Caesar Rodney goalie Marianna Nuzzo makes a save on a point-blank header from Padua’s Anne Brush in the first half of the DIAA Division I state title game at Smyrna High School on Friday.
Padua’s Sarah Brush (center) celebrates her opening goal with Mackenzie Scully (left) and Molly Drach in the first half against Caesar Rodney in the DIAA Division I state title game at Smyrna High School on Friday.
SMYRNA – There weren’t many storms for the Padua soccer team to weather this season.
The Pandas had to weather one Friday night.
Caesar Rodney put a jolt into Padua with only the second goal the Pandas had allowed all season. But the four-time defending DIAA Division I Girls Soccer Tournament champions shrugged it off and made it five straight with a 4-1 victory in the championship game at Charles V. Williams Stadium.
“As a coaching staff, it was mystery to us,” Padua coach Joe Brown said. “How would we respond if we got scored on today? … This senior team has lost only twice since they’ve been in the building. They know what they need to do.”
The Pandas (18-0) got it done to stretch their unbeaten streak to 41 games. Padua is currently ranked third nationally by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, and will keep its fingers crossed to climb the last two spots when the final rankings are released in a couple of weeks.
The Pandas controlled possession in their attacking end for at least 80 percent of the first half, generating chance after chance. Riders goalkeeper Marianna Nuzzo did her best to withstand the onslaught, smothering a header from close range in the seventh minute and punching Emilia Ryjewski’s 25-yard drive over the bar in the 12th minute.
But Sarah Brush finally solved CR’s last line of defense in the 25th minute, rocketing a 25-yard knuckleball off a free kick that changed directions at least three times on its way into the net.
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“That’s my favorite shot right there, outside the 18,” Brush said. “I was actually planning on crossing it, or I was going to slip a ball behind them. But I saw the shot, and once I hit it I knew it was going in.”
The Pandas doubled the lead in the 36th minute, as Megan Mallon got a head on the end of a perfectly placed cross by Mackenzie Scully.
“When Mackenzie gets it on the left side, no one can stop her,” Mallon said. “She gets by everyone. She finds the open person, and I happened to be there.”
At halftime, Padua led 2-0 and had 11 shots. The Riders were still searching for their first.
CR got it six minutes into the second half, when the Pandas’ Abigail Boudart made an easy save on Julia Lyncha’s 46-yard free kick. But the Riders had plenty more in the tank.
Boudart punched out a dangerous entry on the Riders’ first corner kick in the 60th minute. The ball skittered out to CR’s Caitlin Harris, who lofted a 35-yard rainbow that floated perfectly into the top right corner.
All of a sudden, the Riders were back within striking range.
“That a momentum changer,” CR coach Darrell Gravatt said. “We needed something to change the momentum and that goal did it. I thought we played extremely well after that. We were on them for a while.”
The Riders were energized, and quickly earned a couple of more chances that were repelled.
“I give Caesar Rodney credit,” Brown said. “They were hunting for number two. I’ve been in games where it changes it. But we responded.”
A 12-yard shot by Ryjewski was deflected in the 72nd minute. It rolled right to Anne Brush, who buried it to push the Pandas’ lead back to 3-1.
“It was rolling around the box, and I hit it low and hard, right in the middle,” the junior said.
Padua’s Ashlee Brentlinger removed any doubt with just over a minute left, heading in Sarah Brush’s assist for the final goal.
The second-seeded Riders (17-2) put up a valiant fight. Their only other loss came to Padua, 2-0 on April 5.
“I think both teams are very good,” Gravatt said. “It’s going to take a very formidable team to beat other one of us. It’s always nice to play in the final, and someone has to lose. But if we lose, let it be to a great team. Padua is a great team.”
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.