CB East Wins 4-0 on Mental Health Awareness Night

The soccer game between CB East and CB West itself took a back seat to a more important issue—Mental Health Awareness. The two schools combined to promote various local organizations, including NAMI, Morgan’s Message, and the Peyton Heart Project, among others, that help those in the community who may be struggling with mental health and to remind others they are not alone.

Backed by a district-wide level of support that spanned multiple games Wednesday night, the East and West teams joined together to honor former students in an emotional pre-game tribute. Megan Hanson spoke first about her son, Sam, an East student who passed away in April. Then East seniors Riley Leedy and Mia Forney courageously paid tribute to their friend Frankie Pacitti, who passed away last December.

The message of the night was one community supporting each other both on and off the field, and the students did a tremendous job highlighting a topic often too easily swept under the rug, especially in athletic circles.

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Taylor Roumy scored in each half, Kiera Sleicher scored another golazo in consecutive weeks, and Liz Mooney gave CB East a cushion heading into the break for a decisive 4-0 victory.

CB East (9-0-1, 5-0 SOL) entered the game ranked No. 3 in the latest United Soccer Coaches National poll and No. 1 in the District 1 power rankings. The Patriots were coming off a big week with wins over CB South, Pennridge, and Conestoga. CB West (2-5-1) came into the game looking to bounce back from two close losses to Wissahickon and Souderton and a draw against North Penn.

From the start, East controlled possession and began to search for ways to crack West’s organized defense, passing through lanes and trying to break down defenders with combinations. Four minutes into the game, East captain Kiera Sleicher took a crack from thirty yards out and beat West keeper Avery Jones to the top of the net. Sleicher scored four goals last week and now has six in the last five games.

East continued to push for a second, but West held strong and forced the hosts to continue to shoot from wide angles and far distances, and Jones made some great saves to keep her team in it early. Less than ten minutes after Sleicher’s goal, East defender Addie Langlois made a surging run down the left, but West defender Kacey Sohanic was well-positioned to clear her cross away at the near post. On the follow up, Sleicher found Ava Mignon, who tried her luck from outside the penalty area, but Jones made the save off a tricky bounce. Eight minutes later, Mignon had another clean strike from a similar spot, but once again, Jones had good positioning to make the save and grab the rebound.

Soon after, Roumy became more involved, cutting in from the right with her left foot to attack the West defense at a narrower angle. She had a shot from well out that went high, but her next attempt beat Jones to the far corner to extend East’s lead to 2-0.

With nearly five minutes remaining in the half, East added a third. Mattie Williams dribbled down the right side and sent a cross toward the penalty spot that Sleicher nudged toward goal. The ball fell to Quinn Reilley, whose shot on target Jones initially saved, and Liz Mooney followed up the rebound and steered the ball over the goal line for the 3-0 lead.

After the goal, West responded with their best counter-attack of the night, sending a dangerous ball into the box from out wide, but the East defenders recovered in time to force a difficult volley over the bar.

East came out in the second half determined to put the game away for good. Sleicher tested Jones from distance again, and Jones made a diving save to push the ball over the end line. On the ensuing corner, Mignon had an attempt after a scramble in front of goal that she turned wide. Shortly after, Roumy scored her second when she finished off a through-ball from Langlois to make the score to 4-0.

East continued to attack after the goal. Reedy had a shot on target minutes later, and Kailyn Adenaike got on the end of a corner with a header that went over the bar. Jones made two more spectacular saves to keep East away for good, and over the the final twenty minutes, both sides made many multiple changes to get fresh legs into the game and provide some valuable experience for squad players moving forward in the season.

“You never really know what’s going to happen within these CB sister school games,” East coach Jake Nesteruk said after the game about his team’s preparation. “A lot of emotions going into this one, and I think our kids handled it really maturely.”

After games last week against a state finalist, a district champion, and a near state qualifier, Nesteruk was happy to be able to find the net early and rotate players into the game without seeing much of a drop off from his first XI.

With West coming out in a more defensive formation, the game forced East to break down intense pressure moments and utilize more combinations. “The challenge is how do we create a group that’s not going to settle for distant shots and starting to stretch the game out but be really thoughtful about how can we maintain possession and get creative, get some runs behind the backline. For them to solve it before we get to halftime and have to talk through it from a coaching perspective is a big deal.”

Much like in the West Chester Henderson game earlier in the season, a game that ended in a 0-0 draw, East had to play their way through an organized defense that didn’t lose shape or get pulled out of positions in the early stages of the game. West put good pressure and numbers on the ball inside the final third, making it difficult for East to attack the wings.

“We’ve seen teams do it,” Nesteruk said when asked about facing more defensive-minded situations. “We’ve been victim to it and lost to it, so we’re really focused on making sure we figure out those problems when they show up because it’s going to happen again.”

East will finish out the week against Souderton, who is off to a strong start to the season and currently East’s biggest division foe.

“We definitely had some moments where we competed,” West coach Bree Benedict said after the game. “Our youth shows in that we can’t string multiple of those moments together, but it’s at least progress, and we’re happy with the direction we’re headed back in after the loss on Friday.”

Benedict also spoke about the performance from her goalkeeper, who kept West in the game for most of the night.

“Avery’s our only all-league returning player from last year. She had an incredible freshman season. She had some killer saves tonight.”

On Thursday, West will play CB South, who beat Pennridge 2-1 on Tuesday night. Pennridge took East to 3-3 late in the second half until East pulled out two goals to close out a 5-3 victory.

“I think we play the hardest conference in the state,” Benedict said. “It almost makes it so much harder when we go out of conference because we’re so exhausted from our conference games.” Benedict also said the high level of play in the Colonial division has helped her team improve their defense, and keeping up with East’s attacking threats has allowed her team to deal with different situations.

West will host the return leg of their matchup on the regular season finale October 21st.