Reamer puts Tigers on her back in win over Bullets
MERTZTOWN — As Southern Columbia walked away disappointed after losing in the District 4 championship, coach Jen Stine wanted it to serve as a wake-up call.
She also wanted to bring on a challenge, asking someone to step up and help the Tigers not only get over that loss but also reach the bigger prize: a state playoff win.
Enter Kennadie Reamer.
The senior took the challenge personally, scoring all four goals for the Tigers in a 4-1 win over Brandywine Heights in the opening round of the Class A girls soccer tournament Tuesday evening.
The Tigers (18-4) play District 1 champion Faith Christian, and 8-0 winner over Masterman, in the quarterfinals on Saturday at a time and place to be determined.
"Somebody had to decide they were going to take over. They didn't have to do everything, but just be the driving force," Stine said. "I thought we came back with a vengeance today, and Kennadie put the team on her back and said, 'This isn't ending today.' Saturday isn't how we wanted it to go, but today is really great redemption."
Reamer's scores came consecutively as the Tigers not only rebounded from the tough loss, but from an early 1-0 deficit. Brandywine Heights was on its heels early — as it was for much of the game — but got a quick flip of the field and showed its speed by getting a toe tapper by Julia Coblentz past Rosie Martino.
The sophomore keeper was otherwise stellar throughout the night, coming up with eight saves, including a beautiful dive to her left midway through the second half to turn away a rocket of a kick by Coblentz. She also kept the Bullets away with a near-immediate second goal when she got up and blocked Jordan Henniger's top-shelf attempt.
Despite being down early. Stine saw a collection of girls who were still smiling and playing with enthusiasm. That's even with shots by Alyssa Conner and Olivia Jones getting denied by the goal post.
Reamer, though, wasn't going to get denied. As Martino was contested from close distance much of the night, Reamer was making her shots from all distances. Her hat trick was sunk from 30 yards, and Stine yelled, "Is that to prove me wrong?" from the bench.
"In the first half, I told her she was shooting from too far, and she turned around and told me, 'You already told me that once,'" Stine said with a laugh. "She wasn't being mean, it was just matter-of-factly, and then she scored the third one from distance, and that's when I shouted that."
Reamer's first goal came off a nice cross pass from Minna Shingara to tie the contest just over seven minutes after the Bullets' goal. Reamer, nicknamed "Grim Reamer" by her teammates, put the Tigers up for good by getting the ball out from the top of the box following a corner kick.
Her last goal came on a sliding kick just in front of Lizzie Tomaine to cap off her excellent night.
"We all dominated the game [Saturday] and knew that first goal [Tuesday] was a mistake," Reamer said. "In my mind, I just tried to pick up my mind, I just tried to pick up the team and everybody's heads."
Message received.
Still, with a handful of players — Macie Swank, Conner, Jones, Reamer and Shingara — applying pressure all evening on Bullets goalkeeper Lizzie Toamine for much of the contest, there were a lot more opportunities. The Tigers either didn't finish in front of the goal or gave up on a play, something Reamer hopes to clean up in the quarterfinals.
"I think going up the field and connecting on passes and hitting the back of the net is where I would like to improve," she said. "We could work on it in games because we do it in practice. We had multiple opportunities up top. I think everybody knew we were going to win the game because we had so many opportunities."
The Tigers have proven they've already gotten past the disappointing weekend, and look to keep the proud tradition going. This win marks the program's 16th straight appearance in the state tournament, a streak dating back to 2014 and including four state titles in five years. This team has already added to that legacy. No looking back.
Nothing grim about that.
Link to story: https://www.pressenterpriseonl...
