Villa Joe, Pennridge to vie for state gold

One District 1 school will be a familiar presence in the PIAA girls' soccer championships this weekend at HersheyPark Stadium. The other district school will be making its debut.

Villa Joseph Marie, which has been in the Class AA championship game eight times and won it seven times, will put its 22-0 record on the line against District 7 champion Mars (24-0-1) at 5 p.m. Friday.

Pennridge (24-1), which had never before reached the final, will face defending champion Peters Township (18-3-1) in the AAA final at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Villa Joseph Marie and Mars feature high-scoring offenses.

The Planets have scored 192 goals and given up just eight. They have recorded 19 shutouts. The Jems have scored 99 goals, allowed seven, and posted 17 shutouts.

Mars, the District 7 titleholder, is making its debut in the state-title game. The only blemish on the Planets' record is a 2-2 tie with Knoch during the regular season.

The Planets are 48-1-1 over the past two seasons. Last year, they were knocked out in the state semifinals by South Park. The tie with Knoch halted a 31-game winning streak.

"We have only five seniors," Mars coach Blair Gerlach said. "We are an interesting mix with at least four players who have scored 20 or more goals."

Senior Mani Breuckner leads the Planets in goals with 37. She also has 43 assists.

Senior Erica Petrone said the Jems are eager for their first bid for a title since 2007.

"We've had our eye on a state championship since the season began," Petrone said. "We have some very good freshmen, and we've been growing into a team."

Petrone leads Villa Joe with 21 goals.

"It's the championship game, so we know it's going to be tough," added Petrone, who missed last season because of an injury, one of several major ones that beset the team.

Pennridge is coming off a 2-1 overtime win over Owen J. Roberts in the semifinals Tuesday night at Harriton. The Rams' lone loss was to Hatboro-Horsham during the Suburban One League Continental Conference regular season.

Peters Township beat Archbishop Wood, 1-0, for the state crown in 2010, but the Indians are not the same team that reached this season's final. This will be their third appearance in the final in the past four years.

"Seventy-five percent of the girls seeing significant time now saw zero playing time last year," Peters Township coach Pat Vereb said. "We count heavily on two freshmen, three sophomores, and five juniors."

One of those sophomores, striker Veronica Latsko, has scored 40 goals. Another sophomore, Emily Franty, scored on a pass from junior Olivia Roberson in a 1-0 semifinal win over Upper St. Clair. Sophomore Megan Parker is the Indians goalie.

"They're a young but strong team," Pennridge coach Jorge Rodriguez said of the Indians. "They have one 40-goal scorer and another 25-goal scorer. We're going to have to work hard to generate opportunities to score against them."

Although senior midfielder Stevi Parker is the Rams' top goal-scorer, junior Megan Shenk has been on a hot streak recently. She scored the winning goals on corner kicks in both the semifinal win over Owen J. Roberts and a a quarterfinal win over Strath Haven.