Dazzling goals are routine for Neshaminy's Farrell

Gabby Farrell's teammates sat on the bench amazed.

"How does she even do that?" a member of the Neshaminy girls' soccer team asked.

The senior forward had just scored a goal, one of three she put away Monday afternoon in a 7-1 win against William Tennent.

It was "a Gabby goal," as head coach Cheslea Deeter put it. One where she dribbles through defender after defender and somehow emerges with the ball still at her feet.

"Nobody else could even do that," Deeter said. "The ball is like a magnet stuck to her foot. Getting the ball, taking on players with speed, getting to the end line and then either having a shot or slotting across the goal for somebody else to finish."

The Liberty recruit has 16 "Gabby goals" this season. She's scored multiple goals in five games.

"Her just being able to get the ball while she is man marked shows her dedication and her consistency," Deeter said. "She's always pushing to find the ball, even when she has three people around her."

During her freshman and sophomore seasons, the speedy attacker found herself the beneficiary of opponents' marking teammate Megan Schafer. But when Schafer graduated and moved on to Penn State, teams quickly caught on to who they should be paying attention to when they face Neshaminy.

Now when Farrell steps out onto the field, she is usually the one who is the focus of her opponent's defensive scheme.

That hasn't stopped her. She is second all-time on the program's scoring list with 64 goals.

"The fact that teams are looking at our team and say, 'This is a girl you need to man mark' makes me want to go even harder and do even better," Farrell said. "It has made it harder scoring-wise, but I am still doing the best I can for my team. I want to be able to lead us to the playoffs."

At practice last week, Neshaminy (9-3) played 4 on 4 on a short field to work on countering. At first, Farrell was off to the side, waiting to put the ball in play and ignite the attack. But then she and her blue No. 10 pinnie got into the game. The first time she received it, the ball went over the defender and Farrell read it beautifully, slotting the ball low and to the right into the net.

Two possessions later, she sent a terrific through ball to a teammate. Next, a low header went far post for a goal.

Four possessions. Three goals. All different in their own way.

But they were all typically Gabby goals.

rallysports@phillynews.com