The Saucon Valley Girls Soccer team clinched a big win Wednesday, toppling rival Southern Lehigh 2-1.
Two quality girls soccer teams–Saucon Valley and Southern Lehigh–met on a somewhat muddy and marshy Lower Saucon field Wednesday, but only one would walk away with the win and that was the home-team Panthers.
Saucon Valley (6-0 in the Colonial League) struck immediately when Caroline Gilbert (Jr.) made a run down the sideline and crossed the ball into the box. Appoline Neveu was on the other end of Gilbert’s serve and finished for a goal only :28 seconds into the contest.
The teams took turns pressuring one another’s defense for the remainder of the half, but the scoreboard still read 1-0 at halftime.
Saucon Valley seemed to carry the play most of the second half and it paid off with 16:05 remaining in the game. Brooke Riefenstahl (Sr.) took a corner kick and found her twin sister Kiele camped out in front of the net. Riefenstahl hit a header from the near post toward the far post and into the back of the net to make it a 2-0 advantage for the Panthers.
Fantastic fast-paced footwork by Saucon’s Brooke Riefenstahl.
Southern Lehigh kept fighting and with just under three minutes left to play converted after a chaotic scramble in front of the goal.
The Spartans threatened til the end, but Saucon Valley held on and played strong for the important win.
With 2:42 left in the contest Southern Lehigh was threatening.
The Panthers, however, stepped up their defense to close out the game with a 2-1 victory over the Spartans. Saucon improved to 7-0 in the Colonial League while Southern Lehigh dropped to a 6-1 record.
“It is always a big victory when you can beat a quality team like Southern Lehigh,” said Coach Stevie Ochse after the game. “They are the three-time defending Colonial League champions and we know we will have another tough game against them in playoffs. Until then, we want to continue to control our own playoff destiny by having strong showing against our Colonial League competition.”
“What makes this victory even sweeter is that both goals were beautiful executed,” she added. “Nice crosses with clinical finishing!”
Coach Stevie Ochse talks to her team after their win.
Up Next: Saucon Valley will look to improve their record to 8-0 with a Saturday morning showdown at Moravian Academy (4-2-1). Southern Lehigh will host Bangor (4-3). Kickoff for both games is scheduled for 10 a.m.
Saucon Valley Girls Soccer team members enjoy the dual feelings of elation and exhaustion after their hard-fought win. For more photos of the game by Chris Christian, please scroll down.
About This Series: Andrew & Sonya Hughes of Hellertown are sponsoring girls soccer coverage on Saucon Source to help recognize the achievements of female high school athletes here in Saucon Valley, and in tribute to their own daughters, who were both stand-out student athletes at their high school, where they played softball, soccer, basketball and field hockey. Between the two of them they earned 14 varsity letters in high school. “Female athletics was a big part of our family life for many years, but that journey ended at the high school level six years ago,” Andrew Hughes says. “Through those amazing experiences we also noticed that females don’t seem to have the same level of exposure and support as their male counterparts. So we are very sensitive to situations where we perceive an imbalance of exposure of female student athlete participation in competitive high school sports. We also like to encourage greater involvement of young people in athletics. We would like to help the girls gain more exposure at your news source by adopting some girls high school teams.” Saucon Source thanks Andrew & Sonya Hughes for their thoughtful and generous support of our local sports coverage. Note: To purchase a photo seen here, please visit Chris Christian’s photo site.
