Lenape dominance in girls' soccer is unique

Lenape girls' soccer coach Kevin Meder says balance is the secret of his team's success.

That makes sense, because no team in any sport in South Jersey has walked across the high wire with the astounding aplomb of the Indians.

After Friday's first-round victory over Cinnaminson, Lenape is 28-0-1 in its last 29 games in the South Jersey Soccer Coaches Association tournament. The Indians have won seven titles in a row.

Lenape also is 25-0 since 2007 in the South Jersey Group 4 tournament. The Indians have won seven of those titles in a row, too.

Do the math. That's a 53-0-1 record in Lenape's last 54 elimination games against South Jersey competition.

That's insane.

Other teams in other sports have been that good, if not better, over an even longer period of time - Eastern field hockey and Moorestown girls' lacrosse, for example.

But here's the thing: Those teams have displayed a different kind of dominance. They have overwhelmed opponents.

They play drastically different sports, too. Like the St. Joseph football team, which has known similar success over the last 11 seasons, they have been able to score with regularity, building large margins of victory against all but a handful of opponents.

Soccer is unique because it's so difficult to score, making almost every game a tense, taut affair. The truly remarkable thing isn't that Lenape is 53-0-1 in elimination games over the last seven-plus seasons.

It's that Lenape is 53-0-1 and that the score of most of those games has been 2-1 or 3-2 or 2-0.

This is soccer. Close games are the rule, especially after the first or second round of tournaments. And more than any other sport, soccer has this charming and occasionally infuriating habit of rewarding the "wrong" team, as the side that carries play sometimes ends up on the short end of the final score.

"There's been two things," Meder said of Lenape's remarkable knack for winning tight games in do-or-die situations. "We stress all season that it's a process. We look for them to learn and improve during the course of the season so they are prepared to play those games.

"The other thing is balance. We try to make sure they are focused in trying to win those games but also realize that they need to have fun in trying to do it."

That's the heart of it, right there. And as simple as it sounds - "Just have fun out there, girls" - it's an amazing feat given the inherent pressure at Lenape's level of competition.

Meder earned his 200th victory on Monday. It was a typical Lenape victory - 2-1 in overtime against sister-school rival Cherokee.

Meder, a Lenape graduate, is 202-20-12 in his 10th season, with those seven Coaches Tournament titles and seven sectional titles and five state titles.

He will be the first to say that his record is a reflection of the talent and dedication of his players.

"It was a chance to reflect on all the great players that we've had come through here," Meder said of the milestone. "They've won the games. I've stood on the sideline and cheered them on."

Lenape girls' soccer has been an assembly line of Division I college players. And the Indians have been deep, too, featuring rosters full of dedicated, talented, experienced, and exceptionally speedy players.

Meder said he tailors his system every season to the strengths of his players. And while the strategy might change, the Indians' work rate and poise under pressure have been constants.

The coach's greatest trick has been to settle into that sweet spot between pushing his players to reach their potential and giving them the space to enjoy themselves.

That's the fine line walked by every coach in every sport.

And that involves another kind of balancing act.

"They get recruited out of club [soccer], and that's high pressure," Meder said. "High school should be fun. At the same time, we want them to recognize the opportunities they have to play in these big games with these rivalries and to stress to them that they should enjoy it but also make the most of it."