Glassboro, Audubon & Souderton capture first high school soccer state titles

Villa Joseph Marie girls won a 10th title and Salesianum boys picked up state title No. 16 in Delaware

It took penalties for Glassboro boys and Audubon girls and overtime for Souderton girls to capture their school’s first high school state titles over the weekend in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Glassboro won a penalty shootout with New Providence to capture the school’s first Group 1 boys soccer state thanks to a pair of saves by goalkeeper Griffin Rogers, whose disputed handball outside the box in last year’s final led to Glassboro’s defeat in overtime. Freshman goalkeeper Aysia Maldonado came up with a penalty save in Audubon’s shootout to seal her school’s first ever title in the Group 1 girls final.

At Hersheypark, it was sophomore Averie Doughty’s overtime goal that won the Souderton girls team its first state championship in the Class 4A final. Souderton won 1-0 over nearby Pennridge in what amounted to a Bucks County state title derby in Hershey.

Also in Hershey, Wilson defeated Radnor in the Class 4A boys final with a controversial goal with 17 seconds left to capture the school’s first state title since 1992. Victor Vottero delivered the late winner after the ball deflected to him in the box and he put the ball past the keeper. Radnor defender Josh Savadove cleared the ball off the underside of the bar but it was ruled a goal.

Radnor was one of two Delaware County programs to come up short in Hershey over the weekend. Strath Haven fell 4-0 on Friday night to West Allegheny in the Class 3A boys final. Fleetwood won the Class 2A final 3-2 with a golden goal from Aidan Negron in overtime to capture the program’s fourth state title and first since 2000.

The other state title captured by a school from southeastern Pennsylvania was Villa Joseph Marie’s 10th in the Class 3A final with a 1-0 win over Blue Mountain. The lone goal from Riley Regan came with five minutes left in regulation.

Salesianum School continued its dominance in Delaware scholastic soccer with a 3-2 win over Appoquinimink in the D1 boys final to capture the school’s ninth straight and 16th overall title. Penn Fusion Academy midfielder Drew Blackwell had a brace and Ben Strine scored on a free kick to lead the Sallies past Jaguars for the third straight year.

Caravel Academy won the D2 final for the second straight year with a 2-1 overtime win over Wilmington Friends School. Cristos Criniti scored the winner for the Buccaneers, which won a D2 title in 2014 and once in 2009 before the divisions split.

Washington Township boys and Eastern girls each won their school’s third state titles in New Jersey over the weekend. Eastern edged Bridgewater-Raritan 1-0 on a goal with less than five minutes remaining from junior midfielder Kelli McGroarty. The title was the first for the Vikings since winning back-to-back Group 4 crowns in 2005-2006.

The Minutemen captured their first state title in three years with a 2-0 win over Morris Knolls in the Group 4 final at Kean University. Justin Batista opened the scoring in the 58th minute and GianLuca Lockhart tacked on an insurance goal in the 66th minute. Washington Township won back-to-back titles in 2014-2015.

State Final Scores

Delaware

Boys
Division 1 final - Salesianum 3 Appoquinimink 2
Division 2 final - Caravel 2 Friends 1 (OT)
Girls
Girls soccer is a spring sport in Delaware

New Jersey

Boys
Group 4 final - Washington Township 2 Morris Knolls 1
Group 1 final - Glassboro 0 (4) New Providence 0 (2)

Girls
Group 4 final - Eastern 1 Bridgewater-Raritan 0
Group 3 final - Moorestown 0 Northern Highlands 1
Group 1 final - Audubon 0 (4) Glen Ridge 0 (2)

Pennsylvania

Boys
Class 4A final - Wilson 1 Radnor 0
Class 3A final - Strath Haven 0 West Allegheny 4
Class 2A final - Fleetwood 3 Deer Lakes 2 (OT)

Girls
Class 3A final - Villa Joseph Marie 1 Blue Mountain 0
Class 4A final - Pennridge 0 Souderton 1 (OT)