2 weeks Ago By Andrew Robinson
BUCKINGHAM — Everything was on the line until Ava Mignon intervened. The Central Bucks East sophomore midfielder saw her keeper out of the goal, the ball loose and several Pennridge players in the vicinity ready to pounce, so she turned on the jets that make her a standout track athlete. Mignon made not one, but two crucial blocks to maintain the one-goal lead the attack had worked so hard to create.
A total team effort led the Patriots to a 1-0 win over Pennridge on Tuesday, East taking a regular-season sweep of the defending state champion Rams and a two-game lead in the SOL Colonial Division. “We just stayed connected the whole time,” Mignon said. “We found each other, we played as a team and it really showed tonight.
Going against the state champs and playing like that, we were together tonight and we showed up.” CB East defeated Pennridge 2-1 on Sept. 6, handing the Rams their first loss since Nov.
2022 in the PIAA-4A title game after being the only team to pull points off the state champs last year in a 1-1 draw on Sept. 6, 2023. Mignon and her teammates came into Tuesday’s return leg confident they could win again, but not expecting it to be easy.
Both teams created some excellent opportunities throughout an 80-minute duel that went end-to-end and tested both sides. East (14-1-0, 7-0 SOL Colonial) senior Madelyn Hill scored the only tally with 12:09 to play, putting one away after sophomore Mia Forney made a fantastic run down the right wing before cutting into the box and playing a ball across to Hill in front of goal. It was the type of play this group has made all season, individual talents combining for an overall result.
“This is a game that could have gone either way,” East coach Jake Nesteruk said. “There’s another universe where Pennridge walks out of this 1-0, there’s no doubt about it. Ultimately for us, as a back line we made the adjustments we needed to make against those kids, both keepers played exceptionally well and did the things they do right and you had a midfield in front of that back line that cared about protecting their back four.
” Pennridge (13-2-0, 5-2 SOL Colonial) has won or shared an SOL title every season from 2016-23 and while the Rams aren’t eliminated from a division title yet, they are also preparing for the postseason. Tuesday night was an excellent test, Pennridge putting together a strong second half that included everything but a goal after ceding momentum to the hosts in the opening 40 minutes. Goalkeeper Seretha DeMoss had a solid game for the Rams, making six saves and alert play just before the half when she stopped a deflected shot off a defender from going into the net while center backs Addy Mills and Gabby Herrmann covered a lot of ground.
Pennridge generated some good looks, Emma Shaeffer forcing East’s Aralynn Patterson into an incredible save to keep it scoreless, but couldn’t convert the one it needed. “We talked before the game how much this game matters, it’s good to play a team like East this late in the season before going into the postseason,” Rams coach Audrey Anderson said. “It helps us get ourselves into that mindset of ‘let’s take care of business and let’s play good soccer.
’ I thought our second half we played great and defensively we were outstanding, they capitalized on an opportunity and we didn’t.” Ava Mignon is a third-generation Patriot, following older sisters Izzy – now a senior playing at Holy Family – and Sofia – a freshman starter at NJIT – in the midfield. East has made states the last three seasons and played for a district title two years ago but this is a new team blending young players, some veterans and a few upperclassmen getting their first real chance to contribute, so Mignon said it took a little time for them to come together.
Mignon is one of five sophomore starters along with Forney, Kiera Sleicher and twins Taylor and Ella Roumy. Junior Aralynn Patterson and senior Mae Leedy have shared the goal all year, seniors Sydney Ralph and Savannah Hayes have taken the center back spots in their first year as regular varsity contributors, Hill and Stella Genin have slotted into starting spots as seniors and midfielder Jessie Bernabe – a senior committed to Buffalo – keeps the team linked between the backs and attack. “I think going back to the beginning of September, we were a little bit disconnected and not really playing as a team,” Mignon said.
“Now, we’re more connected, playing together and communicating. We move off the ball for each other and we’re there for each other as opposed to the beginning of the year when we all tried to play more of our own game.” Five minutes after taking the lead, East’s hold on it was tenuous.
Patterson had come off her line to challenge Pennridge’s Caitlyn Peace for the ball, disrupting but not clearing the attack. Mignon was right there to boot the ball away from Peace but only a few yards away to Gabriella Howley, who would have had a clean look at an open goal. Except Mignon chased her first kick and made a split-second before Howley connected to get the ball out of play.
The sophomore said something she tried to take away from sharing the field with her sister last year was to keep the game simple and not do too much but also be willing to work for any of her teammates that need her. That approach is shared around the field as East starts in on the last stretch before the playoffs. “We have to keep playing to the standard we’ve been playing,” Mignon said.
“No game is easy, but if we keep playing the way we’ve been playing, I think we’re going to find the right way.” Central Bucks East 1, Pennridge 0 Pennridge 0 0 – 0 Central Bucks East 0 1 – 1 Goals: CBE – Madelyn Hill (Ava Mignon)..
