and we celebrated them,” Pancotti said. “We focused on the seniors when we came back from the break over the holidays. We wanted to make it known that we wouldn’t be where we are at without them. They have huge leadership roles in keeping the girls focused on being serious competitors, working hard in practice and attending to academics.”
Senior Alexis Paul provided some perspective on the drive for a championship, telling us, “I’ve been on the varsity soccer team for five years and I’ve transitioned through many different positions. Competing for a district title is very exciting, especially as a senior and knowing that this is your last year.
“The four seniors are very close and I think that helps us with team camaraderie. You want your team to win and we went into the final being very humble and not egotistical. We knew that we had a good chance of winning, but we had to play our game, the game that we know.
“But we wanted to make this enjoyable and make it the best year. And make it count.”
That can still happen even though the district title slipped away. Still alive in the postseason, the next challenge for the Pirates is a regional match this Thursday against Lakeland Christian.
Sophomore Ally Eidemueller was one of several hot goal scorers down the stretch. She came to St. Ed’s as a freshman and immediately landed a spot on the varsity. “My freshman year was pretty difficult when I broke my leg during preconditioning, but coming back makes it even more important for me to do my best.
“The reason that I can get the ball into the back of the net so many times is that I have a great team to back me up. We really play well off of each other. We’ve been working hard for the whole season, and the group thinking was obviously that we wanted to win the championship, especially on our home field.”
St. Ed’s Hall of Fame athletic director Jeff Lamscha coached the girls soccer team to over 300 wins before turning the reins over to Pancotti, but a little bit of the coach remains.
“I am proud of what Jaclyn has done with the program,” Lamscha said. “She keeps it going in the right direction. It has been a very successful season. It’s been great to see the girls develop.
“We were excited about hosting the district tournament and, sure, I was a little nervous. I’ve still got my feet in the water.”