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Shawnee girls' team sending five to Division I

It was hard for the players not to think back, if only for a second, to those times when they were in elementary school. They had been playing soccer together almost as long as they had been able to walk.

It was hard for the players not to think back, if only for a second, to those times when they were in elementary school. They had been playing soccer together almost as long as they had been able to walk.

Looking back now, their early success is almost comical - picture a horde of fierce elementary school girls dominating rec league soccer.

"I remember one year we actually got to go to Disney World," Brittany Hartwell-Miller said with a laugh and a hint of nostalgia. "We were playing for the rec league championship."

"It was crazy," Lexie Palladino said of Wednesday's national signing day ceremony at Shawnee. "These were the girls I'd been playing with my entire life. And we're sitting there knowing we won't be on the same team again - but all of us are achieving this goal we've had for so long."

Palladino and Hartwell-Miller are part of a Shawnee senior class with an astounding five girls set to play Division I soccer.

Palladino is bound for Rutgers. Hartwell-Miller and her sister, Amanda, will be roommates and teammates at St. Joseph's. Silvana Gordon signed with Florida Gulf Coast. And Sarah DeBerardinis will continue her career at La Salle.

"It was just a proud moment for all of us," said Hartwell-Miller, the top defender in South Jersey this season. "It's sort of bittersweet knowing that it's all coming to an end. But we realize how special it's been. It's something that's just been really cool to be a part of for all of these years."

Shawnee coach Drew Wagner said it was the best senior class the school has had. On the surface, the level of talent in one class is hard to believe. Looking deeper, it's even harder.

Shawnee isn't a private school that can draw students from different areas. These girls grew up in the same town, played on the same teams. And, perhaps most impressive, they remained best friends through all of it.

"We've all played a part in each other's success," said Palladino, who was named the area's top midfielder by the South Jersey Soccer Coaches Association. "We've always been there for each other since we were little. We've pushed each other the whole way. I know I can say this for all of us: We wouldn't be the players or the people we are today without each other."

The individual success of the players was made more special by the historic success they achieved as a team in the fall. Shawnee finished 20-3-1 and won the program's first-ever sectional title, weathering a grueling South Jersey Group 4 bracket before advancing to the state semifinals.

The team's style of play was more college than high school. Generally, a team is lucky to have just one Division I-caliber player, and often that one highly talented player is stretched out of her comfort zone, asked to do more simply because she is capable of doing more.

But for Shawnee, it wasn't like that. The core of the team was highly talented players asked to do nothing more than play as a team and play to their strengths.

"They were leaders on and off the field," Wagner said. "Our practices this year were great, high-level practices. Our formations were college-style - and it was largely because of [the senior class'] dedication to this team. They set the expectation.

"I'm just so proud of what they accomplished and could not be more excited for what they've achieved."

rallysports@phillynews.com.