After wild 2nd half, Dock Mennonite gets past Springdale to repeat as Class A state champs

By: Michael Love
Friday, November 15, 2024 | 10:15 PM

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MECHANICSBURG — There was a mix of tears in the eyes and pride in the hearts of the members of the Springdale girls soccer team in the moments following a 4-3 loss to District 1 champion Dock Mennonite in Friday’s PIAA Class A title game in Mechanicsburg.

Dynamos coach Marc Bentley said he couldn’t have been prouder of his players, who fell behind by two goals at halftime and rallied twice in the second half before finally succumbing to the now back-to-back PIAA champion Pioneers.

“The girls had just an absolutely tremendous season,” Bentley said. “That second half, it would’ve been easy to go into it and think that the game was over with the way (Dock Mennonite) can play, but the girls dug deep and came back. We were pressing for the equalizer at the end and had a couple of good chances.”

Springdale, which played in a state championship game for the fourth time in program history and first time since 2011, finished its season at 20-2 overall. The WPIAL champions had won 11 in a row, including seven straight in the postseason, before Friday’s loss.

“We’re walking off the field with our heads held high,” Bentley said.

Dock Mennonite (21-3) won its second straight PIAA Class A title. The Pioneers defeated Riverview, 5-1, on the same field at Cumberland Valley’s Eagle View Middle School last year.

“There was a lot of pressure on the girls,” Pioneers coach Stacey Valtis-Dubost said. “Right when the season started, the first question people would ask was, ‘Are you going to go for a repeat?’ But the girls took it one game at a time and were able to get back here. We were just happy to be here two years in a row. That was an accomplishment in itself. We talked right before the game that it was still an honor to be back on this field. Under the lights and in beautiful weather, the girls were just ready to go.”

The teams combined for five goals in an eight-minute span of the second half.

Down 2-0 at halftime, Springdale struck quickly to tie the game with goals 11 seconds apart in the 46th minute.

The Dynamos pulled to within one with 34:34 left on the clock as senior Briana Ross drove in and crossed the ball to freshman Tessa Derringer, who finished the scoring play from close range.

Senior Brooke Taliani then tied the score with a successful attempt at the 34:23 mark.

But the Pioneers responded to the Springdale uprising and scored twice in a 2:41 span to regain their two-goal advantage.

Sophomore Ashley Brown took a shot from about 10 yards that Springdale senior keeper Baileigh Haas deflected away, but the ball came to Gretchen German, who cleaned up the loose ball for the go-ahead goal with 30:12 remaining on the second-half clock.

Brown then scored her second of the game at the 27:31 mark to extend the Pioneers’ lead to 4-2.

But the Dynamos didn’t fold their tents and struck back with 26:47 left on Ross’s 42nd goal of the season to draw back to within one at 4-3.

“That was entertaining, for sure, with so many strong plays made by great players,” Bentley said. “You go back to the WPIAL title game where we scored three goals in six minutes or whatever it was. We came back and had a lot of momentum, so when they got their third and fourth goals there, to be honest, it was a little deflating. But again, the girls didn’t give up, and it speaks to their resilience.”

Dock Mennonite finished the game with a 10-9 advantage in shots and 7-6 in shots on goal.

Each goalkeeper — Haas and Dock’s Emily Markel — made three saves.

“The girls were able to hang in there, and we switched some people around, and man-marked people we had to,” Valtis-Dubost said.

“That No. 12 on their team (Ross), she is a nice player. We had some injuries. People were hurting. But the girls were resilient enough. They knew that this was it and was what they had worked hard for since the summer. They needed to put everything they had on that field, and they did it.”

The Pioneers broke the scoreless tie with 6:13 left until halftime as Brown, who has more than 90 goals scored in her first two varsity seasons, took control of the ball at 30 yards, turned on the speed past a pair of Springdale defenders, and delivered a well-struck shot that got by Haas for the score.

The Pioneers came right back with one minute left before the break as Brown fed junior Ava Stokes, who took a shot that found the back of the net to extend it to a two-goal advantage.

Friday marked the final varsity game on the field for seniors Ross, Taliani, Haas, and Molly Hurley. Fellow senior Carissa Walsh, injured in the PIAA first-round game against Conemaugh Township, was not able to play Friday.

“I just say thank you for all they have done for this program,” Bentley said. “We’ve been at or near the top all the time they’ve been at the school. We win a WPIAL title this year, get to a state final and are very competitive in that state final. I am incredibly proud of them for all of their dedication and hard work.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Springdale